David Nobbs
| David Nobbs | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Gordon Nobbs 13 March 1935 Petts Wood, London, UK |
| Died | 8 August 2015 (aged 80) |
| Occupation | Author Novelist Scriptwriter |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | British |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Education |
Marlborough College St. John's College, Cambridge |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Notable works |
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin A Bit of a Do |
David Gordon Nobbs (13 March 1935 – 8 August 2015) was an English comedy writer, best known for writing the 1970s series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, adapted from his own novels.
Nobbs was born in Petts Wood, London. Following an education at Marlborough College and St John's College, Cambridge, he worked as a reporter for the Sheffield Star, before starting his career in comedy as a writer for That Was The Week That Was in the early 1960s. He wrote for many of Britain's comedy performers over the years, including Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson and The Two Ronnies.
Nobbs was the creator of the sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976–79), adapted from his own Reginald Perrin novels, which "told the story of a man living an escapist fantasy in response to the mundanity of his daily commute". The TV series starred Leonard Rossiter as Perrin.
Nobbs also wrote the comedy/drama series A Bit of a Do (1989) and the Henry Pratt series of novels, the fourth of which, Pratt à Manger, was published in 2006. His novel It Had to be You was published in 2011.
A passionate humanist and a believer in the ideals of secularism, Nobbs was a longstanding Patron of the British Humanist Association. Although he was devoutly religious into his teens, at 18 Nobbs realised he was an atheist. From then on and throughout his career, he used his writing to explore humanist ideas about the nature of people and relationships. In particular, he cited his novels Obstacles to Young Love and It Had to Be You as two books strongly influenced by humanism, saying "I would describe them as being humanist books as well as humorous ones":
...
Wikipedia