fiction.wikisort.org - Writer

John Patrick Byrne (born 6 January 1940) is a Scottish playwright and artist. He wrote The Slab Boys Trilogy, plays which explore working-class life in Scotland, and the TV dramas Tutti Frutti and Your Cheatin' Heart. Byrne is also a painter, printmaker and theatre designer.

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John Byrne
Born	(1940-01-06) 6 January 1940 (age 82) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Alma mater	Glasgow School of Art
Spouse	Alice Simpson ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 2014)​ Jeanine Davies ​ (m. 2014)​
Partner	Tilda Swinton (1989–2003)
Children	4; including Honor Swinton Byrne

Life

John Patrick Byrne was born into a family of Irish Catholic descent in Paisley, Renfrewshire and he grew up in the Ferguslie Park housing scheme. He was educated at the town's St Mirin's Academy and attended Glasgow School of Art from 1958–63. His mother, Alice McShane, was married to Patrick Byrne when he was born. Byrne was conceived from incestuous abuse between his mother and her father, Patrick McShane.[1] He did not know the truth about his parentage until he was informed by his cousin in 2002. He was initially angered by the revelation, but eventually reconciled with the truth of his lineage.[1] He created The John Byrne Awards.[2]

Work

Writer

Year	Title	Notes
1977	Writer's Cramp	radio play[3]
1978	The Slab Boys
1979	The Loveliest Night of the Year
	Normal Service
	Hooray for Hollywood
	Play for Today	TV version of The Slab Boys
1980	Babes in the Wood
1981	Cara Coco
1984	Candy Kisses
	Crown Court	TV series
1985	London Cuckolds
1986	Scotch and Wry	video
1987	Tutti Frutti	BAFTA award-winning series for BBC Television
	Double Scotch & Wry	video
1988	Normal Service	TV movie
	Arena	writer/director
1990	Your Cheatin' Heart	TV series
1992	Colquhoun and MacBryde
1993	ScreenPlay	writer/director
1997	The Government Inspector
2004	Uncle Varick
2006	Tutti Frutti	Stage adaptation for the National Theatre of Scotland, co-produced by His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen
2008	Nova Scotia
2010	The Cherry Orchard
2014	Three Sisters

Art

From 1964 until 1966 Byrne designed jackets for Penguin Books. Having had his work rejected by various galleries, Byrne had success following an exhibition of works at London's Portal Gallery in 1967. Painted under the pseudonym of "Patrick", Byrne claimed the dream-like paintings were created by his father, an alleged self-taught painter of faux-naïf images.[4] Byrne's career as a professional painter started in 1968, when he left Stoddard's.

As well as designing the scenery for his own plays Byrne, in collaboration with director Robin Lefrevre, also designed the settings for Snoo Wilson's The Number of the Beast (Bush 1982) and Clifford Odets' The Country Girl (Apollo Theatre 1983).[5]

Byrne's best-known art works are arguably the album covers he created for friend Gerry Rafferty and his former bands The Humblebums and Stealers Wheel, among them the covers for City to City and Night Owl. Rafferty's early solo song "Patrick" is about Byrne.

Reviews

• Ross, Raymond J. (1983), Directed Irony, which includes a review of The Slab Boys, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 11, New Year 1983, pp. 45 & 46, ISSN 0264-0856

References

External links

• 40 artworks by or after John Byrne at the Art UK site
• John Byrne at IMDb
• "John Byrne". National Galleries of Scotland.
• "John Byrne". Paisley.org.uk. 13 August 2011.
• Renton, Jennie (2008). "A Conversation with John Byrne". Textualities.net.
• Clark, Colin. "Tutti Frutti: Interview with John Byrne". National Theatre of Scotland. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
• "John Byrne: Sitting Ducks by STROMA Films". vimeo.com. 6 August 2014.

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