Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA,

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

(6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) was an English writer best known for his play '' Journey's End'', which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. He wrote several plays, many novels, and multiple screenplays, and was nominated for an Academy Award and two

BAFTA awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

Early life

Sherriff was born in Hampton Wick, Middlesex, to insurance clerk Herbert Hankin Sherriff and Constance Winder. He was educated at Kingston Grammar School in Kingston upon Thames from 1905 to 1913. After he left school, Sherriff began working at an insurance office as a clerk in 1914.

Military service

Sherriff served as an officer in the 9th battalion of the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

in the First World War, taking part in the fighting at Vimy Ridge and Loos. He was severely wounded at Passchendaele near Ypres in 1917.

Post war period

After recovering from his wounds, Sherriff worked as an insurance adjuster from 1918 to 1928 at Sun Insurance Company, London. Sherriff studied history at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, from 1931 to 1934. He was a fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Career

Playwright

Sherriff wrote his first play to help

Kingston Rowing Club Kingston Rowing Club (KRC) is a rowing club in England founded in 1858 and a member club of British Rowing. The club is located on the River Thames at Kingston upon Thames, downstream and north-east of Kingston Bridge and Kingston Railway Brid ...

raise money to buy a new boat. His seventh play, '' Journey's End'', was written in 1928 and published in 1929 and was based on his experiences in the war. It was given a single Sunday performance, on 9 December 1928, by the

Incorporated Stage Society The Incorporated Stage Society, commonly known as the Stage Society, was an English theatre society with limited membership which mounted private Sunday performances of new and experimental plays, mainly at the Royal Court Theatre (whose Vedrenne- ...

at the Apollo Theatre, directed by James Whale and with the 21-year-old

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

in the lead role. In the audience was

Maurice Browne Maurice Browne (12 February 1881 – 21 January 1955), born in Reading, England, was best known as a theater producer in the United States and the UK. The Cambridge-educated Browne was also a poet, actor, and theater director. He has been cred ...

who produced it at the Savoy Theatre where it was performed for two years from 1929.

Novelist

Sherriff also wrote prose. A novelised version of ''Journey's End'', co-written with Vernon Bartlett, was published in 1930. His 1939 novel, ''

The Hopkins Manuscript ''The Hopkins Manuscript'' is a social-political dystopian novel published by R. C. Sherriff in 1939. Originally titled ''An Ordinary Man'', the novel was published with its present title by Victor Gollancz, then republished as a Pan paperback ...

'' is an H. G. Wells-influenced post-apocalyptic story about an earth devastated because of a collision with the Moon. Its sober language and realistic depiction of an average man coming to terms with a ruined England is said to have been an influence on later science fiction authors such as John Wyndham and Brian Aldiss. ''The Fortnight in September'', an earlier novel, published in 1931, is a rather more plausible story about a

Bognor Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

holiday enjoyed by a lower-middle-class family from Dulwich. It was nominated by Kazuo Ishiguro as a book to 'inspire, uplift and offer escape' in a list compiled by '' The Guardian'' during the COVID-19 pandemic, describing it as "just about the most uplifting, life-affirming novel I can think of right now". His 1936 novel ''Green Gates'' is a realistic novel about a middle-aged couple, Tom and Edith Baldwin, moving from an established London suburb into the then-new suburbs of Metro-land.

Award nominations

Sherriff was nominated along with

Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and desc ...

and Claudine West for an Academy award for writing an adapted screenplay for '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' which was released in 1939. His 1955 screenplays, '' The Dam Busters'' and ''

The Night My Number Came Up ''The Night My Number Came Up'' is a 1955 British supernatural drama film directed by Leslie Norman with the screenplay written by R. C. Sherriff. The plot is based on a real incident in the life of British Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard; his j ...

'' were nominated for best British screenplay BAFTA awards.

Work

Plays

*1921: ''

A Hitch in the Proceedings 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'' ...

