Donald Howarth (5 November 1931 – 24 March 2020) was a playwright and theatre director. After training at Esme Church's Northern Theatre School in Bradford, he worked in various repertory theatres around England before writing his first play, ''Sugar in the Morning'', which was selected by

George Devine George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

for performance at the

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 West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

in 1959.

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural ...

's first starring role in London's

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

was in Howarth's third play, ''A Lily in Little India'', and his fourth play, ''Three Months Gone'' starred

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was ...

Personal life

He enjoyed a nearly fifty-year relationship with American LSE academic George Goetschuis and entered into a civil partnership with him in February 2006 shortly after their introduction in the UK. Goetschuis died in October 2006 at the age of 83. They lived for most of their life together in George Devine's old Thameside house in London, theatre director Peter Gill sharing part of the property for many years. Donald Howarth is mentioned in the diary of

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

, when Orton visited Peter Gill. Donald Howarth lived between London and a countryside property in Wales, in the garden of which George Goetschuis is buried.

Publications

*''Plays One: Sugar in the Morning, A Lily in Little India, All Good Children, Three Months Gone'', Oberon Modern Playwrights, 2000.

Sources

* *

External links

Doollee Playwrights Database - ''Donald Howarth entry'

1931 births 2020 deaths British dramatists and playwrights British male dramatists and playwrights {{UK-playwright-stub