John Richard Thomas Sullivan
OBE (23 December 1946 – 22 April 2011) was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several
British sitcom
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.
Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...
s, including ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...
'', ''
Citizen Smith
''Citizen Smith'' is a British television sitcom written by John Sullivan, first broadcast from 1977 to 1980.
It starred Robert Lindsay as Walter Henry "Wolfie" Smith, a young Marxist "urban guerrilla" in Tooting, south London, who is attempti ...
'' and ''
Just Good Friends
''Just Good Friends'' is a British sitcom written by John Sullivan. It stars Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the altar.
Three series and a 9 ...
''.
Biography
John Sullivan was born at 35 Zennor Road, Balham, London, on 23 December 1946.
His Irish-born father was John Patrick Sullivan, (17 March 1908 – September 1993), a plumber, and his mother was Hilda Clara May, née Parker (23 December 1907 – December 1992), a cleaner.
From working-class
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
, Sullivan worked in a variety of low-paid jobs for 15 years before getting his first break writing sketches for ''
The Two Ronnies
''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...
'', which led to writing the sitcom ''
Citizen Smith
''Citizen Smith'' is a British television sitcom written by John Sullivan, first broadcast from 1977 to 1980.
It starred Robert Lindsay as Walter Henry "Wolfie" Smith, a young Marxist "urban guerrilla" in Tooting, south London, who is attempti ...
'' (1977–1980). However, it was the sitcom ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...
'' (1981–2003) that he is best known for. Other sitcoms include ''
Dear John'', ''
Just Good Friends
''Just Good Friends'' is a British sitcom written by John Sullivan. It stars Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the altar.
Three series and a 9 ...
'', ''
Sitting Pretty'', ''
Roger Roger
''Roger Roger'' is a BBC television comedy drama written by John Sullivan. The series was about a mini-cab firm called Cresta Cabs. The pilot aired in 1996 and there were three subsequent series on BBC1 in 1998–2003.
Cast and characters
Mai ...
'', and ''
The Green Green Grass
''The Green Green Grass'' is a BBC television sitcom, created and initially written by John Sullivan, produced by Shazam Productions for the BBC. It is a sequel/spin-off of the long-running sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and stars John Chall ...
''.
[ In addition, he wrote the comedy drama serial ''Over Here'' and the drama series '' Micawber'' for ITV, and co-wrote the comedy '']Heartburn Hotel
''Heartburn Hotel'' is a British sitcom that ran for two series on BBC One from 1998 to 2000.
The programme concerns the owner-operator and tenants of the Olympic Hotel—an establishment named in anticipation of a successful Olympic bid by t ...
''. His work won him a number of comedy awards, including the BAFTA for best sitcom on three occasions, and he was made an OBE in 2005. His last work was ''Rock & Chips
''Rock & Chips'' is a British television comedy-drama miniseries and a prequel to the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. The show is set in Peckham, southeast London, during the early 1960s, focusing primarily on the lives of Del Trotter, Freddie ...
'', a comedy drama prequel to ''Only Fools and Horses''. The final episode of Sullivan's last comedy series aired six days after his death from pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
on 22 April 2011.[
To remember Sullivan's work, the BBC broadcast "]A Touch of Glass
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
", the episode of ''Only Fools and Horses'' in which the Trotters drop a chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
while cleaning it for an upper-class family. They also showed "Top 40 ''Only Fools and Horses'' Moments". The episode, "A Touch of Glass
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
", was voted number 2, losing to when Del Boy
Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, ''Rock & Chips''. He was played by David Jason in the original se ...
(David Jason
Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector J ...
) falls through an open bar in "Yuppy Love
"Yuppy Love" is an episode of the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses''. It originally aired on 8 January 1989 and is the first episode of series six, marking the start of the increase in running time from thirty minutes to fifty minutes per epis ...
".
Early life
Sullivan was from a working-class background,[The ''Only Fools and Horses Story'', ibid.] and grew up in Balham
Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...
, South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
. His father, John Sr., was a plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems. and his mother, Hilda, occasionally worked as a charwoman
A charwoman (also chargirl, charlady or char) is an old-fashioned occupational term, referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually ...
. It was in Balham where he observed the sort of market trader
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
that would later appear in ''Only Fools and Horses''. Both of his parents were Irish. He failed his eleven-plus
The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic ...
and attended Telferscot Secondary Modern School
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...
, where he had an inspirational English teacher named Jim Trowers, who sparked an interest in reading the novels of Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and discovered his talent for writing stories. Sullivan left the school at Christmas 1961 with no qualifications. He did, however, attend evening classes in German and English, and read Teach Yourself books after leaving school. His first paid employment was as a messenger boy for Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
. He then worked in the second-hand car trade, in a brewery, as a window cleaner and as a carpet layer in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
.[
]
Career
During this time, Sullivan continued to submit scripts to the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Sullivan admired
, Till Death us do Part and Phil Silvers' US show, Bilko, and "anything by Neil Simon"
before in November 1974 getting a job in the BBC props department. He was warned not to pester or approach the stars of the corporation.