Ronald Cass (21 April 1923 – 2 June 2006), also known as Ronnie Cass, was a British

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, playwright, novelist and music director. He co-wrote the screenplays for the

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

films '' The Young Ones'' (1961) and ''

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'' (1963).

Biography

Cass was born in

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

, Wales, to Saul and Rachel Cass, the second of five sons. One of his brothers, Leslie Cass, also worked in the same field as Ronnie, and composed his own play entitled ''The Story of Ruth'', which was performed in

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. His family was

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, and he was himself a member of the New London Synagogue. Cass first pursued a career as a maths teacher but in 1951 was recognized more for his contributions to several musicals produced at

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's Irving Theatre club. Cass was studying economics at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

when

World War II 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 ...

began and he joined the RAF. When he and his squadron were posted in

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, he insisted that they take a piano with them so that he could continue entertaining the troops. Cass returned to Wales after the war ended in 1945, but travelled to

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in 1949 in search of musical opportunities. It did not take much searching before Cecil Landeau hired him as musical director at Ciro's night-club, and it was there that Cass met Peter Myers, who was preparing a new revue. They soon put together a successful after-the-show show called ''10:15'' at the Irving Theatre. In 1952, Cass attended a show performed by the students of the

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, and was so impressed by one of them,

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in '' Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Glob ...

, that he and Myers decided to let him make a début performance in ''Intimacy at 8'', a revue presented at the New Lindsay Theatre. This show was retitled ''High Spirits'' when it reopened in the Hippodrome Theatre in 1953. Cass said that ''High Spirits'' had always been his favourite show. Among the cast was an actress named Valerie Carton, whom he married in 1955. Cass went on to write TV plays, cantatas, and cabaret shows for cruise liners. He composed the score to the film adaptation of ''

Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width ''Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width'' is a British television sitcom first broadcast in 1967 as a single play in the ''Armchair Theatre'' anthology series, later becoming a series of half-hour episodes, which ran until 1971. A total of 40 ...

'' in 1973, and joined his old friend,

Warren Mitchell Warren Mitchell (born Warren Misell; 14 January 1926 – 14 November 2015) was an English actor best known for playing bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in television, film and stage productions from the 1960s to the 1990s. He was a BAFTA TV A ...

, to write ''The Thoughts of Chairman Alf'' in 1975, which travelled with them and was performed all over the country for the next twenty years. Cass worked with another friend,

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, on more than 70 television shows and musicals. In the 1990s he acted as Programme Associate on ITV's ''

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'' programmes with Sir Harry Secombe. Having joined the theatre from the world of cabaret, Cass tried cabaret again in 1979, co-writing ''Blondes and Bombshells''. He wrote two novels, ''True Blue'' and ''Fringe Benefits'', and a book of theatrical humour called ''A Funny Thing Happened or an Anthology of Pro's''.

Personal life

Ronald Cass married actress Valerie Carton in 1955, and had three children, Debbie, Stephen and Nicola, and four grandchildren, Joseph, Rachel, Leila and Benji. He died in June 2006, at the age of 83.

Credits

;Theatre works *''10:15 Revue'' (1951) *''The Irving Revue'' (1952) *''Just Lately, Intimacy at Eight'' (1952) *''High Spirits'' (1953) *''Intimacy at 8:30'' (1954) *''For Amusement Only'' (1956) *''Harmony Close'' (1957) *''For Adults Only'' (1958) *''The Lord Chamberlain Regrets'' (1961) *''Enrico'' (1963) *''Jack and the Beanstalk'' (composition contributor) (1968) *''Deja Revue'' (1975) *''Deja Revue, Move Along Sideways'' (1975) *''The Thoughts of Chairman Alf'' (1977) *''Blondes and Bombshells'' (1979) ;Film scores *'' The Young Ones'' (1961) *''

'' (1963) *''

'' (1973) ;Teleplays *''Affair on Demand'' *''The Other Side of London'' ;Writings *''A Funny Thing Happened, or An Anthology of Pro's'' *''The Highway Companion'' *''True Blue'' *''Fringe Benefits''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Ronald 1923 births 2006 deaths Welsh Jews Musical theatre directors People from Llanelli Welsh male screenwriters Welsh male songwriters 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century British screenwriters Alumni of Aberystwyth University