Evan Jones (writer)
Encyclopedia
Evan Jones is a poet
, playwright
and screenwriter
based in Britain
. He was educated in Jamaica, the United States
and England
. Jones taught at schools in the United States before moving to England in 1956 and beginning a career as a writer.
He wrote the scripts for the feature films King & Country
, Modesty Blaise
, Funeral in Berlin
, and several television play
s.
Munro College
and Haverford College
in Pennsylvania
. He graduated from Wadham College, Oxford
in 1952 with a BA (Hons) in English literature. Jones taught at the George School
in Pennsylvania and Wesleyan University
, Connecticut
. In 1956, he moved to England
and earned his living as a writer of documentary drama, television plays and feature films.
His works include the television documentary series The Fight Against Slavery and several films directed by Joseph Losey
including Eva
(a collaboration with Hugo Butler
, 1962), King & Country
(1964) and Modesty Blaise
(1966). Other screenplays include, Funeral in Berlin
(also 1966), Escape to Victory
(1981) and a A Show of Force
(1990). He is also notable as the author of Madhouse on Castle Street (1963), a now lost
BBC television play, which featured the acting début of Bob Dylan
. Jones has also written poetry, biographies and novels for children. His wife, Joanna, is an actor and his daughters Melissa and Sadie
are both novelists.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
based in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He was educated in Jamaica, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Jones taught at schools in the United States before moving to England in 1956 and beginning a career as a writer.
He wrote the scripts for the feature films King & Country
King & Country
King and Country is a 1964 British film, directed by American-born director Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay...
, Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise (1966 film)
Modesty Blaise was a comedic spy-fi motion picture produced in the United Kingdom and released worldwide in 1966. It was loosely based upon the popular comic strip Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell, who wrote the original story and scenario upon which Evan Jones based his screenplay...
, Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin (film)
Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
, and several television play
Television play
From the 1950s until the early 1980s, the television play was a popular television programming genre in the United Kingdom, with a shorter span in the United States. The genre was often associated with the social realist-influenced British drama style known as "kitchen sink realism", which depicted...
s.
Biography
Evan Jones was born in 1927, the son of a banana farmer. He grew up in rural Jamaica and was educated at the prestigious boarding schoolBoarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
Munro College
Munro College, Jamaica
Munro College is a prominent boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, Jamaica. It was founded in 1856 as a free school for poor boys in St. Elizabeth as stipulated in the will of plantation owners Robert Hugh Munro and Caleb Dickenson...
and Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. He graduated from Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
in 1952 with a BA (Hons) in English literature. Jones taught at the George School
George School
George School is a private Quaker boarding and day high school located on a rural campus near Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grown from a single building to over 20 academic, athletic, and residential buildings...
in Pennsylvania and Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. In 1956, he moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and earned his living as a writer of documentary drama, television plays and feature films.
His works include the television documentary series The Fight Against Slavery and several films directed by Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey
Joseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
including Eva
Eva (1962 film)
Eva is a 1962 drama film directed by Joseph Losey starring Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker and Virna Lisi, from the novel of James Hadley Chase .-Plot summary:...
(a collaboration with Hugo Butler
Hugo Butler
Hugo D. Butler was a Canadian born screenwriter working in Hollywood who was blacklisted by the movie studios in the 1950s.-Biography:Born in Calgary, Alberta, his father had acted and written scripts in silent films...
, 1962), King & Country
King & Country
King and Country is a 1964 British film, directed by American-born director Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay...
(1964) and Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise (1966 film)
Modesty Blaise was a comedic spy-fi motion picture produced in the United Kingdom and released worldwide in 1966. It was loosely based upon the popular comic strip Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell, who wrote the original story and scenario upon which Evan Jones based his screenplay...
(1966). Other screenplays include, Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin (film)
Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
(also 1966), Escape to Victory
Escape to Victory
Escape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II...
(1981) and a A Show of Force
A Show of Force
A Show of Force is a 1990 thriller, directed by Bruno Barreto. The film is based on events and theories surrounding the Maravilla Hill case in Puerto Rico adapted from Anne Nelson's book, "Murder Under Two Flags."-Plot:...
(1990). He is also notable as the author of Madhouse on Castle Street (1963), a now lost
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
BBC television play, which featured the acting début of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. Jones has also written poetry, biographies and novels for children. His wife, Joanna, is an actor and his daughters Melissa and Sadie
Sadie Jones
Sadie Jones is an English writer and novelist.Jones was raised in London, the daughter of Evan Jones, a Jamaican-born poet and scriptwriter, who worked with director Joseph Losey on several projects and Joanna Jones, an actor...
are both novelists.
Television
- Madhouse on Castle Street Sunday Night Play (BBC, 1963)
- Old Man's Fancy Armchair Theatre (Associated British Corporation, 1965)
- Go Tell It On Table Mountain Thirty Minute Theatre (BBC, 1967)
- The Fight Against Slavery Miniseries (BBC, 1975)
- The Mind Beyond: The Man with the Power BBC2 Playhouse (BBC, 1976)
- Rehearsal Centre Play (BBC, 1977)
- Gambling Lady The Dick Francis Thriller (Yorkshire Television, 1979)
- A Curious Suicide Chillers (FR3, France, 1990)
Films
- EvaEva (1962 film)Eva is a 1962 drama film directed by Joseph Losey starring Jeanne Moreau, Stanley Baker and Virna Lisi, from the novel of James Hadley Chase .-Plot summary:...
(1962) - The DamnedThe Damned (1963 film)The Damned is a 1963 British science fiction film starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field and Oliver Reed. It was a Hammer Film production directed by Joseph Losey and based on H.L...
(1963) - King and Country (1964)
- Funeral in BerlinFuneral in Berlin (film)Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
(1966) - Two Gentlemen SharingTwo Gentlemen SharingTwo Gentlemen Sharing is a 1969 British drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff, written by Evan Jones and starring Robin Phillips, Judy Geeson, Esther Anderson, Hal Frederick and Norman Rossington. A white British man is forced to confront his prejudices when the flat he advertises for sharing is...
(1969) - Wake in FrightWake in FrightWake in Fright is a 1971 Australian film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence and Chips Rafferty. The screenplay was written by Evan Jones, based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel of the same name....
, also known as Outback (1971) - Ghost in the Noonday SunGhost In The Noonday SunGhost in the Noonday Sun is a 1973 British comedy film, directed by Peter Medak, starring Peter Sellers, Anthony Franciosa and Spike Milligan. The script was written by Evan Jones and Ernest Tidyman with "additional dialogue" attributed to Spike Milligan. It was produced by Thomas Clyde & Gareth...
(1973) - Night WatchNight Watch (1973 film)-Plot:Based on a still-frequently-performed play by Lucille Fletcher, it is the story of a woman who claims she has witnessed a murder from her window at night. Unfortunately she is not able to prove this. The film reunited Taylor with co-star Laurence Harvey from their 1960 film BUtterfield 8...
(1973) - Escape to VictoryEscape to VictoryEscape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II...
, also known as Victory (1981) - The Killing of Angel StreetThe Killing of Angel StreetThe Killing of Angel Street is a 1981 Australian thriller film based on the real life disappearance of Juanita Nielson, an activist against mass development in Sydney in the late 1970s....
(1981) - ChampionsChampions (1983 film)Champions is a 1983 film based on the true story of jockey Bob Champion. It is directed by John Irvin, written by Evan Jones, and stars John Hurt, Edward Woodward and Jan Francis....
(1984) - Kangaroo (1987)
- A Show of ForceA Show of ForceA Show of Force is a 1990 thriller, directed by Bruno Barreto. The film is based on events and theories surrounding the Maravilla Hill case in Puerto Rico adapted from Anne Nelson's book, "Murder Under Two Flags."-Plot:...
(1990) - Shadow of the Wolf (1992)
- Golgotha, in production (2010)
Books
- Protector of the Indians, Nelson, 1958
- Tales of the Caribbean: Anansi Stories, Ginn, 1984
- Tales of the Caribbean: Witches and Duppies, Ginn, 1984
- Tales of the Caribbean: The Beginning of Things, Ginn, 1984
- Skylarking, Longman, 1993
- Stonehaven, Institute of Jamaica Publications, 1993