Editing Terence Rattigan (section)

==Life and career==
Success as a playwright came early, with the comedy ''[[French Without Tears (play)|French Without Tears]]'' in 1936, set in a [[Cram school|crammer]]. This was inspired by a 1933 visit to a village called [[Marxzell]] in the [[Black Forest]], where young English gentlemen went to learn German; his time briefly overlapped with his Harrow classmate [[Jock Colville]].<ref name="Footprintsin"/>

Rattigan's determination to write a more serious play produced ''[[After the Dance (play)|After the Dance]]'' (1939), a satirical social drama about the "[[bright young things]]" and their failure to politically engage. The outbreak of the Second World War scuppered any chances of a long run. Shortly before the war, Rattigan had written (together with Anthony Goldsmith) a satire about Nazi Germany, ''Follow My Leader''; the [[Lord Chamberlain]] refused to license it on grounds of offence to a foreign country, but it was performed from January 1940.<ref>"A Topical Comedy", ''The Times'', 15 January 1940, p. 4.</ref>

During the war, Rattigan served in the [[Royal Air Force]] as a tail gunner; his experiences helped inspire ''[[Flare Path]]''. In 1943 Rattigan, then an [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] Flight Lieutenant, was posted to the [[RAF Film Production Unit]] to work on ''[[The Way to the Stars]]'' (a substantial reworking and adaption for film of ''[[Flare Path]]'') and ''[[Journey Together]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theterencerattigansociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Rattigan-Service-Record.pdf|title=Looking for Flying Officer Rattigan, Group Captain Clive Montellier RAF, 2013|website=The Terence Rattigan Society|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>

After the war, Rattigan alternated between comedies and dramas, establishing himself as a major playwright: the most successful of which were ''[[The Winslow Boy]]'' (1946), ''[[The Browning Version (play)|The Browning Version]]'' (1948), ''[[The Deep Blue Sea (play)|The Deep Blue Sea]]'' (1952), and ''[[Separate Tables]]'' (1954).

Rattigan's belief in understated emotions and craftsmanship was deemed old fashioned and "pre-war" after the overnight success in 1956 of [[John Osborne]]'s play ''[[Look Back in Anger]]'' began the era of [[kitchen sink drama]]s by the writers known as the [[Angry Young Men]]. Rattigan responded to this critical disfavour with some bitterness. His later plays—''[[Ross (play)|Ross]]'', ''[[Man and Boy (play)|Man and Boy]]'', ''[[In Praise of Love (play)|In Praise of Love]]'', and ''[[Cause Célèbre (play)|Cause Célèbre]]''—although showing no sign of any decline in his talent, are less well-known than his earlier works. Rattigan explained that he wrote his plays to please a symbolic playgoer, "Aunt Edna", someone from the well-off middle-class who had conventional tastes; his critics frequently used this character as the basis for belittling him.<ref>"Sir Terence Rattigan", ''The Times'', 1 December 1977, p. 16.</ref> "Aunt Edna" inspired [[Joe Orton]] to create "Edna Welthorpe", a mischievous [[alter ego]] stirring up controversy about his own plays.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ednawelthorpe.le.ac.uk/|title=Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) - A Tribute to Joe Orton|website=Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)}}</ref>

Rattigan was [[homosexual]],<ref name=onstage>{{Cite book|title=Out on Stage: Lesbian and Gay Theatre in the Twentieth Century|first=Alan|last=Sinfield|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-300-08102-2|page=159}}</ref> with numerous lovers but no long-term partners, a possible exception being his "congenial companion ... and occasional friend" Michael Franklin.<ref>Darlow, Michael: ''Terence Rattigan — The Man and His Work'', London: Quartet Books, 2010, p. 440.</ref> From 1944 to January 1947 he enjoyed a volatile affair with the politician [[Henry Channon|Henry "Chips" Channon]] who detailed the relationship in his diary published posthumously in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Diaries of Chips Channon Vol 3|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/439561/henry-chips-channon-the-diaries-volume-3-1943-57-by-channon-chips/9781529151725.html |website=Penguin UK|access-date=8 September 2022}}</ref>

