Highgate Cemetery - East - David Dalrymple Butler 01

David Dalrymple Butler (12 November 1927 – 27 May 2006) was a Scottish writer of numerous screenplays and teleplays who won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

and was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

. He specialized in period-piece drama and is particularly remembered for a string of hit British television shows, including ''

Within These Walls ''Within These Walls'' is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, ...

'', '' Lillie'', ''

We'll Meet Again "We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song by English singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with ...

'' and ''

Edward the Seventh ''Edward the Seventh'' is a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward VII, wi ...

'', as well as for his acting, most specifically as Dr. Nick Williams on British television's first medical

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

Emergency - Ward 10 ''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like ''The Grove Family'', a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, ''Emergency Ward 10'' is considered to be one of British television's fi ...

'' in 1960–62.

Early years

A native of the town of

Larkhall Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France. Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

, Butler was born into a well-educated family, with his parents working as teachers. At the age of 18, as

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

came to an end, he enrolled at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, but ultimately abandoned his studies before attaining a degree, upon becoming interested in acting with the university drama society. He subsequently trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

and began his performing career in West End revues. David completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, initially training as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

. Due to his poor eyesight, he ended up being posted to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

where he led jungle patrols against terrorists in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

in 1953. In 1956, at the age of 29, he played a prison officer in

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West En ...

production of

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

's ''

The Quare Fellow ''The Quare Fellow'' is Brendan Behan's first play, first produced in 1954. The title is taken from a Hiberno-English pronunciation of ''queer''. Plot The play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The anti-hero of the play, The Quare Fellow, is never ...

''.

Career highlights

In 1959, he married actress

Norma Ronald Norma Ronald (1 March 1937, Northumberland, UK – 20 November 1993, Clara Vale, Ryton, Tyne and Wear, UK) was a British actress known for her appearances as Mildred Murfin in the 1960s BBC radio comedy series ''The Men from the Ministry'', as ...

and, by the early 1960s, was supplementing his acting career with scriptwriting. Following a 1966 divorce, his 1969 marriage to Mary McPhail lasted for the remainder of his life and produced two daughters. By 1971, he had mostly given up acting and began to devote all of his energies to turning out teleplays. One of his first successes in the historical genre was 1972's ''

The Strauss Family ''The Strauss Family'' is a 1972 British Associated Television series of eight episodes,Acorn DVD sleeve notes about the family of composers of that name, including Johann Strauss I and his sons Johann Strauss II, Eduard Strauss and Josef Strau ...

'' followed by many other productions, including ''

The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jo ...

'' in 1976–77, 1978's ''

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

'', starring

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004 ...

and his 1986 Primetime Emmy Award-winning '' Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy'' with

Nicol Williamson Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a Scottish actor, once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and view ...

in the title role. Circumstances also permitted an occasional return to acting, as in his own teleplays of the 1974–78 prison television series ''

'', in some episodes of which he played the penal institution chaplain, Rev. Henry Prentice. During this time, he was nominated for an

for his historical screenplay of 1976's ''

Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell. The story was inspired by actual events conc ...

'', depicting the 1939 attempt by 937 Jews to escape the looming

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

via a ship traveling from Hitler's Germany to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, but denied permission to disembark in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

or in the United States.

Death

Butler died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at the age of 78. He is buried in the section of modern graves in the north-east quadrant of the eastern half of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

in north

Awards and nominations

nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for: ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976) * Golden Globe nomination for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: ''Voyage of the Damned'' (1976) * Winner

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special This is a list of the winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Winners and nominations 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Total awards by network * HBO/HB ...

for '' Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy'' (1986)

References

Notes

Sources

Hayward, Anthony. "David Butler—Writer of TV historical dramas" (''The Independent'', 8 June 2006)Newley, Patrick. "David Butler" (''The Stage'', 26 June 2006)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, David 1927 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Scottish male actors 20th-century Scottish writers 21st-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish writers Male actors from London Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art People from Larkhall Primetime Emmy Award winners Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish screenwriters Scottish male stage actors Scottish television writers Writers from London 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights British male television writers 20th-century British screenwriters Burials at Highgate Cemetery