Richard Hamilton Lane (

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), (18 January 1918 – 20 February 2008) was an Australian writer (dramatist and playwright) known particularly for his skillful adaptation of plays and films for radio. He is often called the father of Australian radio drama. His career spanned over 60 years, and he is recognised not only for his writing achievements but for his contribution to the Australian Writers' Guild. He also wrote for television, and was described after his death as "luminary of the Australian radio and television industries".AusLit News June/July 2008
/ref>

Life

Richard Lane was born in the Sydney beach suburb of Coogee and went to school in Sydney's northern suburbs at Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga, where "he excelled as an athlete and edited the school magazine".Yeldham (2008) Lane married a few times, with his last wife being the Australian actor, Lynne Murphy.

Writing career

Lane's first short story was published while he was still at school, and more of his stories were published in magazines in the following year. However, it was in radio drama, still in its infancy when he started, that he found his vocation. His first radio play was ''No Escape''.''Vale Richard Lane''
/ref> By the age of 21 Lane had had a number of plays produced by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

and he was being recognised as "an exciting new talent". He became senior playwright at Sydney's radio station 2GB, Australia's largest producer of radio drama. He adapted plays into one-hour dramas, and novels into serial form. He wrote and produced the long-running radio serial Dr Paul. Actors such as Peter Finch appeared in his early plays. By 1949, he was recognised as Australia's "foremost radio playwright". He decided at this time to go freelance, and directed as well as wrote radio drama. With the arrival of television in Australian in 1956, he began writing for that medium too. He wrote for the first Australian produced drama series, ''Autumn Affair''. He adapted classic works, such as

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''Hedda Gabler'', into television plays, and

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

's ''You can't see 'round corners'' into a serial. Lane moved to Melbourne and continued to write for television - for such programs as '' Bellbird'', ''

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

'', '' The Sullivans'' and '' Carson's Law'' - while also writing for radio. He won four Australian Writers Guild (AWGIE) Awards for his work. In his later career he wrote two books on the history of radio drama in Australia, ''The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama''. These books have been described as "history through biography" and provide a comprehensive record of the actors, writers, producers and directors involved in radio drama at "the time when Australia produced more radio drama than any country in the world". Besides his writing, Lane is known for the work he did in forming the Australian Writers Guild. He was part of the group which formed it in 1962,''History of the AWG 1962-2002''
/ref> and was its Vice-President from 1962–64 and then its third President from 1964-68. He was involved in "setting up state branches for the guild, lobbying for an Australian quota, introducing the

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...

for writers, and helping establish the

Australian Film and Television School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establish ...

". Lane was also committed to developing a standard industry-wide contract for use between writers and the production companies or networks, using British agreements as a model. While there was initial support within the industry, problems occurred over the issue of residuals, particularly with the ABC. The ABC finally signed the Guild's standard contract in the early 1970s.

Legacy

In 1988, the Guild awarded him a special award for outstanding contribution to the guild. This special award, named Richard Lane Award, has become an annual award that is presented to an AWG member "in recognition of their outstanding service to the Guild".

Awards

*1968: AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) Award: Major Award for the television adaptation of ''You Can’t See 'Round Corners'' *1975: AWGIE Award: for episode of ''Bellbird'' *1977: AWGIE Award: for episode of ''Bellbird'' *1985: AWGIE Award: for Best Radio Adaptation for ''Great Expectations'' *1988: AWGIE Award (later named The Richard Lane Award): for outstanding contribution to the Guild *1996: ASRA (Australasian Sound Recording Association) Award: for outstanding contributions to radio drama in Australia.

Select credits

*''

Autumn Affair ''Autumn Affair'' is an Australian television series made by and aired by Network Seven station ATN-7, and also shown in Melbourne on Nine Network station GTV-9. Television in Australia had only been broadcasting since 1956 and Seven was the firs ...

'' (1958–59) *'' Johnny Belinda'' (1959)

Notes

References

''History of the AWG 1962-2002''
Accessed: 2008-03-23
''Vale Richard Lane''
Accessed: 2008-03-23 * Yeldham, Peter (2008) "Founding father of radio drama: Richard Lane (1918-2008)", in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 2008-03-11 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Richard 1918 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian soap opera writers Writers from New South Wales Australian male television writers 20th-century Australian screenwriters