It has been claimed his work is essentially [[autobiographical]], containing coded references to his sexuality, which was known by some in the theatrical world but not known to the public. There is some truth in this, but it risks being crudely reductive; for example, the repeated claim that Rattigan originally wrote ''The Deep Blue Sea'' as a play about male lovers, turned at the last minute into a heterosexual play, may be unfounded,<ref>B.A. Young mentions a "Kenneth Morgan version" of the play that was supposedly shown to Rattigan collaborator Alvin Rakoff in 1962 and that has since disappeared (Young, B.A.: ''The Rattigan Version'', London: Hamish Hamilton, 1986, p. 110). Darlow also speculates on the possible existence of such a draft (Darlow, Michael:'' Terence Rattigan – The Man and His Work'', London: Quartet Books, 2010, p. 440).<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> though Rattigan said otherwise.<ref>Rattigan's letter to John Osborne, 1968 cited in John Osborne ''Looking Back'', London: Faber, 1999, p. 286 (originally published in ''Almost a Gentleman'', Faber, 1991).</ref>

On the other hand, for the Broadway staging of ''Separate Tables'', he wrote an alternative version of the newspaper article in which Major Pollock's indiscretions are revealed to his fellow hotel guests; in this version, those whom the Major approached for sex were men rather than young women. However, Rattigan changed his mind about staging it, and the original version proceeded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3651526/On-the-road-Separate-Tables-Loves-Labours-Lost-The-School-for-Scandal.html|title=On the road: Separate Tables, Love's Labour's Lost, The School for Scandal|first=Dominic|last=Cavendish|date=9 April 2006|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/london-premiere-for-gay-version-of-rattigans-separate-tables-com-74210|title=London Premiere for Gay Version of Rattigan's Separate Tables - Playbill|website=Playbill|date=23 March 1998}}</ref>

Rattigan was fascinated with the life and character of [[T. E. Lawrence]]. In 1960, he wrote a play called ''[[Ross (play)|Ross]]'', based on Lawrence's exploits. Preparations were made to film it, and [[Dirk Bogarde]] accepted the role. However, it did not proceed because the [[Rank Organisation]] withdrew its support, not wishing to offend [[David Lean]] and [[Sam Spiegel]], who had started to film ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]''. Bogarde called Rank's decision "my bitterest disappointment". Also in 1960, a musical version of ''French Without Tears'' was staged as ''Joie de Vivre'', with music by [[Robert Stolz]] of ''[[The White Horse Inn (operetta)|White Horse Inn]]'' fame. It starred [[Donald Sinden]], lasted only four performances, and has never been revived. 

Rattigan was diagnosed with [[leukaemia]] in 1962 but seemingly recovered two years later. He fell ill again in 1968. He disliked the so-called "[[Swinging London]]" of the 1960s and moved abroad, living in [[Bermuda]], where he lived off the proceeds from lucrative screenplays including ''[[The V.I.P.s (film)|The V.I.P.s]]'' and ''[[The Yellow Rolls-Royce]]''. For a time he was the highest-paid screenwriter in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/aug/21/deep-blue-sea-terence-rattigan|title=Film of The Deep Blue Sea returns playwright Terence Rattigan to the spotlight|first=Vanessa|last=Thorpe|date=20 August 2011|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

In 1964, Rattigan wrote to the playwright [[Joe Orton]] congratulating the latter on his very dark comedy ''[[Entertaining Mr Sloane]]'', to which Rattigan had escorted [[Vivien Leigh]] in its first week. He had invested £3,000 in getting the play transferred to the West End. Although an unlikely champion of the ''risqué'' Orton, Rattigan recognised the younger man's talent and approved of what he considered a well-written piece of theatre. He also acknowledged in retrospect that, "in a way, I was not Orton's best sponsor. I'm a very unfashionable figure still, and I was then wildly unfashionable critically. My sponsorship rather put critics off, I think."<ref>Lahr, John (1978)''Prick Up Your Ears; The Biography of Joe Orton''. New York: Knopf.<!-- ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref>

Rattigan was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1971 for services to the theatre, being only the fourth playwright to be knighted in the 20th century (after Sir [[W. S. Gilbert]] in 1907, Sir [[Arthur Wing Pinero]] in 1909 and Sir [[Noël Coward]] in 1970).<ref>Wansell, p. 364.</ref> He had previously been appointed Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE), in June 1958. He moved back to Britain, where he experienced a minor revival in his reputation before his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/477156/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Rattigan, Terence (1911-1977) Biography|website=screenonline.org.uk|accessdate=19 November 2022}}</ref>