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John Sullivan is a Director, Scriptwriter and Executive Producer British born on 23 december 1946 at Balham (United-kingdom)
John Richard Thomas Sullivan OBE (23 December 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several popular British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.
From working-class South London, Sullivan worked in a variety of low-paid jobs for 15 years before getting his first break writing Citizen Smith. However, it was for the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) that he is best known. Other sitcoms include Dear John, Just Good Friends, Sitting Pretty, Roger Roger, and The Green Green Grass. In addition, he wrote the comedy drama serial Over Here and the drama series Micawber for ITV, and co-wrote the comedy Heartburn Hotel. His work won him a number of comedy awards, including the BAFTA for best sitcom on three occasions, and he was made an OBE in 2005. His last work was Rock & Chips, a comedy drama prequel to Only Fools and Horses. The final episode of Sullivan's last comedy series aired five days after his death from pneumonia on 23 April 2011.
To remember Sullivan's work, the BBC broadcast the episode of Only Fools and Horses in which the Trotters drop a chandelier while cleaning it for an upper-class family. They also showed "Top 40 Only Fools and Horses Moments", where it is shown the best moment in Only Fools and Horses. The episode, "A Touch of Glass" was voted number 2, losing to when Del Boy (David Jason) falls through an open bar in "Yuppy Love".
During this time, he continued to submit scripts to the BBC (unsuccessfully) before getting a job in the BBC props department. 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). 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.
Through Ray Butt, a BBC producer and director whom Sullivan had met and befriended 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.
Much of Sullivan's material for Only Fools and Horses scripts came from his real-life experiences: falling through a raised bar flap, 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 becoming, as Sullivan put it, "factory fodder." The success of Only Fools and Horses, however, made him very rich.
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. 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).
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.
Source : Wikidata
John Sullivan
Nationality United-kingdom
Birth 23 december 1946 at Balham (United-kingdom)
Death 23 april 2011 (at 64 years) at Surrey (United-kingdom)
Awards Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Birth 23 december 1946 at Balham (United-kingdom)
Death 23 april 2011 (at 64 years) at Surrey (United-kingdom)
Awards Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
From working-class South London, Sullivan worked in a variety of low-paid jobs for 15 years before getting his first break writing Citizen Smith. However, it was for the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) that he is best known. Other sitcoms include Dear John, Just Good Friends, Sitting Pretty, Roger Roger, and The Green Green Grass. In addition, he wrote the comedy drama serial Over Here and the drama series Micawber for ITV, and co-wrote the comedy Heartburn Hotel. His work won him a number of comedy awards, including the BAFTA for best sitcom on three occasions, and he was made an OBE in 2005. His last work was Rock & Chips, a comedy drama prequel to Only Fools and Horses. The final episode of Sullivan's last comedy series aired five days after his death from pneumonia on 23 April 2011.
To remember Sullivan's work, the BBC broadcast the episode of Only Fools and Horses in which the Trotters drop a chandelier while cleaning it for an upper-class family. They also showed "Top 40 Only Fools and Horses Moments", where it is shown the best moment in Only Fools and Horses. The episode, "A Touch of Glass" was voted number 2, losing to when Del Boy (David Jason) falls through an open bar in "Yuppy Love".
Biography
John Sullivan was from a poor working-class background, and grew up in Balham, South London. His Irish father, John, Sr., was a plumber and his mother, Hilda, occasionally worked as a charwoman. It was in Balham where he observed the sort of market trader that would later appear in Only Fools and Horses. He failed his eleven-plus and attended Telferscot Secondary Modern School, where he had an inspirational English teacher named Jim Trowers, who sparked an interest in reading the novels of Charles Dickens and discovered his talent for writing stories. Sullivan left the school at 15 with no qualifications. He did, however attend evening classes in German and English, and read Teach Yourself books after leaving school. His 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.During this time, he continued to submit scripts to the BBC (unsuccessfully) before getting a job in the BBC props department. 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). 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.
Through Ray Butt, a BBC producer and director whom Sullivan had met and befriended 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.
Much of Sullivan's material for Only Fools and Horses scripts came from his real-life experiences: falling through a raised bar flap, 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 becoming, as Sullivan put it, "factory fodder." The success of Only Fools and Horses, however, made him very rich.
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. 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).
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.
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Filmography of John Sullivan (3 films)
Director
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, 1h43Directed by John Sullivan
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Fantasy
Themes Alternate history films
Rating49%
Setting the stage for a presentation of their views, D'Souza and Sullivan provide counterfactual histories in which George Washington is killed during the Revolutionary War, or the country is divided following civil war, creating a world without America that would be vastly worse off. D'Souza identifies himself as an Indian immigrant who chose America, and has been impressed with what a unique force for good it is, something Americans have traditionally agreed with. He claims modern leftists are “telling a new story”, however, contradicting traditional veneration for America in order to “convince a nation to author its own destruction” and “unmake the America that is here now.” He then challenges several "indictments" made against the country and American exceptionalism, including sociology professor and activist Michael Eric Dyson's claim that “Thievery" was the “critical element” for “American empire” and historian and activist Ward Churchill's assertion that the US is the world's new evil empire, and says that 1960s Chicago radical Saul Alinsky, historian Howard Zinn, and others have promoted guilt and resentment regarding wealth inequality that has helped shape the political careers of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
2016: Obama's America (2012)
, 1h29Directed by John Sullivan
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Fantasy
Themes Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Political films
Actors Shelby Steele
Rating47%
Scriptwriter
, 1h43Directed by John Sullivan
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Fantasy
Themes Alternate history films
Roles Writer
Rating49%
Setting the stage for a presentation of their views, D'Souza and Sullivan provide counterfactual histories in which George Washington is killed during the Revolutionary War, or the country is divided following civil war, creating a world without America that would be vastly worse off. D'Souza identifies himself as an Indian immigrant who chose America, and has been impressed with what a unique force for good it is, something Americans have traditionally agreed with. He claims modern leftists are “telling a new story”, however, contradicting traditional veneration for America in order to “convince a nation to author its own destruction” and “unmake the America that is here now.” He then challenges several "indictments" made against the country and American exceptionalism, including sociology professor and activist Michael Eric Dyson's claim that “Thievery" was the “critical element” for “American empire” and historian and activist Ward Churchill's assertion that the US is the world's new evil empire, and says that 1960s Chicago radical Saul Alinsky, historian Howard Zinn, and others have promoted guilt and resentment regarding wealth inequality that has helped shape the political careers of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
2016: Obama's America (2012)
, 1h29Directed by John Sullivan
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Fantasy
Themes Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Political films
Actors Shelby Steele
Roles Writer
Rating47%
Over Here (miniseries) (1996)
, 3h5Directed by Tony Dow
Origin United-kingdom
Themes Political films
Actors Samuel West, Martin Clunes
Rating81%
Producer
2016: Obama's America (2012)
, 1h29Directed by John Sullivan
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Fantasy
Themes Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Political films
Actors Shelby Steele
Roles Executive Producer
Rating47%