Mary Diana Morgan (29 May 1908, in Cardiff, Wales – 9 December 1996, in

Northwood, Middlesex Northwood is an affluent area in northwest London, England. It is located within the London Borough of Hillingdon on the border with Hertfordshire and from Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex and has f ...

, England) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, mostly associated with her work for Ealing Studios as Diana Morgan. She was married to fellow screenwriter Robert MacDermot.

Career

Mary Diana Morgan was born in Cardiff, Wales on 29 May 1908. She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her London stage debut was in

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

's '' Cavalcade'' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1931. On 8 September 1934, she married Robert MacDermot Barbour (b. 19 March 1910 in

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, India), who would become Head of BBC TV Drama in 1948. They had a son, Richard Morgan Derry MacDermot Barbour. After their marriage, they began writing as a partnership. Their early work was for the London stage and included a full revue in 1938 at the London Hippodrome, ''Black and Blue'', starring

Frances Day Frances Day (born Frances Victoria Schenk; December 16, 1907April 29, 1984) was an American actress and singer who achieved great popularity in the UK in the 1930s. Her career began as a nightclub cabaret singer in New York City and London. ...

, Vic Oliver and

Max Wall Max Wall (12 March 1908 – 21 May 1990) was an English actor and comedian whose performing career covered music hall, films, television and theatre. Early years Wall was born Maxwell George Lorimer, son of the successful music hall entert ...

.Adam Benedic
Obituary: Diana Morgan
''The Independent'', 6 January 1997 Morgan and MacDermot were later hired by stage director

Norman Marshall Norman Edgar Marshall (27 February 1924 – 11 August 2007) was a West Indian international cricketer. He was born in the Welchman Hall Plantation, Saint Thomas, Barbados and played in a Test match against Australia in 1955. His brother Roy al ...

, who was impressed with their witty and satirical scripts. Their task was to write a stage show for Hermione Gingold. Although slow to begin, the show was a great success, selling out for its eight-week run. Morgan and MacDermot would go on to write the stage shows, ''Lets Face It!'' (1939) and ''Swinging the Gate'' (1940), as well as many revues for the West End and the outlying club theatres. In the 1940s Morgan wrote several plays including a ''House in the Square'' (1940) and ''Rain before Seven'' (1949). Also during the 1940s, Morgan made significant script contributions to several Ealing screenplays. She is currently better known for her screenplays than her stage work. A contract writer, her film work included '' Went the Day Well?'' (1942) and additional dialogue for '' A Run for Your Money'' (1949). In 1960 she scripted Philip Leacock's film '' Hand in Hand'' about a Roman Catholic child and his Jewish friend, for which she won several international awards. Her television work included '' Emergency – Ward 10'' and its spin-off ''Call Oxbridge 2000'', while she also made contributions to radio and wrote two novels: ''Delia'' (1974) and ''Thomas the Fish'' (1976).

Death

MacDermot died in London on 21 November 1964, while Morgan lived until 9 December 1996, and died in Northwood, Middlesex.

Notable stage work

*''Bats In The Belfry'' (1937) *''Transatlantic Lullaby'' (1939) * ''Black & Blue'' Revue –

(1939) *''Let's Face it!'' (1939) *''A House in the Square'' (1940) *''Three Waltzes'' (1945) *''My Sex Right or Wrong'' (1947) *''Swinging the Gate'' (1950) *''Everyman'' (1952) *''After my Fashion'' (1952) *''The Starcross Story'' (1953) *''I"ll Take the High Road...'' (1956) *''Your Obedient Servant'' (1960) *''Rain Before Seven'' (1960) *''Time to Kill'' (1961) *''Hand in Hand'' (1963) *''Little evenings'' (1971) *''My Cousin Rachel'' (1980) (based in the novel ''

My Cousin Rachel ''My Cousin Rachel'' is a Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1951. Bearing thematic similarities to her earlier and more famous novel '' Rebecca'', it is a mystery-romance, set primarily on a large estate in ...

'' by Daphne Du Maurier)

Notable film work

*'' Went the Day Well?'' (1943) *''

Pink String and Sealing Wax ''Pink String and Sealing Wax'' is a 1945 British drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Mervyn Johns. It is based on a play with the same name by Roland Pertwee. It was the first feature film Robert Hamer directed on his own. The ti ...

'' (1945) *'' A Run for Your Money'' (1949) * ''

Poet's Pub ''Poet's Pub'' is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Frederick Wilson and starring Derek Bond, Rona Anderson and James Robertson Justice. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by Eric Linklater. The film was one of four of David ...

'' (1949) *'' Dance Hall'' (1950) *'' Hand in Hand'' (1960)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Diana 1908 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Welsh dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British screenwriters 20th-century Welsh actresses 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh women writers Writers from Cardiff Welsh satirists Welsh screenwriters Welsh stage actresses Welsh women dramatists and playwrights Women satirists Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Welsh television writers British women television writers Welsh women novelists