Jeremy Sandford
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Sandford was an English
television
screenwriter
who came to prominence in 1966 with Cathy Come Home
, his controversial entry in BBC1
's The Wednesday Play
anthology strand which was directed by Ken Loach
. Later, in 1971, he wrote another successful one-off, Edna, the Inebriate Woman
for The Wednesday Play successor series Play for Today
.
and brought up at Eye Manor
in Herefordshire
, home of his father, Christopher Sandford
, who was the owner of the Golden Cockerel Press
. His mother was Lettice Sandford
. Sandford was educated at Eton
followed by New College, Oxford
, where he read English. During National Service
, he was a Royal Air Force
bandsman. He married heiress Nell Dunn
in 1957. They gave up their smart Chelsea
home and went to live in unfashionable Battersea
where they joined and observed the lower strata of society, and from this experience he published the play Cathy Come Home
in 1963, and his wife, Nell, wrote Up the Junction
.
In 1968, Sandford won a Jacob's Award for the TV production of Cathy Come Home.
Sandford became interested in gypsy causes and for a time edited their news sheet, Romano Drom (Gypsy Road). He travelled the country seeking out gypsy stories, published as The Gypsies, and later reissued as Rokkering to the Gorjios (Talking to the non-Gypsies).
Jeremy Sandford and his wife Nell Dunn
were divorced in 1979 after having had three sons together.
He died at his home, Hatfield Court in Herefordshire
, at the age of seventy-two. His last words were "I think I'll have a rest now."
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...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
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:...
who came to prominence in 1966 with Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home is a 1966 BBC television play by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, about homelessness. An industry poll rated it as the best British television drama ever made. Filmed in a gritty, realistic drama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 16...
, his controversial entry in BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured...
anthology strand which was directed by Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
. Later, in 1971, he wrote another successful one-off, Edna, the Inebriate Woman
Edna, the Inebriate Woman
Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series on 21 October 1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, Irene Shubik produced it....
for The Wednesday Play successor series Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
.
Life
Sandford was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and brought up at Eye Manor
Eye Manor
Eye Manor, at Eye, Herefordshire, is a Grade I listed Carolean manor house between Ludlow and Leominster that is considered amongst the finest small Restoration houses in England with important plasterwork ceilings.-History:...
in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, home of his father, Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate.-Biography:He was born in Cork,...
, who was the owner of the Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
. His mother was Lettice Sandford
Lettice Sandford
Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate, was a draftsman, wood-engraver, pioneer corn dolly revivalist and watercolourist of her beloved Herefordshire...
. Sandford was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
followed by New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, where he read English. During National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
, he was a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
bandsman. He married heiress Nell Dunn
Nell Dunn
-Early years:Dunn was born in London and educated at a convent, which she left at the age of fourteen. Although she came from an upper class background, in 1959 she moved to Battersea and made friends in the neighbourhood and worked for a time in a sweets factory...
in 1957. They gave up their smart Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
home and went to live in unfashionable Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
where they joined and observed the lower strata of society, and from this experience he published the play Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home is a 1966 BBC television play by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, about homelessness. An industry poll rated it as the best British television drama ever made. Filmed in a gritty, realistic drama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 16...
in 1963, and his wife, Nell, wrote Up the Junction
Up the Junction
Up the Junction is a 1963 novel by Nell Dunn that depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction.The book uses colloquial speech, and its portrayal of petty thieving, sexual encounters, births, deaths and back-street abortion provided a view of life that was...
.
In 1968, Sandford won a Jacob's Award for the TV production of Cathy Come Home.
Sandford became interested in gypsy causes and for a time edited their news sheet, Romano Drom (Gypsy Road). He travelled the country seeking out gypsy stories, published as The Gypsies, and later reissued as Rokkering to the Gorjios (Talking to the non-Gypsies).
Jeremy Sandford and his wife Nell Dunn
Nell Dunn
-Early years:Dunn was born in London and educated at a convent, which she left at the age of fourteen. Although she came from an upper class background, in 1959 she moved to Battersea and made friends in the neighbourhood and worked for a time in a sweets factory...
were divorced in 1979 after having had three sons together.
He died at his home, Hatfield Court in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, at the age of seventy-two. His last words were "I think I'll have a rest now."