Richard Carpenter (screenwriter)
Richard Carpenter | |
---|---|
Born |
King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK | 14 August 1929
Died |
26 February 2012 82) Hertfordshire, England, UK | (aged
Occupation | Screenwriter, author, actor |
Years active | 1957–2001 |
Spouse(s) | Annabelle Lee (m. 1954) |
Children | 2 |
Richard Michael Carpenter (14 August 1929 – 26 February 2012)[1] was an English screenwriter, author, and actor who created a number of British television series, including Robin of Sherwood and Catweazle.
Early life
Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk,[2] Carpenter attended the Old Vic Theatre School before starting an acting career by working in repertory theatre. At the time of his death (as confirmed by several sources cited on this page), he was widely believed to have been four years younger than he actually was, which was most likely the result of taking them off his "official" age during his early acting career.
Career
Carpenter appeared in occasional films, but was mostly active on British TV in the 1960s as a character actor, on one occasion opposite Tony Hancock in one of his last shows for the BBC, commonly known as "The Bowmans". Other TV shows in which he appeared in the 1960s included Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, and Gideon's Way.
In 1969, Carpenter created Catweazle, the children's series about an unfortunate wizard from the 11th century who is accidentally transported to the present day. This changed the course of his career substantially. Carpenter earned international recognition and a Writers Guild award for creating the cult children's TV series.[3]
During the 1970s, he wrote the series The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976–1978), Dick Turpin (1979–1982), parts of the series The Famous Five and Doctor Snuggles, and 17 episodes of The Adventures of Black Beauty for ITV; and Cloud Burst, The Boy from Space, and The King's Dragon as part of BBC's Look and Read (1967–2004) programme for schools, some episodes of which he also presented.
In the 1980s came the historical adventures Smuggler and its later antipodean-based follow-up Adventurer and between them, the lavish HTV production Robin of Sherwood, which ran for three series. Carpenter then worked on a number of series for children and families in the 1990s (The Winjin' Pom, Stanley's Dragon, and Out of Sight), some of which (The Borrowers, The Return of the Borrowers, and The Scarlet Pimpernel) were based on classic novels.
Carpenter wrote novelisations of many of the early series he created: Catweazle, Cloud Burst, The Ghosts of Motley Hall, Smuggler, Robin of Sherwood (two books), and two books of Dick Turpin.
Personal life
Carpenter married Annabelle Lee in 1957. They had two children and remained married until his death.
Death
On 26 February 2012, at the age of 82, Carpenter died in Hertfordshire from a pulmonary embolism.[4][5][6]
Filmography
- Tarnished Heroes (1961) - Freddy
- H.M.S. Defiant (1962) - Lieut. Ponsonby
- The Password Is Courage (1962) - Robinson
- Mystery Submarine (1963) - Lt. Haskins
- Wings of Mystery (1963) - Ted
- Clash by Night (1964) - Danny Watts
- The Terrornauts (1967) - Danny
References
- ↑ Anthony Hayward "Richard Carpenter obituary", The Guardian, 5 March 2012
- ↑ Alistair McGown Carpenter, Richard (1929–2012), BFI screenonline page
- ↑ Minovitz, Ethan (3 March 2012). ""Dr. Snuggles" Writer Richard Carpenter Dies at 78". Big Cartoon News. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ↑ Abbie Bernstein "In Memoriam: ROBIN OF SHERWOOD creator Richard Carpenter passes at age 78", AssignmentX, 27 February 2012
