Frank Ulrich Marcus (30 June 1928 – 5 August 1996) was a British playwright, best known for ''

The Killing of Sister George ''The Killing of Sister George'' is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich. Stage version Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series ''Applehurst'', a district nu ...

''.

Life and career

Marcus was born 30 June 1928 into a Jewish family in Breslau (then in Germany). They came to England as refugees in 1939. Until 1943, he attended Bunce Court School at Otterden, near

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...

in Kent, (a school founded by Anna Essinger, a German Jewish-Quaker who had started Landschulheim Herrlingen, a private school in southern Germany, which was relocated to England in 1933). He then spent a year at

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art school, art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's beca ...

. He started as an actor and playwright with the International Theatre Group and the Unity Theatre. In 1951, he married actress Jacqueline Sylvester, who collaborated with him on some of his plays. His plays were known for their strong parts for female actors, such as in his best known play, ''

'', starring

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for '' The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in th ...

, which was later adapted into the 1968 film of the same name. When a theatre company in apartheid South Africa asked to put on a production of ''

'', Marcus’s immediate instinct was to simply refuse. However, after much consideration, he decided instead that he could do more good and make more of a stance by allowing it to be seen there - under the strict proviso that the audiences would be mixed and non-segregated. Every penny this production earned was divided between

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

(specifically for the freeing of South African political prisoners) and a black theatre group in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. As well as his own plays he made several translations and adaptations from his native German. He worked as Theatre Critic for ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' between 1968 and 1978. After a long struggle with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, he died in London, 5 August 1996.

Works

Original plays

* 1950 ''Minuet For Stuffed Birds'' * 1964 ''The Formation Dancers'' * 1965 ''Cleo'' (one-act) * 1964 ''

'' * 1967 ''Studies of The Nude'' * 1968 ''Mrs Mouse, Are You Within?'' * 1969 ''The Window'' * 1972 ''Blank Pages'' * 1973 ''Keyholes'' * 1972 ''Christmas Carol'' (one-act) * 1972 ''Notes on a Love Affair'' * 1975 ''Beauty and The Beast'' (for children) * 1976 ''Portrait of The Artist'' * 1977 ''Blind Date'' (one-act) * 1978 ''Ballad of Wilfred II'' (one-act) * 1978 ''The Merman of Orford''

Adaptations and translations

* 1952 ''Merry-Go-Round'' ('' La Ronde'') by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

* 1969 '' The Guardsman'' by

Ferenc Molnár Ferenc Molnár ( , ; born Ferenc Neumann; January 12, 1878April 1, 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarians, Hungarian-born author, stage director, dramatist, and poet. He is widely regarded as Hungary's most celebrated and c ...

* 1976 ''Anatol'' by

* 1980 ''The Weavers'' by

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

* 1987 ''From Morning To Midnight'' by Georg Kaiser * 1991 '' La Ronde'' by

References

External links

*
Obituary
from ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''
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1928 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art People educated at Bunce Court School English writers British theatre critics People from the Province of Lower Silesia Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Silesian Jews {{UK-writer-stub