Denis Cannan (14 May 1919 – 25 September 2011) was a British dramatist, playwright and script writer. Born Denis Pullein-Thompson, the son of Captain Harold J. Pullein-Thompson and novelist

Joanna Cannan Joanna Maxwell Cannan (27 May 1896 – 22 April 1961) was an English writer of pony books and detective novels, the former aimed mainly at children. She belonged to a family of prolific writers. Life Herself the youngest daughter of Charles Ca ...

, he changed his name by deed poll in 1964. His younger sisters were Josephine Pullein-Thompson,

Diana Pullein-Thompson Diana Farr (; 1 October 1925 – 21 September 2015), was a British horsewoman and writer known for her pony books. Her mother and two sisters also wrote and together they created a large number of children's books, many of which were on the theme ...

and Christine Pullein-Thompson.

Life and career

Denis Pullein-Thompson was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, he was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

.''Who's Who 2007'' After attending Eton he worked as an actor, before joining the Queen's Royal Regiment of West Surrey when the Second World War broke out, rising to the rank of captain and being mentioned in dispatches. He, as Denis Cannan, became a successful playwright and screenwriter known for his comedies. Apart from the plays listed below, he has written several screenplays for television and radio, also adaptions for television series. With

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

he adapted ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' for the 1953 film starring

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1963 fim,

Tamahine ''Tamahine'' is a 1963 British comedy film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Nancy Kwan, Dennis Price and John Fraser. It was written by Denis Cannan. A Polynesian woman who believes she can change the culture of Hallow School, a Briti ...

, which should be compared in theme to The French Mistress, from 1960, (itself adapted from the 1955 play). Cannan was married to Joan Ross in 1946; the couple had two sons and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved, and he later remarried, to

Rose Evansky Rose Evansky, née Rose Lerner (30 May 1922 – 21 November 2016) was a British hairdresser notable for introducing the "blow dry" or "blow wave" technique of hairstyling. Early life Evansky was born in Worms, Germany, Worms, Germany on 30 May ...

in 1965.Denis Cannan (obituary)
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', 2 November 2011. Denis Cannan died on 25 September 2011, at the age of 92.Denis Cannan (obituary)
''

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 ...

'', 17 October 2011)

Selected plays

* '' Captain Carvallo'' (1950) * ''Misery Me!'' (1955) * ''The Power and the Glory'' (adaptation) (1956) * '' US'' (1966) * ''Colombe'' * '' Dear Daddy'' * ''Ibsen's Ghosts'' (adaptation) * ''Max'' * ''One At Night'' * ''

The Ik ''The Ik'' is a 1975 play by Colin Higgins and Denis Cannan adapted from the 1972 book by Colin Turnbull about the Ik people titled ''The Mountain People''. It was devised with director Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 ...

'' (adaptation) * ''You and Your Wife'' * ''Who's Your Father?''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cannan, Denis 1919 births 2011 deaths British Army personnel of World War II People educated at Eton College Writers from Oxford Place of death missing British male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British male writers Queen's Royal Regiment officers