Frederick Knott
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Frederick Major Paull Knott (28 August 1916 – 17 December 2002) was an English playwright and screenwriter known for complex crime-related plots. Although he was a reluctant writer and completed a small number of plays, two have become well-known: the London-based stage thriller '' Dial M for Murder'', later filmed in Hollywood by
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
, and the 1966 play '' Wait Until Dark'', which was adapted to a Hollywood film directed by Terence Young. He also wrote the Broadway mystery '' Write Me a Murder''. He has a son named Tony Knott who attended Princeton Day School in the 1970s.


Life and career

Knott was born in Hankou, China, the son of English
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
, Margaret Caroline (née Paull) and Cyril Wakefield Knott. He became interested in theatre after watching performances of
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
works held by the Hankow Operatic Society. Descended from a line of Lancashire mill-owners, Knott came from a wealthy enough background to be sent back to England to be schooled privately, and from 1926 he was educated at Sidcot School and then, from 1929, at
Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...
in
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. In 1934, Knott went up to
Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...
, to read law."University News", ''The Times'', 18 June 1938, p. 19. An exceptional tennis player (a profession he gave the central character in ''Dial M for Murder''), he became a
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
, and in 1937 was a member of the Oxford-Cambridge tennis team that played the Harvard-Yale squad at Newport. He graduated in 1938 with a third-class degree in law, but the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
prevented his competing at Wimbledon. He served in the
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Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
as a signals instructor from 1939 to 1946, rising to the rank of
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
, and eventually moved to the United States. He met Ann Hillary in 1952 and married her in 1953; they lived in New York for many years. Although ''Dial M for Murder'' was a hit on the stage, it was originally a BBC television production. As a theatre piece, it premiered at the Westminster Theatre in Victoria, London in June 1952, directed by John Fernald and starring
Alan MacNaughtan Alan MacNaughtan (4 March 1920 – 29 August 2002) was a Scottish actor, born in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He was educated at the Glasgow Academy, trained at RADA, and graduated in 1940 with the Bancroft Gold Medal. An experienc ...
and Jane Baxter. This production was followed in October by a successful run in New York City at the Plymouth Theater, where Reginald Denham directed Maurice Evans, Richard Derr. Gusti Huber. Knott also wrote the screenplay for the 1954 Hollywood movie which Hitchcock filmed for
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
in 3D, starring
Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...
and
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, with Anthony Dawson and
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reprising their characters from the New York stage production, which had won Williams a
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for his role as Inspector Hubbard. He previously sold the screen rights to
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)
for only £1,000. The play was also made into a 1981 TV movie starring
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and
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, as the 1985 film ''Aitbaar in India'', and as '' A Perfect Murder'' in 1998 with
Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...
and
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. Based on the same plot, a Soviet TV film ''Tony Wendice's Mistake'' ( :ru:Ошибка Тони Вендиса) was released in 1981. In 1960, Knott wrote the stage thriller '' Write Me a Murder'', produced at the Belasco Theatre in New York in October 1961. It was directed by George Schaefer and included Denholm Elliott and
Kim Hunter Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 12, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar ...
in the cast. In 1966, Knott's stage play '' Wait Until Dark'' was produced on Broadway at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it ...
. The director was
Arthur Penn Arthur Hiller Penn (September 27, 1922 – September 28, 2010) was an American filmmaker, theatre director, and producer. He was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director, and a Tony Awards, Tony Awa ...
and the play starred
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who received a Tony Award nomination for her performance. Later the same year,
Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...
played the lead in London's West End at the Strand Theatre. The film version, also titled '' Wait Until Dark'' and released in 1967, had
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in the lead role. The play ran on Broadway in 2001, featuring
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
. Knott stopped writing plays, choosing to live comfortably on the income from his earlier works. "I don't think the drive was there any more. He was perfectly happy the way things were," said his wife Ann Hillary. He died in New York City in December 2002.


Select credits


Film screenplays

*''
The Last Page ''The Last Page'', released in the United States as ''Man Bait'', is a 1952 British film noir directed by Terence Fisher, starring George Brent, Marguerite Chapman and Diana Dors. The film is notable for being the first Hammer film direct ...
'' (1952) *'' Dial M for Murder'' (1954) *'' The Honey Pot'' (1967)


TV plays

* ''Dial M for Murder'' (1952) – for '' BBC Sunday-Night Theatre'' *'' Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates'' (1958) *''Dial M for Murder'' (1959) (German TV movie)


Plays

*''Dial M for Murder'' (1952) *'' Write Me a Murder'' (1961) *'' Wait Until Dark'' (1966)


Bibliography

* ''Dial M for Murder'' (Samuel French, London ) * ''Dial M for Murder'' (Random House Plays, New York 1952) * ''Write Me a Murder'' (Dramatists Play Service Inc, New York 1962) * ''Wait Until Dark'' (Samuel French, London )


References


External links

* * * Frederick Knott Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knott, Frederick 1916 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War II Edgar Award winners English emigrants to the United States English male dramatists and playwrights English male tennis players British male tennis players People educated at Oundle School People educated at Sidcot School Royal Artillery officers Writers from Wuhan 20th-century English sportsmen