Jimmy Chinn
Encyclopedia
Jimmy Chinn was an actor
and most notably a playwright
.
Jimmie became increasingly loved and admired not only in the professional theatre , but also in amateur theatre circles as a fine and talented actor, director, teacher, mentor and advisor.
Most of his work for the theatre was premiered by Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Court Theatre or on the fringe circuit.
His full-length plays include
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and most notably a 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...
.
Personal Info
Jimmie was born in Middleton,Lancashire on March 30th 1940, the only son of his beloved mother,Edie. His early years in Oldham and Manchester were to shape his writing in future years. He came to London in 1959 where he trained as an actor at the RADA and worked in many aspects of the theatre. His short and very undistinguished career as an actor led him eventually to train as a teacher at Whitelands College, Putney, where he gained a degree in English and Drama. He taught and became a senior teacher and housemaster at Dormers Wells School in Middlesex until becoming a full-time writer in 1984.Jimmie became increasingly loved and admired not only in the professional theatre , but also in amateur theatre circles as a fine and talented actor, director, teacher, mentor and advisor.
Work as a Playwright
Encouraged by the success of a handful of radio plays, including- From Here to the Library (which was later adapted for the stage)
- Looks Like Rain, Looks Like Rain Again, Rain On The Just (with Bernard Cribbins, Dora Bryan, Roy Barraclough)
- Too Long an Autumn (with Brenda Bruce)
- Pity About Kitty (with Dora Bryan)
- A Woman Who Does (with Martin Jarvis)
- A Different Way Home (starring Bernard Cribbins). This he began to rewrite for the stage (starring Roy Barraclough) .
Most of his work for the theatre was premiered by Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Court Theatre or on the fringe circuit.
His full-length plays include
- Our Linda Our Carol and Freda (bought by Yorkshire Television for whom Jimmie also wrote episodes of Emmerdale from 1987 to 1993)
- In Room Five Hundred and Four
- To the Island
- After September
- Albert Make Us Laugh (a play based on his own boyhood experiences in the North)
- But Yesterday
- Home Before Dark
- The Saga of Miss Edie Hill
- In By the Half
- Interior Designs
- Pity About Kitty
- Respectable Funeral
- Something to Remember You By
- Sylvia's Wedding
- Take Away the Lady
- Too Long an Autumn
- The Garden Party (co-written with Hazel Wyld)