Margot Bennett (writer)
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Margot Bennett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Margot Mitchell 19 January 1912 Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, Scotland |
| Died | 6 December 1980 (aged 68) Camden, London |
| Occupation | author |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Period | 1943-1968 |
| Genres | crime, thriller, science fiction |
| Notable awards | Gold Dagger Award |
| Spouse | Richard Bennett (1937-1980; her death) |
| Children | 4 |
Margot Bennett (19 January 1912 – 6 December 1980), born Margot Mitchell, was a Scottish-born screenwriter and author of crime and thriller novels.
Early life[edit]
Margot Mitchell (sometimes called Margot Miller) was born in Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, Scotland.[1] She was educated in Scotland and in Australia.[2]
Career[edit]
Before publishing fiction, Bennett worked as an advertising copywriter in Sydney and London. During the Spanish Civil War, she worked as a nurse, translator, and broadcaster for the Spanish Medical Aid. During her war nursing work, she broke her arm when a truck overturned, and she was shot in both legs.[3][4][5]
Bennett was a regular writer for Lilliput magazine between 1943 and 1950.[6] She is best remembered for her crime fiction from the 1940s and 1950s,[7] though she also wrote contemporary literature, thrillers and a science guide, The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Atomic Radiation (1964).[8] She wrote two science fiction novels, one of which was The Long Way Back, about African colonization of Britain following a nuclear holocaust.[9][10] Her novel The Man Who Didn't Fly was nominated for a Gold Dagger Award.[2] In a 1962 review essay in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher counted Bennett among "the best Englishwomen in the suspense field," alongside Charity Blackstock, Nina Bawden, and Joan Fleming.[11]
Bennett wrote scripts for television, including contributions to Maigret, Emergency-Ward 10, Market in Honey Lane and Quick Before They Catch Us. In early 1964, she was the second female writer to be associated with Doctor Who, though the historical story she was scheduled to contribute never went ahead.[12] Bennett also wrote the screenplays for her books which were adapted for the screen.[7]
Personal life[edit]
During the Spanish Civil War, Margot Miller met Richard Lawrence Bennett (1912–1999), an English journalist and writer who had served in the Spanish Republican Army since 1936. During the conflict, he had written broadcasts for Radio Catalan. They were married in 1937 in Barcelona,[13] the ceremony being conducted by a Republican soldier.[3] They had three sons and a daughter.[7] One of her sons, Rob, died from muscular dystrophy.[3]
Bennett was a supporter of left-wing politics, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Bennett lived in London in her later life. She died there in 1980, aged 68 years.[1]
Bibliography[edit]
Novels[edit]
| Title | Date | Genre | Publisher | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to Change Hats | 1945 | Crime | Nicholson | Features John Davies | |
| Away Went the Little Fish | 1946 | Crime | Nicholson | Features John Davies | |
| The Golden Pebble | 1948 | Thriller | Nicholson | Not published in the USA | |
| The Widow of Bath | 1952 | Crime | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0754085929 | Adapted into a TV serial in 1959 |
| 2021 | British Library Publishing | 0712353747 | Reissued. | ||
| Farewell Crown and Goodbye King | 1952 | Thriller | Eyre & Spottiswoode | ||
| The Long Way Back | 1955 | Science Fiction | The Bodley Head | ||
| The Man Who Didn't Fly | 1955 | Thriller | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0745186246 | Shortlisted for Gold Dagger Award. Adapted into a TV episode by Kraft Theatre in 1958. |
| 2020 | British Library Publishing | 0712353410 | Reissued. | ||
| Someone from the Past | 1958 | Crime | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0754086046 | Won Gold Dagger Award |
| That Summer's Earthquake | 1964 | Literary Fiction | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 085456733X | Not published in the USA |
| The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Atomic Radiation | 1964 | Science | Penguin | ||
| The Furious Masters | 1968 | Science Fiction | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0413443000 | Published in Dutch in 1970 |
Short stories[edit]
| Title | Date | Genre | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| An Old Fashioned Poker for my Uncle's Head | 1946 | Science Fiction | Lilliput, issue #110 | Reprinted 1954 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, issue #36)[1] |
| No Bath for the Browns | 1945 | Thriller | Lilliput, issue #101 | Reprinted 1965 in Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories Not for the Nervous |
Television Projects Contributed To[edit]
| Series | No. of Episodes | Broadcast Date(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Playhouse | 1 (anthology) | 1956 | Episode: The Sun Divorce. Believed to be lost |
| The Man who Didn't Fly | 1 (anthology) | 1958 | Episode of Kraft Theatre. Based on her own novel |
| Emergency-Ward 10 | 15 | 1958-1959 | |
| The Widow of Bath | 6 | 1959 | Based on her own novel. All episodes lost |
| The Third Man | 2 | 1959 | |
| They Met in a City | 1 (anthology) | 1961 | Episode: The Spanish Waiter |
| Suspense | 1 (anthology) | 1962 | Episode: Killer in the Band |
| Maigret | 7 | 1960-1962 | |
| The Flying Swan | 1 | 1965 | |
| The Big Spender | 5 | 1966 | All episodes lost |
| Quick Before They Catch Us | 4 | 1966 | Serial: The Tungsten Ring. All episodes lost |
| Market in Honey Lane | 7 | 1968 |
Screenplays[edit]
- The Man Who Liked Funerals (1959)
- The Crowning Touch (1959)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Clute, John (11 August 2018). "Margot Bennett". SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
- ^ a b "Margot Bennett". Saltire Society. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ a b c "Richard & Margot Bennett". Catriona Gray. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ Fisher, John (30 January 1937). "UNDER FIRE IN SPAIN". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). p. 12. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN GIRLS IN SPAIN". Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954). 4 March 1937. p. 11. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "General Fiction Magazine Index". Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ a b c Barnes, Melvyn (1980). Twentieth Century Crime and Fiction Writers. London: Macmillan. pp. 97–98. ISBN 9781349813681.
- ^ Jordanova, L. J. (1993). Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine Between the Eighteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-299-12294-2.
- ^ "Brave New World After". The New York Times. 20 March 1955.
- ^ Kravsow, Irving (24 April 1955). "New World Problems". Hartford Courant. p. 117. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boucher, Anthony (18 February 1962). "Criminals at Large". The New York Times. p. BR17 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "A Brief History of Time (Travel)". Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "ROMANCE IN WAR-TORN SPAIN". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 18 March 1937. p. 11. Retrieved 28 July 2020 – via Trove.
External links[edit]
- Obituary, The Times, 6 December 1980
- "Do You Write Under Your Own Name?". Martin Edwards' Crime Writing Blog. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- "Margot Bennett Bibliography". Classic Crime Fiction. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- "Margot Bennett (II)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- Margot Bennett at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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