- ↑ Alex Farber "Catweazle creator Richard Carpenter dies", Broadcast, 29 February 2012
- ↑ "Richard Carpenter, creator of Catweazle, dies aged 78". BBC News. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
Bibliography
Works by Richard Carpenter in English
- Best of Black Beauty (Everest, 1975) ISBN 978-0-903925-78-5
- Catweazle, illustrated by George Adamson (Methuen, cloth; Puffin Books, paperback, 1970) ISBN 978-0-14-030465-7 (paperback)
- Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, illustrated by George Adamson (Methuen, cloth; Puffin Books, paperback, 1971) ISBN 978-0-14-030499-2 (paperback)
- Cloud Burst, illustrated by Trevor Ridley (British Broadcasting Corporation, paperback 1976) ISBN 978-0-563-14477-9
- The Complete Adventures of Robin of Sherwood, with Anthony Horowitz, Robin May (Puffin Books, 1990) ISBN 978-0-14-034450-9
- Dick Turpin (Armada Books, 1979) ISBN 978-0-00-691554-6
- Dick Turpin (Purnell, 1980) ISBN 978-0-361-04613-8
- The Ghosts of Motley Hall (Puffin Books, 1977) ISBN 978-0-14-031008-5
- Robin of Sherwood (Puffin Books, 1984) ISBN 978-0-14-031690-2
- Robin of Sherwood: The Hooded Man, with Anthony Horowitz (Puffin Books, 1986) ISBN 978-0-14-032058-9
- Robin of Sherwood: The Time of the Wolf (Puffin Books, 1988) ISBN 978-0-14-032660-4
- Smuggler (Armada Books, 1981) ISBN 978-0-00-691949-0
- Winjin' Pom (Macmillan, 1991) ISBN 978-0-330-32089-4
Works by Richard Carpenter in translation
- Catweazle, de Tovernaar van Saburac (transl. into Dutch of Catweazle), illustrated by George Adamson (Amsterdam: van Holkema & Warendorf, 1971) ISBN 9026919093
- Catweazle, de Tekens van de Dierenriem (transl. into Dutch of Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac), illustrated by George Adamson (Amsterdam: van Holkema & Warendorf, 1971) ISBN 9026919107
- Kaksnoukka ja Porkkana (transl. by Marikki Makkonen into Finnish of Catweazle), illustrated by George Adamson (WSOY [Werner Söderström Corporation], 1974), Nuorten toivekirjasto 215 ISBN 9510063878
- Kaksnoukka ja Taivaan Merkit (transl. by Marikki Makkonen into Finnish of Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac), illustrated by George Adamson (WSOY), Nuorten toivekirjasto 228
- Catweazle (transl. into German by Sybil Gräfin Schönfeldt of Catweazle), illustrated by George Adamson (Ravensburger, 1973) RTB 39262
- Catweazle sucht die magische Zeichen (transl. into German by Sybil Gräfin Schönfeldt of Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac), illustrated by George Adamson (Ravensburger, 1974) RTB 39330 ISBN 3473393304
- Catweazle (transl. into German by Sybil Gräfin Schönfeldt of Catweazle), illustrated by Carsten Teich (Ravensburger)
- Catweazle sucht die magische Zeichen (transl. into German by Sybil Gräfin Schönfeldt of Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac), illustrated by Carsten Teich (Ravensburger, 2006) ISBN 347352302X
- Den Merkelige Mannen (transl. into Norwegian Bokmål by Fredrik Chr. Brøgger of Catweazle), illustrated by George Adamson (Oslo: Cappelin, 1971)
- Mathilde Cachebidon, super-robot (Doctor Snuggles) (transl. into French by Philippe Mikriammos) (Hachette, 1981) ISBN 201007923X
- La Grande course en ballon (Doctor Snuggles) (transl. into French by Philippe Mikriammos) (Hachette, 1981) ISBN 2010079248
- Les aventures de Dick le rebelle (transl. by Odile Ricklin), (Paris: G.P., 1981) ISBN 2-261-00947-X
- Turpin et feu follet (transl. by Odile Ricklin), (Paris: G.P., 1981) ISBN 2-261-00948-8
External links
- The Original Catweazle Website, launched in 1997
- Richard Carpenter at the Internet Movie Database
- Interviews in Sherwood – Richard Carpenter