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John Stanley Hawkesworth (7 December 1920 – 30 September 2003) was a British television and film producer and screenwriter, best known for his work on the period drama ''
Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...
'' and the
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
adaptation of ''
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
''.


Early life

Hawkesworth was born in London on 7 December 1920, the son of the-then
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
J. L. I. Hawkesworth, a British Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general and who had fought in the First World War (1914–1918) and Helen Jane Hawkesworth (née McNaughton). He was educated at
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
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and Oxford. During the Second World War (1939–1945) he was commissioned as a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
, in 1941, into the 4th Battalion, Grenadier Guards and served with it throughout the
North-West Europe Campaign of 1944–45 North-West Europe 1944–1945 is a battle honour (more properly known as an honorary distinction) earned by regiments of the British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War that took part in the actions of the northern part of the war's We ...
. He left the army with the rank of captain in 1946. In the late 1940s Hawkesworth began his film career as an assistant to
art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Vincent Korda working with him on '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948). He also worked on films such as '' The Third Man'' (1949), ''
Outcast of the Islands ''Outcast of the Islands'' is a 1951 British adventure drama film directed by Carol Reed based on Joseph Conrad's 1896 novel ''An Outcast of the Islands''. The film features Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley and Wendy Hiller. Pl ...
'' (1951) and '' The Sound Barrier'' (1952).


Career

By the mid-1950s, Hawkesworth was an independent designer, and films he worked on included '' The Prisoner'' (1955). He soon joined Rank as a trainee producer, and qualified as an associate producer while working on the film '' Windom's Way'' (1957). For the film ''
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'' (1959), he was the producer and wrote the screenplay. In the mid-1960s, he began to work for television, and he wrote the scripts for programmes including '' The Hidden Truth'' (1964), '' The Short Stories of Conan Doyle'' (1967) and ''
The Gold Robbers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1969). After
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and Eileen Atkins came up with an idea for a period comedy featuring two
maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
s, Hawkesworth, along with John Whitney, turned the idea into the success that became ''
Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...
''. He went on to produce 65 out of the 68 episodes from 1971 to 1975. He also wrote 12 episodes and some of the novelisations. Following this, he produced the BBC drama '' The Duchess of Duke Street'' (1976–77), and created as well as produced the 1979 Euston Films series '' Danger UXB'' (1979) for Thames Television. During the 1980s, he produced many television programmes including '' By the Sword Divided'' (1983), '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' (1984) and '' Oscar'' (1985).


Later years

Hawkesworth's final work was writing the screenplay for the comedy-drama ''
Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris ''Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris'' is a novel written by Paul Gallico and published in 1958. In the United Kingdom, it was published as ''Flowers for Mrs Harris''. It was the first in a series of four books about the adventures of a London charwoman. P ...
'' (1992). He was married to Hyacinth and they had two children. In his biography of the television producer Verity Lambert, Richard Marson describes Hyacinth as "fiercely snobbish", and as someone who "answered to the unlikely nickname 'Pussy'". Pussy occasionally accompanied Hawkesworth to meetings. In his retirement, he spent much time painting. He died in
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
in 2003 aged 82.


References

*John Hawkesworth, ''In My Lady's Chamber'', Sphere Books Limited, 1973 *Richard Marson, "Inside UpDown - The Story of Upstairs, Downstairs", Kaleidoscope Publishing, 2005 *Richard Marson, "Drama and Delight - The life of Verity Lambert", Miwk Publishing, 2015


External links

*
John Hawkesworth at BFI ScreenOnlineObituary at ''The Boston Globe''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkesworth, John 1920 births 2003 deaths Alumni of the University of Oxford English film producers English male screenwriters English television producers People educated at Rugby School Writers from London University of Paris alumni Grenadier Guards officers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from London British Army personnel of World War II