Gerald Douglas Savory (17 November 1909 – 9 February 1996) was an English writer and television producer who specialised in comedies.

Early life

The son of Kenneth Douglas Savory and actress Grace Lane (1877–1956), Savory was educated at Bradfield College and worked as a stockbroker's clerk before turning to the stage ( Hull Repertory Theatre Company 1931–33), first as an actor then a writer.

Career

Savory's play '' George and Margaret'', written while out of work as an actor, ran for two years at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

and a year at the

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

. It then transferred to Broadway, where it ran for 86 performances, and was later filmed. His earliest work in the film industry was as a dialogue writer for director

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 ...

's '' Young and Innocent'' (1937). Savory lived in the USA in the 1940s and 50s writing for film and television, and became an American citizen. After returning to England in the mid 1950s he became a writer, producer and production manager for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

, producing five episodes of '' ITV Play of the Week''; adapting

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

, J.B. Priestley,

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

for television. He then joined

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

, first as Head of Serials, then Head of Plays. He produced the unsuccessful series '' Churchill's People'' (1975–76) for the BBC and '' Love in a Cold Climate'' (1980) for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

Personal life

Savory was married four times but had no children other than a stepson by his fourth wife. His first marriage, to writer Teo Dunbar, ended in divorce. In 1950, he married American actress Althea Murphy (1916–1952), who died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

in 1952. In 1953, he married actress Annette Carell, who died by suicide in 1967. He was survived by his fourth wife, actress Sheila Brennan, whom he married in 1970. Savory died in England on 9 February 1996.

Plays

*'' George and Margaret'' 1937 (377 performances in the West End, filmed in 1940) *''Hand in Glove'' 1944 with Charles K. Freeman based on his own novel ''Hughie Roddis'' *''A Likely Tale'' 1957 *''A Month of Sundays'' 1957 *''So Many Children'' 1959 *''Cup and Saucer'' 1961 *''Twinkling of an Eye'' 1965

Novels

*''Hughie Roddis'' 1942 *''Behold This Dreamer'' 1943

Television

*''

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

'', 24 November 1959, ITV Play of the Week (adaptation) *''

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

'', 1977 *'' Mapp and Lucia,'' Series One 1985; Series Two 1986

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Savory, Gerald Place of death missing 1909 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists BBC executives BBC television producers English male dramatists and playwrights English emigrants to the United States English male novelists ITV people Novelists from London Television producers from London