Bill Naughton
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William John Francis Naughton, or Bill Naughton (Ballyhaunis, June 12, 1910 - Ballasalla, January 9, 1992) was a British playwright and author, best known for his play Alfie.
Born in Ballyhaunes, County Mayo, his family moved in 1914 to Bolton, Lancashire, England, where he attended St Peter and Paul School. Naughton worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver before he started writing. Naughton's preferred environment was working class society. Although Alfie is the play with which he will always be associated, mostly because of the British film starring Michael Caine in the eponymous role, he was a prolific writer, with both plays, novels, short stories and children’s books to his name. At least two of his other plays have been transferred onto the cinema screen as well. These are Spring and Port Wine, which had James Mason starring in the role of Rafe Crompton, and The Family Way, which starred John Mills. His work also includes the novel One Small Boy (1957), and the collection of short stories The Goalkeeper's Revenge: And Other Stories (1961).
During his lifetime, he received the following awards:
- Screenwriters Guide Award (1967 and 1968)
- Italia Prize for Radio Play (1974)
- Children's Rights Workshop Other Award (1978)
- Portico Literary Prize (1987)
- The Hon. Fellowship, Bolton Institute of Higher Education (1988).
Naughton died in 1992, in Ballasalla on the Isle of Man. There is today a "Bill Naughton Short Story Competition" in honour of the author.
