William Randolph Marshall (31 August 1947 – 15 July 2016), better known as Billy Marshall Stoneking, was an American-Australian poet, playwright, filmmaker, and teacher. His son C.W. Stoneking is a musician.

Childhood and education

William Randolph Marshall was born in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, on 31 August 1947. He was the second child of Charles and Florence Marshall. His sister, Barbara, named him "Randolph" after her favourite movie actor,

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...

, and his mother selected "William" after an old family friend. The name "Stoneking" derives from his paternal great-grandfather, Reuben Stoneking (of Hundred, WV, Wetzel County). According to Stoneking's own biographical notes, his early years were spent growing up on

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

bases around the United States, including Randolph Field (

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

) and

Fort Slocum Fort Slocum, New York was a US military post which occupied Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York from 1867 to 1965. The fort was named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, a Union corps comm ...

(

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

). When his father retired in 1961, the family moved to

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

where he attended high school in

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jersey * ...

and

Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States which was incorporated in 2003. It is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 64,776 at the 2010 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova was named ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He graduated from

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

, in 1970, majoring in English with minors in philosophy and education. In 1972, Stoneking migrated to Australia. "The bumper stickers said, 'America, love it or leave it', so I left." In 1983, after more than a decade living in Australia, four years of which were spent living with tribal Aboriginal people 275 km west northwest of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, Stoneking graduated from the

Australian Film, Television and Radio 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 Establishe ...

in Sydney, specialising in screenwriting.

Career

Teaching

After Stoneking arrived in Australia in 1972, he worked for many years as a high school teacher. His ties to teaching and pedagogy motivated him to spend four years at

Papunya Papunya (Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, ...

Aboriginal Settlement in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, during which time he collected stories for use in a bilingual reading program. Between 2000 and 2007, he spent seven years teaching screenwriting at the

(AFTRS).

Writing

Stoneking has published his poems in magazines around Australia, and was also active in the performance poetry movement, which included fellow poets

Pi O П. O. (or Pi O, born 1951) is a Greek-Australian, working class, anarchist poet. Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to t ...

, Amanda Stewart and

Jas H. Duke Jas Heriot Duke (1939–1992) was a cult figure in the Australian performance poetry scene. He worked much of his life in Melbourne Board of Works and began writing poetry in 1966. He was influenced by Dada, Expressionism and experimental movemen ...

. His poems have been featured in the ''Oxford Book of Australian Poetry'' (edited by Les Murray) and '' The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry'' (edited by

John Tranter John Ernest Tranter (born 29 April 1943) is an Australian poet, publisher and editor. He has published more than twenty books of poetry; devising, with Jan Garrett, the long running ABC radio program ''Books and Writing''; and founding in 1997 ...

and Philip Mead). He was also the author of seven books, including ''Lasseter, In Quest of Gold'' (published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1989), ''Singing the Snake: Poems from the Western Desert 1979–1988'' (published by Angus & Robertson in 1990) and an autobiography: ''Taking America Out of the Boy'' (published by Hodder Spectrum in 1993).

Screenplays

In 1982 Stoneking entered the full-time screenwriting program of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Stoneking's first films were made in the mid-1980s, including a chronicle of his work at Papunya Aboriginal Settlement, ''Desert Stories''. He also edited many television scripts, and was the co-creator/writer of ''Stringer'', the AFI award-winning drama series. He also wrote a script for one of the episodes of ''Mission: Impossible'' (1988 TV series), which was broadcast during that show's two year revival (1988–1990). He also penned the full-length stage play ''Sixteen Words for Water''.

Script editor, producer and story consultant

Stoneking was a teacher of dramatic writing. His "Drama of Screenwriting" workshop has been held in every capital city in Australia and New Zealand. He was one of the script editors on the AFI-nominated Australian feature '' Chopper'' (2000). Stoneking produced a number of small films, including ''Nosepeg's Movie'' and ''Jelly's Placenta''. He was the executive producer of the documentary ''Gayby Baby.'' Stoneking died in 2016 at the age of 68.

Selected bibliography

;Poetry collections *''Ear Ink: Poems'' (Papunya, NT: Dead Center Vanity Press, 1979). *''Singing the Snake: Poems from the Western Desert 1979–1988'' (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1990). ;Novels *''Stringer'' (1988) *''The Speed of Darkness'' (1989) ;Other *''Sixteen Words for Water'' (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1991) – drama *''Taking America Out of the Boy'' (1993) – autobiography

Notes

External links

Billy Marshall Stoneking's authorised blog
*
Where's The Drama?
- The Ultimate Screen Drama website
Stoneking's Published and Produced Work
- excerpts and links to poetry, plays and films {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoneking, Billy Marshall 1947 births 2016 deaths Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni