Jonathan Paul Harvey (born 13 June 1968) is an English screen actor and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Life and works

Harvey was born at

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

in 1968 to Maureen and Brian Harvey. He has a brother, Timothy, who is a music teacher in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. A former secondary school English teacher, his first serious attempt as a playwright was in 1987. He entered a competition, with a first prize of £1,000, for young writers at the Liverpool Playhouse, with his play ''The Cherry Blossom Tree'', a blend of suicide, murder and nuns. He won National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award for ''The Cherry Blossom Tree''. Encouraged by this success he wrote ''Mohair'' (1988), ''Wildfire'' (1992) and ''Babies'' (1993), the latter won the ' George Devine Award' for 1993 and The Evening Standard's 'Most Promising Playwright Award' for 1994. In 1993, Harvey, premiered '' Beautiful Thing'', a gay-themed play-turned-film for which he won the John Whiting Award in 1994. In 1995 his play ''Boom Bang-a-Bang'' premiered at the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a s ...

, London, and was originally directed by

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...

. Harvey cites it as "my most comic play ever, but with some dark bits". Centred on a group of friends gathering to watch the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, the play was a sell-out. Also in 1995 ''Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club'' was premiered. ''Guiding Star'' (1998), is a portrayal of a man's struggle to come to terms with the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in ...

, while ''Hushabye Mountain'' (1999) deals with a world that has learned to live with

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. Television and film works include: ''West End Girls'' (Carlton); ''Love Junkie'' (BBC); ''Beautiful Thing'' (

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

/Island World Productions); the 1999-2001 hit/cult comedy series starring Kathy Burke and

James Dreyfus James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms '' The Thin Blue Line'' as Constable Kevin Goody, and '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Rever ...

, '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' (Tiger Aspect); '' Murder Most Horrid'' ( BBC); and ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'' ( ITV). He wrote the book for '' Closer to Heaven'', a stage musical with songs and music written by

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

. ''Closer to Heaven'' ran for nine months at the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamber ...

in London during 2001 and in Australia in 2005. In 2003, on hearing the singer-actress

Abi Roberts Abi Roberts (born 1 June 1970) is a Welsh stand-up comedian and political commentator. She has performed publicly as early as 2007 and has more recently appeared on GB News on numerous occasions. Early life Roberts was Born in Cardiff and ...

perform, he offered to write a solo show for her. ''Taking Charlie'' was the outcome, staged at the 2004

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

with Roberts starring, under the direction of Susan Tully. The piece was darkly comic and focused on the destructive nature of an insecure, 30 year-old addict. His first novel ''All She Wants'' was published in 2012 by Pan Books. Since 2013, Harvey has co-written the Radio Four sitcom series '' What Does the K Stand For?'' based on the experiences of comedian Stephen K. Amos growing up as a teenager in south London in the 1980s. The programme's third series commenced in January 2017. Harvey is married to

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, scr ...

Paul Hunt.

Works

Plays

*2020: '' Our Lady of Blundellsands'' *2012: '' Panto!'' *2010: ''Canary'' (2010) (

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

, Liverpool/ Hampstead Theatre, London) *2004: ''Taking Charlie'' (2004) *2001: ''Out in the Open'' (2001) *1999: ''Hushabye Mountain'' (1999) *1998: ''Guiding Star'' (1998) *1995: ''Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club'' (1995) *1995: ''Boom Bang-A-Bang'' (

, 1995); Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (English Touring Theatre/Contact Theatre Company,

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began develop ...

, London, 1995). *1994: ''Babies'' (

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

Studio/

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

, 1994), winner George Devine Award 1993 and

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

's Most Promising Playwright Award 1994. *1993: '' Beautiful Thing'' (

, London, 1993 and

, London/

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...

, London, 1994), winner of the John Whiting Award 1994. *1992: ''Wildfire'' (

Upstairs, 1992). *1988: ''Mohair'' (Royal Court Young Writers Festival, London/International Festival of Young Playwrights, Sydney, 1988). *1987: ''The Cherry Blossom Tree'' ( Liverpool Playhouse Studio, 1987) which won him the 1987 National Girobank Young Writer of the Year Award.

Musicals

* 2019: '' Musik'' * 2018: '' Dusty - The Dusty Springfield Musical'' * 2001: '' Closer to Heaven''

Television and film

*2016: '' Tracey Ullman's Show'' ( BBC) (2016 – present) *2009: '' Octavia'' ( ITV) *2008: '' Beautiful People'' ( BBC) (2008–2009) *2004: ''

Big Brother Panto ''Big Brother Panto'' is a special series of '' Big Brother'' that brought together ten housemates from previous ''Big Brothers'' to produce the pantomime ''Cinderella''. It aired from 20 December 2004 to 5 January 2005 on the Channel 4 network. ...

'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

) (2004-2005) *2004: ''

'' ( ITV) (2004 – present) *1999: '' Murder Most Horrid'' ( BBC) *1999: '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' ( BBC) (1999-2001) *1996: '' Beautiful Thing'' (

/Island World Productions) *1993: ''West End Girls'' ( Carlton) *1992: ''Love Junkie'' ( BBC)

Fiction

*2012: ''All She Wants'', Pan Books, *2013: ''The Confusion of Karen Carpenter'', Pan Books, *2014: ''The Girl Who Just Appeared'', Pan Books, *2015: ''The Secrets We Keep'', Pan Books, *2016: ''The History of Us'', Pan Books,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Jonathan 1968 births English dramatists and playwrights Living people LGBT writers from England Schoolteachers from Merseyside English soap opera writers LGBT dramatists and playwrights People educated at Liverpool Blue Coat School English male dramatists and playwrights British male television writers