Stephen G. Watts
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Stephen Glass Watts (19 September 1910 – 1996) was a Scottish author, film and drama critic.


Early years

Stephen Watts was born in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
in 1910 and attended North Kelvinside Higher Grade School and was initially apprenticed to an accountant before turning to journalism first as film critic of The Bulletin (1928–32) and then editor of the Scottish Stage magazine (1931–1934). Stephen Watts moved to London at the age of 21 and worked firstly as a critic and feature writer for ''
Film Weekly ''Film Weekly'' was one of the leading popular film magazines published in the United Kingdom during the late 1920s and 1930s. Background Launched in 1928, the magazine became known for its gossipy interest in contemporary film stars. Columnist ...
'' (1932–1934) and then film and drama critic of the ''
Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'' (1934–1939).


Second World War Service

As recounted in his war memoir ''Moonlight on a Lake in Bond Street'', Stephen Watts volunteered for the army the day after war broke out, and eventually rose to the rank of Major in the
King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United Sta ...
, and was "lent" (but not formally transferred) to the Intelligence Corps. He was in the Café de Paris when it was bombed in March 1941, and was involved in a deception involving a double for General (later Field Marshal)
Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...
("Monty") in the run-up to
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in 1944. He was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
by the United States of America for his work as the
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
Representative on the Inter-Services Security Board, United Kingdom (1943–44), in particular because, "Through his cooperation and unstinted advice, Major Watt (sic) rendered invaluable assistance and aided materially in the performance of the American military mission".Citation for award of Bronze Star Medal to "Major Stephen G. Watts, (then Captain), British Army" (1946).


Subsequent career

After the war, Stephen Watts returned to the ''
Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'' (1945–1949) before becoming film correspondent of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' (1949–1969). He also wrote for a wide variety of publications including the ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News, Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine wit ...
'' (for which he was a columnist), the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'', the ''
Sunday Graphic The ''Sunday Graphic'' was a weekly English tabloid newspaper that was published in Fleet Street. The newspaper was founded in 1915 as the ''Sunday Herald'' and was later renamed the ''Illustrated Sunday Herald''. It was acquired by Alli ...
'', ''
Picturegoer ''Picturegoer'' was a fan magazine published in the United Kingdom between 1911 and 23 April 1960. Background The magazine was started in 1911 under the name ''The Pictures'' and in 1914 it merged with ''Picturegoer''. Following the merge it was ...
'' magazine, ''
Leader Magazine ''Leader Magazine'' was a weekly pictorial magazine published in the United Kingdom. The magazine was first owned by Pearson and then by Odhams. Later it became part of Hulton Press. The headquarters of the magazine was in London. The last issue o ...
'', and ''
Lilliput Lilliput is an island nation in Jonathan Swift's novel ''Gulliver's Travels''. Lilliput may also refer to: Geography * Lilliput (townland), a townland in County Westmeath, Ireland * Lilliput, Dorset, a district in the town of Poole in Dorset, ...
'' magazine. He chaired the Film Section of
The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national professional body of British critics for books, drama, film, music, dance, visual arts and architecture. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the defunct Society of Dramatic Critics, formed in 1906. The ...
(1947–48) and was president of
The Critics' Circle The Critics' Circle is the national professional body of British critics for books, drama, film, music, dance, visual arts and architecture. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the defunct Society of Dramatic Critics, formed in 1906. The ...
(1953–54). He was made a life member of the
National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...
(NUJ) in 1980. In addition, he wrote several books (see "Books") and edited over 200 booklets in the Background Books series for
Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1887 by John Lane and Elkin Mathews, The Bodley Head existed as an independent entity or as part of multiple consortia until it was acquired by Random ...
. He was also a television drama script editor for
Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (TV network ...
(1960–1962).


Personal life

Stephen Watts was married twice: first to Academy-Award and
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
winning costume designer
Margaret Furse Margaret Furse (born Alice Margaret Watts, 18 February 1911 – 8 July 1974) was a British costume designer. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design six times, winning for ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969). ...
, who won the
Academy Award for Best Costume Design The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for achievement in film costume design. The award was first given in 1949, for films made in 1948 ...
for
Anne of the Thousand Days ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' is a 1969 British historical drama film based on the life of Anne Boleyn, directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The screenplay by Bridget Boland and John Hale is an adaptation of the 1948 pl ...
(1969), until her death in 1974, and second, in 1979, to Lady Helen Richards (widow of the judge Sir Norman Richards QC) until his death in Guilford in 1996. He had no children. Although he lived in London for the rest of his life after moving there in 1932, he remained attached to his home city of
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
and, in particular, maintained a lifelong friendship with the Scottish writer and broadcaster
Jack House John House (16 May 1906 – 11 April 1991) was a prolific and popular Scottish writer and broadcaster, with a significant attachment to the Glasgow, City of Glasgow. Early life East end House was born in Tollcross, Glasgow, Tollcross, then in ...
.


Books

''Behind the Screen'' (Arthur Barker, 1938) (Editor), subtitled ''How Films are Made''. ''The Pale Horse'' (Macmillan, 1943), a collection of short stories (not to be confused with the later novel by
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...
with the same name). ''The Sound of the Trumpet'' (Selwyn H Blount, 1946), a novel. ''Moonlight on a Lake in Bond Street'' (Bodley Head, 1961 and W. W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1962), a war memoir. ''Sober and Properly Dressed'' (Bodley Head, 1963), a novel. ''The Ritz'' (Bodley Head, 1964), a factual history.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Stephen Glass Scottish male writers Writers from Glasgow 1910 births 1996 deaths Presidents of the Critics' Circle 20th-century Scottish writers Scottish film critics British Army personnel of World War II King's Royal Rifle Corps officers