John Chapman

Published on Tuesday 18 September 2001 01:00

John Chapman, playwright

Born: 27 May, 1927, in London Died: 3 September, 2001, in France, aged 74

JOHN Chapman was an author who brought immense amount of unbridled (but often complicated) fun to the theatregoers in the Fifties and Sixties. He co-wrote many of the hugely popular Whitehall farces that starred Brian Rix and which simply ran and ran. Never too profound, Chapman’s scripts were nevertheless subtle, witty and a lot of laughs: certainly never smutty or vulgar. They required expert timing and sure-fire delivery from the actors and this they got from a celebrated team at the Whitehall.

Chapman went on to write two very popular television sitcoms: Hugh and I and Fresh Fields.

John Roy Chapman was born in London, but spent his youth in Glasgow (where he attended the Glasgow Academy) and then went south to University College, London, followed by terms at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

While doing the rounds of the theatrical agents, Chapman was sent for an audition at the Whitehall for a new farce called Reluctant Heroes. Brian Rix heard his audition and cast him in the minor role of a Scottish soldier (which he repeated in the subsequent movie). The play ran for over four years at the Whitehall Theatre, and to kill time backstage Chapman decided to try his hand at writing a farce. The play, Dry Rot, was, in many ways, typical of the well-constructed play so popular in the post-war years. Doors opened and shot on cue, everyone mistook everyone else and the plot was delightfully exaggerated and stereotyped.

Dry Rot concerned the weird goings-on of three dodgy bookmakers. Rix (in loud suit, questionable wig and co-respondent shoes) was the undoubted star and the play ran from 1954 to 1958 to packed houses. It was seen on tour in Scotland at the Howard and Wyndham theatres and was even performed live from the Whitehall on television. It has admirably withstood the test of time and last year was voted one of the best plays of the last century by audiences at the National Theatre.

During this long run (Chapman had played the role of Danby throughout), he wrote another smash hit. Simple Spyman opened in 1956 and ran for three years. Rix was now recognised as a leading actor of farce and dropped his trousers memorably (and frequently).

The BBC approached Chapman in the early Sixties and suggested he wrote a sitcom round the talents or Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott. For four years the show got excellent ratings, but Chapman was tempted back to the stage by Fay Cooney.

In a most happy partnership, the two wrote four of the most popular plays of the era. Not Now Darling (1967), My Giddy Aunt (1968), Move Over Mrs Markham (1971), and There Goes the Bride (1974) filled theatres throughout the country with laughter. Some were filmed, with Chapman rewriting the scripts.

Chapman was to co-write several other plays (most notably Shut Your Eyes and Think of England with Anthony Marriot) but few enjoyed the success of the Chapman-Cooney partnership. Chapman always had an eye for a catchy title, and as he constructed a play he liked to write with a clear idea who was to take the various parts.

After a successful adaptation for the radio of PG Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle (with Ralph Richardson), Chapman returned to television in 1984 to write Fresh Fields . Starring Julie McKenzie and Anton Rogers, it told of a middle-age couple coming to terms with their family growing up and leaving home. The husband was disillusioned with his job and the wife bored with coffee mornings and bridge. Chapman cleverly introduced a meddling neighbour and an interfering granny to spice things up.

The show was a great success, and after two years Chapman relocated his two characters (as he and his wife had just done) in France. Thus, French Fields was born in 1989. It allowed Chapman free range to indulge his love of France with lots of odd Anglo-Gallic situations and capture the day-to-day complications the couple faced with the locals and plumbing. The programme ran for two years and was equally popular.

Chapman is survived by his wife, the actress Betty Impey, and their three sons. A fourth son predeceased him.