Jonathan Croall (born 19 August 1941) is a British author and journalist. Croall was brought up in Battersea in south London: his father was the film and stage actor John Stuart, his mother the actress, teacher and voice coach Barbara Francis. He was educated at St Christopher School, a progressive school in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

, Hertfordshire (1949–1959), and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied English literature and modern languages (1960–1963). After teaching English at the Lycée Jean-Baptiste-Say in Paris, he worked as an editor in publishing with Cassell, Penguin,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, and Writers and Readers; later he was managing editor of Bedford Square Press. He subsequently worked as an editor and a journalist in newspapers and magazines. He was successively features editor of the ''

Times Educational Supplement ''Tes'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a weekly UK publication aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 19 ...

;'' co-founder and editor of ''Arts Express'' magazine; editor of ''StageWrite'', the magazine of the National Theatre; and programme editor at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

theatre. During this time he wrote about education, the arts, health, history, and the environment for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', the '' Daily Telegraph'', the '' Sunday Times'', ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and so ...

'' and ''

Vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

'' magazine. He is the author of twenty books, most notably biographies of AS Neill,

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

and Sybil Thorndike, and books about productions of

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, Bacchai and Mother Clap's Molly House at the National Theatre in Britain. ''The Coming of Godot: A Short History of a Masterpiece'' was nominated for the 2005 Theatre Book Prize. He adapted and directed for the stage his oral history ''Don't You Know There's a War On?'' His children's novel ''Sent Away'' was based on the true story of the child migrant scandal. His latest work is ''Forgotten Stars: My Father and the British Silent Film World''. His eldest son Ben Croall is a music journalist who writes under the name Carl Loben; his youngest son Julius Croall is a musician and guitar teacher. His partner is the playwright Lesley Bruce.My dad, the silent film star
(''My dad, the silent film star'' – Jonthan Croall)

Publications

* Performing Hamlet: Actors in the Modern Age, London: Bloomsbury Publishing 2018 * Editor, This Once Was Us: The Life and Death of Penguin Education, Penguin Collectors Society 2018 * * * * * * * * * (with foreword by Peter Hall) * * (preface by Peter Hall) * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croall, Jonathan 1941 births Living people People from Amersham Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British biographers British male journalists Male biographers