Willis Hall

This article is about the British writer. For the building in Northfield, Minnesota, see Willis Hall (Carleton College). For the New York State Attorney General, see Willis Hall (New York politician). For the Vermont politician, see Willis Hall Jr.

Willis Hall
Willis Hall photographed by Lewis Morley in 1960.
Born
Willis Edward Hall

(1929-04-06)6 April 1929
Hunslet, Leeds, England
Died7 March 2005(2005-03-07) (aged 75)
Ghyll Mews, Ilkley, England
Occupation(s)Playwright, Screenwriter, Author
Notable work
Spouses
  • Kathleen May Cortens (m. 1954)
  • Jill Bennett (m. 1962)
  • Dorothy Kingsmill-Lunn (m. 1966)
  • Valerie Shute (m. 1973)
Children4 sons

Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with his life-long friend Keith Waterhouse producing over 250 works. He wrote plays such as Billy Liar, The Long and the Short and the Tall, and Celebration; the screenplays for Whistle Down the Wind, A Kind of Loving and Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain; and television programmes including Budgie, Worzel Gummidge and Minder. His passion for musical theatre led to a string of hits, including Wind in the Willows, The Card, and George Stiles' and Anthony Drewe's Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure.