Author Profile: J B Priestley
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J B Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster, and social commentator.
Born in 1894 to Jonathan and Emma Priestley, John Boynton Priestley grew up in Bradford, Yorkshire. Emma Priestley died when he was two, his father remarrying four years later. Priestley attended Belle Vu Grammar School, leaving at 16 instead of attending university. He took a job as a junior clerk at Helm & Co. Whilst he worked at Helm & Co, Priestley wrote at night and had many articles published in local and London newspapers.
In 1914, Priestley volunteered for the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment during World War One. He was posted to the 10th Battalion in France as a Lance-Corporal in 1915. In June 1916, Priestley was badly wounded when he was buried alive by a trench mortar and spent months in military hospitals and convalescent homes. In 1918 he was commissioned as an officer and posted back to France in the late summer of 1918. In his book Margin Released, Priestley wrote about suffering from the effects of poison gas.
After his military service in World War One, Priestley attended Cambridge University, studying English and History, and was awarded a degree in 1921. By the time he turned 30, Priestley had established his name and reputation as an essayist and critic. His novel Benighted (1927) was adapted into the movie The Old Dark House in 1932.
In the 1920s and 30s, Priestley wrote several books including one of his most well-known books, The Good Companions (1929). The Good Companions has been adapted into a stage play, three musicals, two films, one TV show in the 80s, and for radio in 1994, 2002, and 2018.
When war broke out again in World War Two, Priestley became a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio. His show The Postscript drew audiences of 16 million on Sunday nights in 1940 and 1941.
During World War Two, Priestley co-founded the socialist Common Wealth Party in 1942. Priestley had been a socialist his entire life, having spent a lot of his childhood with his father’s friends, who were also socialists. The political party had 5 members of Parliament during the 1940s, but by the 1990s, the party had been dissolved.
Priestley’s socialist views can be found in many of his works, but notably in An Inspector Calls (1945) and the character of Inspector Goole. In the play, Inspector Goole represents Priestley’s socialist views, with the character of Arthur Birling representing capitalist views.
Priestley was an influential figure in British politics and his opinions and broadcasts shaped a lot of political debate at the time. In 1945, he helped Labour win the election, and contributed to the formation of the welfare state.
Throughout his life, Priestley was married three times: Emily ‘Pat’ Tempest (m. 1921-1925), Jane Wyndham-Lewis (m. 1925-1953), and Jacquetta Hawkes (m. 1953-1984). He had five children; four daughters, and one son.
In 1984, Priestley contracted pneumonia and died, a month before his 90th birthday. He was buried in a church in Yorkshire.
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