 Robert Bolt, born in Manchester in 1924, educated at Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University, scored a triumph with his first West End play, Flowering Cherry (1958), and another with A Man for All Seasons (1960). The film version of the latter (d. Fred Zinnemann, 1966) won five Oscars, including those for Best Film and for Bolt's screenplay. It was remade for US TV in 1988. He wrote the screenplays for three of David Lean's 'big' films: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the torturously inflated Doctor Zhivago (UK/US, 1965, another screenplay Oscar) and Ryan's Daughter (1970), whose star, Sarah Miles, he twice married. He also wrote and directed Miles in the entertaining but overlong Lady Caroline Lamb (UK/Italy/US, 1972). On the evidence, the
stroke-afflicted dramatist was better served by stage than screen. He was awarded the CBE
in 1972. His son Ben Bolt (b.1952) is a TV drama
director.
Bibliography
Turner, Adrian, Robert Bolt (1988) Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film
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FILM & TV CREDITS
