Arthur Hopcraft (30 November 193222 November 2004) was a British screenwriter, well known for his TV plays such as '' The Nearly Man'', and for his small-screen adaptations such as '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''; '' Hard Times'', ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...

'', and ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

''. Before taking up writing for TV, he was a sports journalist for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', writing ''The Football Man: People and Passions in Soccer''. He also had four other books published, including an autobiographical account of his childhood, and wrote the screenplay for the film ''

Hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

''. Hopcraft won the BAFTA Writers Award in 1986.

Career

Hopcraft was born in

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness ( ), or simply Shoebury, is a coastal town in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England; it lies east of the city centre. It was formerly a separate town until it was absorbed into Southend in 1933. I ...

, Essex. He soon moved to

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverhampton ...

, Staffordshire, and as a teen, he started working at local newspapers. By the age of 17, he was reporting on the Stafford Rangers' semi-professional football games using the pseudonym "Linesman." After his service in the military, he worked at the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' in Manchester and then ''

''. He had assignments in west Africa, India and Brazil. In the mid-1960s, he began doing football writing at ''

'' as well. From January 1968 he was a regular contributor to the IPC monthly ''

Nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

'', his articles were mostly stories from his own life. He was a "self-described loner whose claustrophobia extended to refusing to use the London Underground." He never married, noting that "I tried both sexes, but ended up wishing they would all just go away".

References

External links

*
Arthur Hopcraft Papers: 1966-1998
an
description
at the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

1932 births 2004 deaths English male screenwriters People from Shoeburyness English sportswriters English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers Military personnel from Essex Military personnel from Staffordshire 20th-century British military personnel {{UK-screenwriter-stub