Olwen Wymark

Olwen Margaret Wymark (née Buck, 14 February 1932 – 14 June 2013) was an American writer and playwright.[1]

Olwen Wymark
BornOlwen Margaret Buck
(1932-02-14)14 February 1932
Oakland, California, U.S.
Died14 June 2013(2013-06-14) (aged 81)
London, England
OccupationWriter
NationalityAmerican
Period1966–1992
Spouse
​
(
m. 1953; died 1970)
Children4 (including Jane Wymark)

Biography

Olwen Margaret Buck was born on 14 February 1932 in Oakland, California, the daughter of Philip W. (a professor of political science) and Barbara (Jacobs) Buck, and the granddaughter of English author W. W. Jacobs. She attended Pomona College from 1949–51 and University College, London from 1951–52.

Her most successful play was Find Me (1977),[2] about mental illness, which is still used as a set text for drama qualifications in UK schools.[3] Others included Gymnasium (1972), Loved (1980), Best Friends (1984), Strike Up The Banns (1990), and Mirror Mirror (1992).[4] She also wrote dozens of BBC radio play adaptations,[5] including her 2001 version of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain; one of her last works, it starred Paul Scofield in one of his greatest radio roles.[1]

Personal life

She was married to British actor Patrick Wymark, whom she met at University College, London, from 1955 until his death in 1970. Patrick, whose birth surname was Cheeseman, took his acting name from the middle name of Olwen's paternal grandfather. They had four children: Jane (an actress), Rowan, Dominic, and Tristram. Wymark resided for most of her life in London.

Bibliography

Plays

  • Lunchtime Concert (one-act), first produced in Glasgow, Scotland, at Citizens Theatre, (1966)
  • Triple Image (three one-act plays) (1967)
    • Coda
    • Lunchtime Concert
    • The Inhabitants (1967)
  • The Gymnasium (one-act) (1967)
  • "The Techniciaheheheheehns" (one-act) (1969)
  • Stay Where You Are (one-act) (1969)
  • Neither Here Nor There (one-act) (1971)
  • Speak Now (two-act) (1971)
  • The Committee (one-act) (1971)
  • Jack the Giant Killer (one-act) (1972)
  • Tales From Whitechapel (one-act) (1972)
  • Watch the Woman (two-act), (1973) with Brian Phelan
  • The Twenty-Second Day (one-act) (1975)
  • We Three (one-act) (1977)
  • After Nature, Art (one-act) (1977)
  • Find Me (two-act) (1977)
  • Loved (two-act) (1979)
  • Please Shim Down on Me (1980)
  • Best Friends (1981)
  • One Woman Plays (adapted from three plays by Dario Fo and Franca Rame) (1981)
  • Lessons and Lovers: D.H. Lawrence in New Mexico: a Play (1986)

Quotes

In an interview with Contemporary Authors: "From the fifties until my husband died in 1970 I wrote plays because I wanted to; now I write them for a living. Although I have never written 'a commercial' play, I have to sell my work. Consequently I think my plays have become less obscure (and pretentious), and I find myself more drawn to comedy. The theatre is my first passion, but I love to write for radio and would like to write more for TV and would really like to write a film."

gollark: Ah, but it has to be bootable *by UEFI/MBR*, that's the hard bit.
gollark: Yes, a valid picture-y image file which can also be booted from.
gollark: You could make a *zip* file which is both bootable and extractable, but that's because of a weird zip quirk.
gollark: Evil idea: somehow make a valid image file you can also boot from if you `dd` it straight to a disk.
gollark: I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux,is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux.Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free componentof a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shellutilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day,without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNUwhich is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users arenot aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just apart of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the systemthat allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run.The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself;it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux isnormally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole systemis basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux"distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

References
  1. Michael Coveney (23 June 2013). "Olwen Wymark obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  2. Richard Anthony Baker. "Olwen Wymark". The Stage. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  3. David James (21 June 2013). "A tribute to Olwen Wymark". Writers Guild of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  4. Olwen Wymark – complete guide to the Playwright and Plays
  5. Imogen Blake (3 August 2013). "Obituary: Midsomer Murders star pays tribute to her playwright mum Olwen Wymark". Ham & High. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
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