Johnny Speight (2 June 1920 – 5 July 1998) was an English television scriptwriter of many classic British

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

. He emerged in the mid-1950s. He wrote for radio comics

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

Vic Oliver Victor Oliver von Samek (8 July 1898 – 15 August 1964) was an Austrian-born British actor and radio comedian. Early life He was born in Vienna into a Jewish family, the son of Baron Viktor von Samek. He studied medicine at Vienna University but ...

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

, and

Cyril Fletcher Cyril Fletcher (25 June 1913 – 2 January 2005) was an English comedian, actor and businessman. His catchphrase was 'Pin back your lugholes'. He was best known for his "Odd Odes", which later formed a section of the television show ''That' ...

. For television he wrote for

Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

, and

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

, as well as '' The Arthur Haynes Show''. Later, he began to write '' Till Death Us Do Part'', which included his most famous creation, the controversial bigot Alf Garnett. His shows often explored the themes of racism and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

through satire.

Life and career

John Speight was born into an Irish Catholic family in

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

, Essex (now

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

). He left school at 14, and after a series of odd jobs, tried his hand at writing, looking to

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

as inspiration. He began contributing scripts to comedy shows in 1955, starting with '' Great Scott - It's Maynard!'' He later contributed to '' Sykes and a...'' (1960–65), which starred

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

and

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

. Speight was one of many writers on that series which also included Sykes, John Antrobus and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

. He created the iconic working class tramp figure played by

Arthur Haynes Arthur Haynes (14 May 1914 – 19 November 1966) was an English comedian and star of ''The Arthur Haynes Show'', a comedy sketch series produced by ATV from 1956

in the latter's long-running and top-rating ATV comedy series. Haynes died in 1966.Profile
screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2014. In 1965, Speight wrote a BBC TV pilot which became the 1966 series '' Till Death Us Do Part'' featuring

Warren Mitchell Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was a British actor. He was a BAFTA TV Award winner and twice a Laurence Olivier Award winner. In the 1950s, Mitchell appeared on the radio programmes ''Educatin ...

as Alf Garnett, a

reactionary In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the '' status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abs ...

Conservative-voting working-class man with a chip on his shoulder and an angry word on everything. Garnett became one of the most memorable characters in British TV history. The 1971 US sitcom ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'' was based on this series. Also in 1965, he did uncredited screenplay work for the film You Must be Joking. Speight also played "Barmey Harry" in the second film

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

, '' The Alf Garnett Saga'', in 1972 . Speight's later series '' Curry and Chips'' (1969), was a more controversial sitcom from LWT for the ITV channel, soon cancelled on the instructions of the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...

. His next comedy was '' For Richer...For Poorer'' (1975), a one-off pilot which featured Harry H. Corbett as a left-wing answer to Alf Garnett. After a brief return of ''Till Death Us Do Part'' on ITV in 1981 as '' Till Death...'', Alf Garnett returned with a vengeance on the BBC's ''

In Sickness and in Health ''In Sickness and in Health'' is a BBC television sitcom that ran between 1 September 1985 and 3 April 1992. It is a sequel to the successful ''Till Death Us Do Part'', which ran between 1966 and 1975, and '' Till Death...'', which ran for one ...

'' which ran from 1985 to 1992. In 1985, he wrote the unbroadcast pilot "Jewel in the Crown" starring

and

, with Milligan wearing blackface and making racially charged jokes, while adopting a Pakistani accent. In 1988 Speight wrote a set of special short sketches for inclusion in London's Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in a feature called "Ask Alf". Using random access video visitors were invited to ask Alf Garnet his thoughts on a variety of subjects including museums. Warren Mitchell recorded the short sketches free of charge for MOMI while on tour in Australia. Speight's work brought him success, but despite driving a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

, he remained a life-long socialist. He was a subject of the television programme ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in May 1970 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

Death

In 1998, Speight died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

, aged 78 at his home in

Chorleywood Chorleywood is both a village and a civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natu ...

.Johnny Speight, the writer who created Alf Garnett, dies of cancer aged 78
Retrieved 29 October 2016. LWT put forward a series of specials featuring

as Alf Garnett, giving his thoughts on a variety of subjects. The programmes were originally shelved by ITV controller David Liddiment.

TV writing credits

*'' Great Scott - It's Maynard!'' (1955) *''Evans Abode'' (1956) *''Frankie Howerd'' (1956) *''The Dickie Valentine Show'' (1956) *''Two's Company'' (1956) *''Early to Braden'' (1957) *''That's Life, Says Max Wall'' (1957) *''The Arthur Haynes Show'' (1957) *''Frankie Howerd In...'' (1958) *''The Show of 8 April (Seven Days Early)'' (1958) *''The Cyril Fletcher Show'' (1959) *''Ladies and Gentle-Men'' (1960) *'' Sykes and a...'' (1960) *'' The Compartment'' (1961) *''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pr ...

'' (1962) *''Shamrot'' (1963) *''The Graham Stark Show'' (1964) *'' Till Death Us Do Part'' (1965) *''To Lucifer – A Son'' (1967) *''If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them'' (1968) *'' Curry and Chips'' (1969) *''Spate of Speight'' (1969) *''

'' (1971) *''Them'' (1972) *'' Ein Herz und eine Seele'' (1973) *''Frankie Howerd in Ulster'' (1973) *''Francis Howerd in Concert'' (1974) *''Marty Back Together Again'' (1974) *'' For Richer...For Poorer'' (1975) *''The Mike Reid Show'' (1976) *''

Spooner's Patch ''Spooners Patch'' is a British television sitcom, written by Ray Galton (best known for his writing collaborations with Alan Simpson, including ''Steptoe and Son'') and Johnny Speight (best known for ''Till Death Us Do Part''). It ran for 3 s ...

'' (with

Ray Galton Raymond Percy Galton (17 July 1930 – 5 October 2018) was an English radio and television scriptwriter, best known for the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Alan Simpson. Together they devised and wrote 1950s and 60s BBC sit ...

1979) *''The Tea Ladies'' (with Ray Galton 1979) *''The Thoughts of chairman Alf at Christmas'' (1980) *''Till Death...'' (1981) *'' The Lady Is A Tramp'' (1983) *''

'' (1985) *''Carrott Confidential'' (1987) *''The Nineteenth Hole'' (1989) *''A Word With Alf'' (1997) *''An Audience With Alf Garnett'' (1997) *''The Thoughts of Chairman Alf'' (1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speight, Johnny 1920 births 1998 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pancreatic cancer English television writers People from Canning Town People from Chorleywood British male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers