Derrick Goodwin

Derrick Goodwin
Derrick Goodwin
Born	Derrick John Goodwin; 6 July 1935; London, England
Died	26 December 2021 (aged 86)
Alma mater	Royal College of Music
Occupation(s)	Theatre and television director, writer, producer
Spouse	Nell Curran (m. 1980)

Derrick John Goodwin (6 July 1935 – 26 December 2021)^[1]^[2] was an English theatre and television director, writer and producer.

Biography

Early life

Goodwin was born in London and educated at St Mary's School, Hendon (now St Mary's and St John's Church of England School) and the Royal College of Music.^[3] He had a BA in music (Hons) and undertook national service in the Royal Air Force.^[3]

Career

Goodwin began his career in stage management. He was an assistant director at the Royal Court Theatre. Goodwin founded The Living Theatre company with Ken Loach, Jill Gascoine and Brian Grellis, converting an old school in Leicester into a 200-seat open stage theatre. After two years, the building was needed for a new road scheme. A new theatre was built for their use by the city council, but the company never moved into it. Goodwin directed over a hundred theatre productions including plays by Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, John Osborne, Anton Chekhov and several of his own plays, including four plays for children.

Goodwin returned to the Royal Court to assist

Newcastle Playhouse and asked Goodwin to become its director. When John Neville decided to leave the Nottingham Playhouse, Goodwin also resigned and joined the BBC television drama department, where he directed episodes of Thirty-Minute Theatre and Z-Cars. He then became a freelancer and with Rodney Bewes co-wrote and directed several series of Dear Mother...Love Albert. He directed the tour of My Fat Friend for Michael Codron Ltd and the tour of Relatively Speaking for the Oxford Playhouse

.

In television, Goodwin was involved in producing and directing many series of both drama and

Yorkshire Television. He was commissioned by Alan Ayckbourn to write a play, Abiding Passions, which was directed by Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. It was later re-cast and directed by Goodwin at the Palace Theatre, Watford. It also had a production at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, directed by Claire Nielson

. Goodwin's last television series was for Alamo Productions and the BBC, Taking the Floor. He later concentrated on writing for theatre and TV and also teaching theatre, television and film.

Goodwin won many awards for theatre and television productions and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He wrote a novel, I Got You Babe, which is available as a free e-book.

References

^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | GOODWIN, Derrick". ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ "Derrick Goodwin obituary". The Guardian. 3 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b Cartwright, Catherine (3 April 2022). "Derrick Goodwin obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

External links

Derrick Goodwin at doollee.com, The Playwrights Database
Derrick Goodwin at the British Film Institute Film & TV Database
Derrick Goodwin at
IMDb
Derrick Goodwin at Theatricalia

[1] "BFI | Film & TV Database | GOODWIN, Derrick". ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[2] "Derrick Goodwin obituary". The Guardian. 3 April 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.

[cartwright-3] Cartwright, Catherine (3 April 2022). "Derrick Goodwin obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

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