Pamela Brown (December 31, 1924 – 1989) was a British novelist, stage writer, actress and television producer.

Literary career

Pamela Brown was just 13 when she started writing her first book, ''

The Swish of the Curtain ''The Swish of the Curtain'' is a children's novel by Pamela Brown (1924–1989). It was begun in 1938 when the author was 14 but was not published until 1941. The novel has been reprinted many times and has been adapted for television and radio. ...

'', in 1938. A year later, when World War II broke out, she left

Colchester County High School Colchester County High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in Colchester, Essex. The school consistently scores highly in the league tables for the UK. It was joint first in the country in the 2018 secondary ...

, a selective grammar school for girls, and went to live in Wales with her family. She continued with her writing however, sending chapters of the book to her friends back in Colchester, Essex, and finally finished the book when she was 16. ''The Swish of the Curtain'' tells the story of seven stage-struck children who form an amateur theatre company in a town called Fenchester, Brown's made-up name for her home town of Colchester. She herself was passionate about the theatre and, from an early age, put on plays with her friends. She went on to write several sequels to her first book, and other children’s novels. Her career as an actress and television producer provided her with much detail about early television and life in repertory.

Stage career

With her earnings from ''The Swish of the Curtain'', Brown trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She worked on the professional stage as ‘Mela Brown’, to avoid confusion with another actress of the same name.Pamela Brown (IV)
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Television career

For some years, Pamela Brown produced children's programmes for

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

. One of her final television appearances was as a guest on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' alongside the various young actors and actresses who appeared in the television adaptation of ''The Swish of the Curtain'', including Sarah Greene, who was later to be a ''Blue Peter'' presenter.

Works

*''

'' (1941) novel *''Maddy Alone'' (1945) novel *''Golden Pavements'' (1947) novel *''Blue Door Venture'' (1949) novel *''The Children of Camp Fortuna'' (1949) A play in one act for children *''To be a Ballerina, and other stories'' (1950) short story collection *''Family Playbill'' (1951) novel *''The Television Twins'' (1952) novel *''Harlequin Corner'' (1953) novel *''The Windmill Family'' (1954) novel *''Louisa'' (1955) novel *''The Bridesmaids'' (1956) novel *''Maddy Again'' (1956) novel *''Back-Stage Portrait'' (1957) *''Showboat Summer'' (1957) novel *''Understudy'' (1958) *''As far as Singapore'' (1959) novel *''First House'' (1959) novel *''A Little Universe'' (1970) novel *''Summer is a Festival'' (1972) novel *''Looking after Libby'' (1974) novel *''The Girl who Ran Away'' (1976) novel *''Every Day is Market Day'' (1977) novel *''The Finishing School'' (1984) novel

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Pamela (writer) British children's writers British women short story writers 1924 births 1989 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing People educated at Colchester County High School 20th-century British novelists 20th-century British short story writers British women children's writers 20th-century British women writers