Critic John Heilpern Discusses John Osborne Biography on "Theater Talk"

By Zachary Pincus-Roth
February 8, 2007

Theatre critic John Heilpern of the New York Observer will be on the talk show "Theater Talk" the early morning of Feb. 10 at 12:30 AM ET to discuss his new biography "John Osborne: The Many Lives of the Angry Young Man."

Hosted by New York Post theatre columnist Michael Riedel and producer Susan Haskins, "Theater Talk" airs Friday nights at 12:30 AM and Monday mornings at 5:30 AM. It repeats on CUNY TV on Saturdays at 8:30 PM, Sundays at 12:30 AM and Mondays at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

Heilpern's other books include "Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa" and "How Good Is David Mamet Anyway? Writings On Theater — And Why It Matters."

Osborne was born in London in 1929 and began work as a reporter before becoming an actor. Look Back in Anger, which in effect set off a whole revival of British drama and helped give currency to the phrase "angry young man" in reference to certain British writers of the 1950s, was first performed in the opening season of the English Stage Company at The Royal Court Theatre in 1956 and subsequently on Broadway in 1957.

Osborne went on to write over 30 stage and television plays, including The Entertainer, starring Sir Laurence Olivier; Luther, starring Albert Finney; Inadmissible Evidence, starring Nicol Williamson; A Patriot for Me, starring Maximillian Schell; The Hotel in Amsterdam, starring Paul Scofield; Epitaph for George Dillon; The World Of Paul Slickey; Time Present; West of Suez; A Sense of Detachment; and Dejavu, a sequel to Look Back in Anger.

Osborne won an Oscar for the screenplay of "Tom Jones" and wrote two volumes of autobiography, "A Better Class of Person" and "Almost a Gentleman." He died in 1994.

For more information, visit www.theatertalk.org.