Willy Russell

   Willy Russell was born in Whiston, near Liverpool, in 1947.  Leaving school at 15 he worked as a hairdresser until he was 20, returning to school to complete his education.  There he began writing his first play, a trilogy called Blind Scouse, which was taken to the Edinburgh Festival, and noticed by a representative of the Everyman Theatre, which subsequently produced the world premieres of many of his plays, most of which later transferred successfully to the West End including: When The Reds, Sam O'Shanker, John Paul George Ringo... and Bert (his first West End transfer), Breezeblock Park, Stags And Hens, One For The Road, Blood Brothers, and Educating Rita, originally commissioned by the RSC, proved so successful that it was subsequently produced in the West End, winning the 1980 Society of West End Theatres Award for Best Comedy, and made into an Oscar nominated film, for which Russell wrote the screenplay, with Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

   Shirley Valentine had a lengthy run both in the West End and on Broadway, where Pauline Collins won critical acclaim (& both the SWET & TONY Awards as best Actress).