'' *1922: '' The Woods of Meadowside'' *1923: ''

Profit and Loss An income statement or profit and loss accountProfessional English in Use - Finance, Cambridge University Press, p. 10 (also referred to as a ''profit and loss statement'' (P&L), ''statement of profit or loss'', ''revenue statement'', ''stateme ...

'' *1924: '' Cornlow-in-the-Downs'' *1925: ''The Feudal System'' *1926: ''

Mr. Bridie's Finger ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

'' *1928: '' Journey's End'' - the 2007 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Revival of a Play *1930: '' Badger's Green'' *1933: ''

Windfall Windfall or Windfalls may refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''Windfall'' (1935 film), adaptation of R. C. Sherriff's 1933 play, directed by Frederick Hayward and George King * ''Windfall'' (1955 film), a British comedy film by Jo ...

'' *1934: '' Two Hearts Doubled'' *1936: ''

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

'' *1948: ''

Miss Mabel ''Miss Mabel'' is a 1948 stage play by R. C. Sherriff. It has been adapted for television at least five times. 1950 version A live version aired as part of British anthology series BBC ''Sunday Night Theatre'' in 1950. Cast included Mary Jerrold, C ...

'' *1950: '' Home at Seven'' *1953: ''

The White Carnation ''The White Carnation'' is a 1953 play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff. Its premiere production had a cast led by Ralph Richardson, but it was not revived until a 2013 Finborough Theatre production featuring Aden Gillett and Benjamin Whitro ...

'' *1955: ''

The Long Sunset ''The Long Sunset'' is a 1963 Australian TV movie based on a play by R.C. Sheriff. It starred John Bell and was directed by Colin Dean It was recorded live. The play had been filmed by the BBC in 1958. Plot A Roman family during the last days ...

'' *1957: ''The Telescope'' *1960: ''A Shred of Evidence (or The Strip of Steel)''

Film scripts

*1919: '' The Toilers'' *1933: '' The Invisible Man'' *1934: ''

One More River ''One More River'' is a 1934 American drama film mystery directed by James Whale. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and starred Colin Clive, Diana Wynyard and stage actress Mrs Patrick Campbell in one of her very few films. T ...

'' *1937: ''

The Road Back ''The Road Back'', also translated as ''The Way Back'', (german: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel ''All Quiet on the Western Front''. It was first serialized in the ...

'' *1939: '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' - which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay along with his co-writers Claudine West,

. *1939: '' The Four Feathers'' *1941: '' That Hamilton Woman'' *1942: ''

This Above All ''This Above All'' (1941) is a novel by English writer Eric Knight. It was adapted into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1942. Title The title of the novel is derived from a quote by Polonius in William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' (Act 1, scene 3) ...

'' *1945: '' Odd Man Out'' *1948: ''

Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

'' *1950: '' Trio (film)'' *1950: ''

No Highway No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

'' *1955: '' The Dam Busters'' - which was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay was a British Academy Film Award from 1954 to 1967. 1950s 1954 '' The Young Lovers'' – George Tabori, Robin Estridge * ''The Divided Heart'' – Jack Whittingham * ''Doctor in the House'' – Nichola ...

. *1955: ''

'' - which was nominated for the

(NB: both films were nominated for the 1955 BAFTA awards). *1955: ''Cards with Uncle Tom'' (TV) *1963: ''The Ogburn Story'' (TV)

Books

* * (Reprinted in 2006 by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

) * (Reprinted in 2015 by

) * (Revised and reissued as a Pan Paperback in 1958 under the title ''The Cataclysm''; Reprinted in 2005 by

under its original title.) * * * * * *

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
Sherriff's literary agents
* *
The Man from Esher and his Theatre of War
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherriff, R. C. 1896 births 1975 deaths British Army personnel of World War I East Surrey Regiment officers Military personnel from Middlesex English male screenwriters Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Kingston upon Thames War writers Alumni of New College, Oxford People educated at Kingston Grammar School British male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers Artists' Rifles soldiers English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English screenwriters