Biography of David Turner

Geoffrey David Turner, born to a working-class family in a deprived area of Birmingham in 1927, was a brilliant scholar, but started his working life in a paint factory. He joined a drama group at a local Youth Club,where he was befriended by a teacher, who eventually persuaded him to apply for a place at Birmingham University. He studied there for a degree in Spanish, but by the time he graduated, although the war was by now over, he was conscripted for National Service. He was drafted into the Intelligence Corps, but after a very short time his talent as an actor was spotted and he was asked to join "Stars in Battledress," an organisation which at that time employed both military and civilian personnel. He spent the rest of his service time entertaining the troops in Gremany and also further afield, appearing in "Sweeney Todd," "The Shop at Sly Corner" and other plays, After demobilisation he took a training course at Saltley College and became a teacher, writing for both stage and TV in his spare time. He married in 1957, and later he and his wife adopted two children. Being now a succesful playwright, David was able to give up teaching and buy a house in Leamington Spa. His play "The Prodigal Daughter" was produced at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington in 1973, starring Wilfred Hyde-White, but by far his greatest success was "Semi-Detached" which also appeared in film form as "All the Way Up" starring Warren Mitchell.