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John Basil Boothroyd (4 March 1910 – 27 February 1988) was an English humorous writer, best known for his long association with ''Punch''. As a young man he worked for a bank, but began contributing articles to ''Punch'', and became its assistant editor, a post in which he served for eighteen years. His career as a writer for ''Punch'' spanned the editorships of E. V. Knox to Alan Coren. Boothroyd’s chief literary work outside the comic essay was an official biography of Prince Philip undertaken at the request of its subject. Boothroyd also wrote for television and radio, and was a frequent broadcaster. ==Biography== Boothroyd was born in Worksop, England, son of James and Sarah Jackson Boothroyd (née Binch).〔(Gale Contemporary Authors Online ) (requires subscription), accessed 28 August 2009〕 He later said of his birthplace,"You can either call it the middle of the Nottinghamshire coalfield or the beautiful Sherwood Forest according to what sort of article you are writing."〔''The Guardian'', obituary, 1 March 1988, p. 37〕 James Boothroyd was a man of diverse trades, whom Boothroyd later remembered accompanying on clock-winding visits to great houses.〔''The Times'' obituary, 1 March 1988〕 Boothroyd was educated at Lincoln Cathedral Choir School and Lincoln School. In 1927 he became a bank clerk (it was later a source of pleasure to him that P G Wodehouse had started his working career similarly) and in his spare time he played the saxophone in a band called 'The Synco Peppers' and was a part-time repertory actor for the St Pancras People's Theatre.〔〔 While still working as a bank clerk he started writing for ''Punch'' in 1938, and during World War II he continued to contribute, using his experiences in the RAF as source material.〔 At first he was an instructor in the RAF Police and was later commissioned, becoming personal assistant to the Provost Marshal. He was demobilised in 1946 with the rank of flight lieutenant.〔 His books about service life included ''Home Guard Goings-On'', ''Adastral Bodies'', ''Are Sergeants Human?'' and ''Are Officers Necessary?''〔 Back in civilian life, he resumed his double-harness career with the bank and ''Punch'', but in 1952 he was appointed full-time assistant editor of the magazine. Malcolm Muggeridge who became editor in 1953 insisted on a less cosy style of writing ("No more articles about Celia and the washing-up"), and Boothroyd, according to ''The Times'' "chafed at … having to mount an attack on people whose only offence was to have been in the headlines that week, and much preferred chronicling the waywardness of common things or the vagaries of commuting."〔 In 1970 Boothroyd, was invited to write an official biography of the Duke of Edinburgh. It was the duke who suggested Boothroyd for the job, on the strength of a recent ''Punch'' profile. ''The Times'' said of the biography ''Philip'', published in 1971, that it was "lightly and elegantly written, the quality of the research being in no way concealed by the occasionally frivolous detail."〔 Boothroyd had a long connection with the BBC writing radio comedy, including a series for Ian Carmichael, ''The Small, Intricate Life of Gerald C Potter'', which ran from 1975 to 1981,〔 and was still receiving repeat broadcasts in 2014.〔(BBC radio schedule ) accessed 27 June 2014〕 He also wrote for television, including adaptations of George and Weedon Grossmith's ''Diary of a Nobody'' in 1979 and H F Ellis's ''A J Wentworth, BA'', in 1982.〔 He was a frequent after-dinner speaker, and in 1973-74 was speechwriter to Sir Hugh Wontner, Lord Mayor of London.〔 In 1987 he published his autobiography, ''A Shoulder To Laugh On.''〔 Boothroyd married Phyllis Barbara Youngman in June 1939. She died in 1980 and he married June Elizabeth Leonhardt Mortimer in 1981. There was one son of the first marriage.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Basil Boothroyd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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