A Way to Live, the Way to Die: Dennis Potter (1935-1994)

Dennis Potter: 1935-1994

Dennis Potter lived on TV. He was a dramatist, not an actor, yet viewers in his native England and abroad knew Potter's life story through his teleplays. In 1964 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in Parliament as a Labour Party candidate, then wrote his two Nigel Barton plays about a Labour M.P. that hit such a nerve the party demanded they be softened. He fictionalized his military service in last year's six-parter, Lipstick on Your Collar. His 1986 magical musical memory masterpiece, The Singing Detective, pictured a writer who, while suffering an egregious skin disease, psoriatic arthropathy (as Potter did),...

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