Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953).

Biography

Wilson was born in Sale,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England, and was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

. In 1942 he won a State Scholarship for a wartime course at

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

and was assigned to study Japanese. He was thus one of the so-called 'Dulwich Boys' who studied at SOAS and boarded at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose o ...

. While there he put together a satirical review titled 'A Matter of Course' based on his experiences on the Japanese course. He was one of the few not to complete the course and he subsequently served in the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

in Great Britain, Egypt and Iraq. After the war he went to

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

and while a student wrote revues for the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club and then attended the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

Theatre School on a production course. Most of his work for the stage was material for

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

s, such as Hermione Gingold's '' Slings and Arrows'', Laurier Lister's ''

Oranges and Lemons "Oranges and Lemons" is a traditional English nursery rhyme, folksong, and singing game which refers to the bells of several churches, all within or close to the City of London. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No 13190. The earlie ...

'', and '' See You Later'', starring such performers as

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

. He wrote the book, music and lyrics for '' The Boy Friend'' for the Players' Theatre in 1953. Its success resulted in a longer version being produced in the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Wyndhams 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 archi ...

. After its opening in January 1954, over 2,000 performances were put on there. It opened on Broadway in 1954, at the Royale Theater, and introduced

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy ...

in her Broadway debut. The show ran on Broadway for over 480 performances. Wilson wrote the musical ''

Valmouth ''Valmouth'' is a 1919 novel by British author Ronald Firbank. Valmouth is an imaginary English spa resort that attracts centenarians owing to its famed pure air. The town's name evokes actual seaside towns in the southwest peninsula of Britain, ...

'' in 1958, based on a Ronald Firbank novel set in a seaside resort. In 1964 he wrote ''

Divorce Me, Darling! ''Divorce Me, Darling'' is a musical written by Sandy Wilson. Set 10 years after the events depicted in Wilson's much better-known '' The Boy Friend'', it is a pastiche of 1930s musicals (in particular those of Cole Porter) rather than the " Roa ...

'', a sequel to ''The Boy Friend''. His last work was a version of ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' (1979) for the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. His autobiography, published in 1975, is titled ''I Could Be Happy''. Sandy Wilson died in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by t ...

, England in 2014, aged 90. His longtime partner was Chak Yui. Wilson was a member of the Labour Party and contributed to the ''

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...

'' magazine during his years of greatest fame. In 1999, Wilson donated his papers to the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pu ...

."Sandy Wilson:A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center"
Utexas.edu, retrieved 9 March 2010 The papers include produced and unproduced plays, mostly musicals but also plays for stage and TV, as well as drafts of Wilson's published and unpublished works including an autobiography, illustrated book, novels, articles, and short stories, along with correspondence.

Musicals

*'' Caprice'' (1950) *'' The Boy Friend'' (1953) *'' The Buccaneer'' (1955) *''

'' (1958) *''

Pieces of Eight The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...

'' (1959) *''

'' (1964) *''As Dorothy Parker Once Said'' (1969) *'' His Monkey Wife'' (1971) *''

The Clapham Wonder ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (1978, based on the novel ''

The Vet's Daughter ''The Vet's Daughter'' () is a 1959 novel by English author Barbara Comyns. Premise Alice Rowlands is the daughter of a South London veterinarian in the Edwardian era. Alice's father is a bully who rules their repressed house through terror. ...

'' by Barbara Comyns) *''

'' (1979)

Notes

References

*Gale, Steven. ''Encyclopedia of British Humorists: Geoffrey Chaucer to John Cleese'', Volume 2, Taylor & Francis, 1996, , p. 1216.

External links

Sandy Wilson Papers
at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

*
Sandy Wilson Neglected master of the British musical
ached page retrieved from Archive.orgbr>Sandy Wilson at The Playwrights Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Sandy 1924 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English musical theatre composers English male composers People educated at Harrow School People from Sale, Greater Manchester Musicians from Greater Manchester British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers British expatriates in Egypt British expatriates in Iraq Alumni of SOAS University of London