Keith Waterhouse was an English novelist, playwright, and screenwriter born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After dropping out of school at age 15, he worked odd jobs before he began writing columns for various English newspapers. Waterhouse turned to writing in 1957 with his first novel, There Is A Happy Land. In 1959, he published Billy Liar, about a teenager who creates fantasies to escape the dullness of working-class existence. The novel was adapted into a successful play, a film, a sitcom, and a musical.
Waterhouse frequently collaborated with friend Willis Hall. Together, they wrote more than 250 TV series, plays, musicals, and screenplays, including the screenplay for Billy Liar. They also wrote the book for the 1975 musical The Card. Waterhouse continued writing plays and novels until his death in 2009. His work often takes a satirical look at melancholy situations.
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