(23 December 1946 – 23 April 2011) |
Biography
John Sullivan grew up in Balham, South London,[3] failed his eleven-plus and left school at 15 with no qualifications. From a working-class background, Sullivan's Irish father, John, Sr., was a plumber and his mother, Hilda, occasionally worked as a charlady.[4] It was in Balham where he observed the sort of market trader that would later appear in Only Fools and Horses. Sullivan's first paid employment was as a messenger boy for Reuters, and he continued to work in a number of low-paid jobs in South London for a further 15 years.[1][5]During this time, he continued to submit scripts to the BBC (unsuccessfully) before getting a job in the BBC props department.[1] He approached television producer Dennis Main Wilson with a script about a young Marxist. This led to a pilot for Comedy Special in 1977 which, following a positive reaction, was commissioned for a full series, Citizen Smith (1977–80).[1] Citizen Smith ran for four series, after which Sullivan was asked to submit another idea. An initial idea for a comedy set in the world of football was rejected, so he proposed an alternative idea for a sit-com centring around a cockney market trader in working-class, modern-day London called Readies.[6]
Through Ray Butt, a BBC producer and director whom Sullivan had met and become friends with when they were working on Citizen Smith, a draft script was shown to the Corporation's Head of Comedy, John Howard Davies. Davies commissioned Sullivan to write a full series under an alternative title Only Fools and Horses, which had also been the name of a Citizen Smith episode. Sullivan believed the key factor in it being accepted was the success of ITV's new drama Minder, a series with a similar premise and also set in modern-day London.[7]
Much of Sullivan's material for Only Fools and Horses scripts came from his real-life experiences: falling through a raised bar flap,[8] the chandelier falling, his father's poker sessions, his niece working in the police force, and his grandfather falling down holes to claim money. It is arguable that the economic insecurity experienced by the Trotter family, and their eventual rise to wealth, is based on Sullivan's own personal background, who grew up in a poor household and noted in an interview that he and his friends seemingly had no other opportunities after leaving school apart from low-paid factory work. The success of Only Fools and Horses, however, made him rich.[9]
With the success of Only Fools and Horses, at the suggestion of his wife he decided to write a romantic comedy series featuring a strong female lead character. His source of inspiration was a letter in a magazine read to him by his wife, written by a woman who had been jilted by her fiancé on the day of her wedding.[10] Just Good Friends ran for three series and a feature-length special between 1983 and 1986. Other sitcoms included Dear John (1986–7) and Sitting Pretty (1992–3).[1]
Later in his career, he moved towards writing comedy drama series such as Over Here (1996), Roger Roger (1996) and Micawber (2001). His last work, Rock and Chips (2010), was the second spin-off of Only Fools and Horses.[1]
Awards and honours
Only Fools and Horses won the BAFTA award for best comedy series in 1986, 1989 and 1997, as well as the RTS best comedy award in 1997, best sitcom at the 1990 British Comedy Awards, and two Television and Radio Industries Club Awards for comedy programme of the year in 1984 and 1997. Sullivan won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain comedy award for the 1996 Only Fools and Horses Christmas trilogy and another from the Heritage Foundation in 2001.[11]In the 2005 New Years Honours, Sullivan was awarded an OBE for services to drama.[12] On 2 September 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Goldsmiths, University of London.[13]
Death
Sullivan died aged 64 on 23 April 2011 in a private hospital in Surrey, after having viral pneumonia for six weeks.[14] BBC Director-General Mark Thompson paid tribute, saying: "John had a unique gift for turning everyday life and characters we all know into unforgettable comedy."[2]Gareth Gwenlan, a producer of Only Fools and Horses and a close friend of Sullivan, paid tribute to the writer: "The sudden death of John Sullivan has deprived the world of television comedy of its greatest exponent. John was a writer of immense talent and he leaves behind him an extraordinary body of work which has entertained tens of millions of viewers and will continue to do so for many decades to come."[15] Sullivan is survived by his wife Sharon, two sons, a daughter[16] and two grandchildren.[14]
Works
- Citizen Smith (1977–1980)
- Only Fools and Horses (1981–1991, with Christmas specials to 2003)
- The Two Ronnies (sketch contributor)
- Just Good Friends (1983–6)
- Dear John (1986–7)
- Dear John USA (1992 U.S. sitcom based on the BBC series)
- Sitting Pretty (1992–3)
- Over Here (1996)
- Roger Roger (1996–2003)
- Heartburn Hotel (1998–2000, co-writer)
- Micawber (2001, comedy-drama)
- The Green Green Grass (2005–9) (wrote first series only)
- Rock & Chips (2010–11, comedy drama prequel to Only Fools and Horses)
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