John Roy Chapman (27 May 1927 – 3 September 2001) was a British actor, playwright and screenwriter, known for his collaborations with

Ray Cooney Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director. His biggest success, '' Run for Your Wife'' (1983), ran for nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 ...

Biography

Early life

Born in Acton, John Chapman was the nephew of the actor Edward Chapman; his own father was an engineer. His brother, Paul Chapman, became an actor. John Chapman trained at

RADA 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 Se ...

, and made his acting debut in

Enid Bagnold Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981) was a British writer and playwright known for the 1935 story ''National Velvet''. Early life Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, daughte ...

's ''National Velvet'' in 1946.Obituary: John Chapman
telegraph.co.uk, 7 September 2001

Early career

Initially a stage manager and understudy at the

Whitehall Theatre Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

for the first two years of ''Reluctant Heroes'', the first

Whitehall farce The Whitehall farces were a series of five long-running comic stage plays at the Whitehall Theatre in London, presented by the actor-manager Brian Rix, in the 1950s and 1960s. They were in the low comedy tradition of British farce, following the ...

, he subsequently spent a few years in weekly rep before returning to

Brian Rix Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, (27 January 1924 – 20 August 2016) was an English actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage, including ''Dry Rot'', '' Simple Spymen'' and ''One for ...

's company with his first play. ''Dry Rot'' (1954), which is about dishonest bookmakers, had a four-year run with 1,475 performances.

joined the cast in 1956 and first met the author at this time. Chapman followed this production with ''

Simple Spymen ''Simple Spymen'' is a farce by the English playwright John Chapman (screenwriter), John Chapman. The story concerns two street musicians who are mistakenly appointed by negligent army officers to act as bodyguards to protect a scientist from a ...

'' (1958),"12 Successful Years For Mr. Brian Rix", ''The Times'', 13 September 1962, p. 12 which was staged 1,404 times over a three-year run.

Writing and collaboration with Cooney

Before the production of ''Simple Spymen'' closed, Chapman and Cooney had begun their collaboration. Together they wrote ''

Not Now, Darling ''Not Now, Darling'' is a 1967 farce written by English playwrights John Chapman and Ray Cooney, first staged at the Richmond Theatre, in Richmond, England prior to a long West End run. The production starred Donald Sinden and Bernard Cribb ...

'' (1967, which Chapman adapted for the film version), '' Move Over, Mrs. Markham'' (1968), ''My Giddy Aunt'' (1968) and ''There Goes the Bride'' (1973).Ray Coonet
Obituary: John Chapman
''The Guardian'', 8 September 2001 Meanwhile, he also wrote extensively for television including episodes of the sitcoms ''

Hugh and I ''Hugh and I'' is a black-and-white British sitcom that aired from 1962 to 1967. It starred Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd as two friends who shared lodgings with Terry's mother and was followed by a sequel called '' Hugh and I Spy''. The two actor ...

'' (1962-1965) and '' Happy Ever After'' (1974-1977), both of which were BBC vehicles for

Terry Scott Owen John "Terry" Scott (4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the ''Carry On films''. He is also best known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcom ''Terry and June'' with June Whitfield. Early lif ...

. ''

Fresh Fields ''Fresh Fields'' is a British sitcom starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. A ratings success at the time, it was written by John Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV, running for four series between 7 March 1984 and 23 Oc ...

'' (1984–1986), and its sequel ''

French Fields ''French Fields'' is a British television sitcom. It is a sequel/continuation of the series ''Fresh Fields'' and ran for 19 episodes from 5 September 1989 to 8 October 1991. It was written by John T. Chapman (who created and wrote all the episo ...

'' (1988-1992) for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, featured

Anton Rodgers Anthony "Anton" Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including ''Fresh Fields'' (ITV, ...

and

Julia McKenzie Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...

in the leads.

Personal life and death

Chapman was married to actress Betty Impey, from

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

, and they had four children, Mark, Adam, Justin and Guy (who died when he was young). Chapman died from cancer at his home in

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is al ...

, France, on 3 September 2001, aged 74.

Filmography

*''

Dry Rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

'', directed by

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

(1956, based on the 1954 play ''Dry Rot'') *''

'', directed by

and David Croft (1973, based on the 1967 play ''

'') *'' There Goes the Bride'', directed by

Terry Marcel Terry Marcel (born 10 June 1942, Oxford, England) is a British film director, perhaps best known for the cult film ''Hawk the Slayer'' (1980) which he co-created with producer Harry Robertson. His other films include ''Prisoners of the Lost Un ...

(1980, based on the 1973 play ''There Goes the Bride'') *''Sé infiel y no mires con quién'', directed by

Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer. Between 1974 and 1979, he worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper ''El País''. ...

(Spain, 1985, based on the 1968 play ''Move Over Mrs. Markham'')

Screenwriter

*''

The Night We Dropped a Clanger ''The Night We Dropped a Clanger'' is a 1959 black and white British comedy film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Brian Rix, Cecil Parker, William Hartnell and Leslie Phillips; Andrew Sachs made his screen debut. The title comes from th ...

'', directed by

Darcy Conyers Darcy Conyers (1919–1973) was a British screenwriter, actor, producer and film director. He is sometimes credited as D'Arcy Conyers. He was the founder and creator of Bistro Vino in South Kensington, London, in 1964 - possibly the first casua ...

(1959) *''

Nothing Barred ''Nothing Barred'' is a 1961 British black and white comedy film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Brian Rix, Leo Franklyn and Naunton Wayne. Plot Penniless Lord Whitebait (Naunton Wayne) plans to save his dwindling fortunes by opening ...

'', directed by

(1961)

References

External links

*
Performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, John Roy 1927 births 2001 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English screenwriters Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British male television writers Deaths from cancer in France English expatriates in France English television writers Male actors from London People from Acton, London Writers from London