A Better Class of Person

A Better Class of Person (1981) is an autobiography written by dramatist John Osborne and published in 1981. Based on Osborne's childhood and early life, it ends with the first performance of Look Back in Anger at the Royal Court Theatre in 1956.[1] A sequel, Almost a Gentleman, was published in 1991.

The book recounts Osborne's childhood and youth, emphasising his warm relationship with his father Thomas, and his antagonistic relationship with his mother Nellie Beatrice, which deepened to hatred after his father died when John was ten.

Reception

Playwright Alan Bennett, reviewing for the London Review of Books, suggested that the depiction of Osborne's mother was not entirely fair, but was positive in his appraisal overall and noted how many other critics had been as well: "It is immensely enjoyable, is written with great gusto and Osborne has had better notices for it than for any of his plays since Inadmissible Evidence [in 1964]."[2] Michael Billington, in an obituary on Osborne for The Guardian, and Michael Ratcliffe in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, both state that his reputation is likely to rest on his two autobiographies as much as on his plays.[3][4] Bennett and Ratcliffe both make a comparison with Charles Dickens: "Osborne... seems to have had a childhood of Dickensian richness and oddity";[2] "Attempting matricide [in his portrayal of Nellie Beatrice], Osborne instead made a creature of whom Dickens would have been proud." [4]

Dramatic version

The autobiography was preceded by a screenplay entitled Too Young to Fight, Too Old to Forget, which was filmed by Thames TV in July 1985 under the title A Better Class of Person. It was directed by Frank Cvitanovich, with Eileen Atkins and Alan Howard as Osborne's parents and Gary Capelin and Neil McPherson as Osborne. The television film was nominated for the Prix Italia.[5][6]

References
  1. John Osborne: A Reading of His Life and Work By Luc Maurice Gilleman, published by Routledge
  2. Bennett, Alan (3 December 1981). "Bad John". London Review of Books. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  3. Billington, Michael (24 December 2014). "John Osborne: a natural dissenter who changed the face of British theatre". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  4. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55236. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. IMDB Entry for A Better Class of Person
  6. O'Connor, John J. (25 March 1987). "TV Reviews; 'Better Class of Person by John Osborne, on 13". New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2023.


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