Sir Basil Hardington Bartlett, 2nd Baronet (15 September 1905 – 2 January 1985) was an actor, screenwriter and writer, and in the 1950s the head of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's script department.

Life

In 1921, at the age of 16, he succeeded as the second Bartlett baronet of Hardington Mandeville, upon inheriting the title from his grandfather, the building contractor Sir Herbert Bartlett, as his father had died the previous year. Educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, he went up to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, graduating as

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(proceeding MA). Starting out as a stage actor in the 1930s, Bartlett was commissioned in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

during the retreat to

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

in 1940:

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

, he was wounded during the retreat. He published ''My First War: An Army Officer's Journal for May 1940, Through Belgium to Dunkirk''. During his convalescence he worked as screenwriter of the war films ''

The Next of Kin ''The Next of Kin'', also known as ''Next of Kin'', is a 1942 Second World War propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios. The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government message that ...

'' (1942) (which he later also turned into a novel), ''

Secret Mission ''Secret Mission'' is a 1942 British war film directed by Harold French and starring Hugh Williams, James Mason, Nancy Price, Carla Lehmann and Roland Culver. Plot British Army Major Peter Garnett assembles a team consisting of Captain ‘ ...

'' (1942) and ''

They Met in the Dark ''They Met in the Dark'' (also known as ''Dark End'' and ''Spionagering M'' ) is a 1943 British comedy thriller film directed by Karel Lamač and starring James Mason, Joyce Howard and Edward Rigby. The screenplay concerns a cashiered Royal N ...

'' (1943). Seconded to the Intelligence Corps, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in charge of the kinematographic group of

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...

. After the War, Bartlett briefly tried to take up his career as actor again, appearing in '' Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' (1951), before joining the BBC, where he became Head of the Script Department, but also translated a couple of French screenplays. He participated as model in three of the six 15-minute programmes in BBC's first ever series in colour, ''Men, Women and Clothes'', a history of fashion which was broadcast between 21 April and 26 May 1957 (available in the BBC on line archive).BBC Archive: ''Men, Women and Clothes: How Fashions Come and Go''
Retrieved 8 November 2012 He was married to

Mary Malcolm Helen Mary Malcolm
Retrieved 2012-11-08 (15 March 191813 October 2010) was one of the first two regular female announcers on

(daughter of Sir Ian Malcolm), one of the first two regular female announcers on

Television after World War II, from 1937 to 1960, and they had three daughters. Upon his death in 1985, the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

passed to his younger brother, the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

fencer,

David Bartlett David John Bartlett (born 19 January 1968) is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly s ...

. He was buried in the Bartlett family vault on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

, on the main path just below the Egyptian Avenue. His inscription is on the vertical slab behind the figure of Christ.

Filmography

* ''Less Than Kind'' (TV film) (1959) (translator) * ''Men, Women and Clothes: Informal Clothes'' (TV programme) (1957) (actor) * ''Men, Women and Clothes: Sense and Nonsense in Fashion'' (TV programme) (1957) (actor) * ''Men, Women and Clothes: How Fashions Come and Go'' (TV programme) (1957) (actor) * ''It Is Midnight, Doctor Schweitzer'' (TV film) (1953) (translator) * ''Asmodée'' (TV film) (1952) (translator) * '' Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' (1951) (actor, playing Captain Elliott – uncredited) * ''Dunkirk: A Personal Perspective'' (radio programme) (1950) (narrator) * ''

'' (scenario) (1943) * ''

'' (screenwriter) (1942) * ''

'' (screenwriter and military supervisor) (1942)

Bibliography

* Captain Sir Basil Bartlett Bt: ''My First War: An Army Officer's Journal for May 1940, Through Belgium to Dunkirk'' – London: Chatto & Windas, 1940. * Sir Basil Bartlett: ''Next of Kin, a novel'' – London: Chatto & Windus, 1944 * Sir Basil Bartlett: ''Writing for Television'' – London: Allen & Unwin, 1955 * Sir Basil Bartlett: ''Jam Tomorrow: Some Early Reminiscences'' – London: Harper Collins, 1978. WorldCat: ''Jam Tomorrow: Some Early Reminiscences''
Retrieved 8 November 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Basil 1905 births 1985 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery British male screenwriters British Army personnel of World War II Intelligence Corps officers 20th-century British screenwriters 2