Jeremy Brooks
Jeremy Brooks was a notable English writer and stage designer, born in Southampton in 1926. He had a diverse educational background that included attendance at Oxford University and the Camberwell School of Art. Following military service in the Royal Naval Reserve, Brooks embarked on a theater career in 1949, where he became known for his stage design and scene painting. He was also an accomplished writer, with a strong presence in the publishing industry during the 1950s, working with several prominent firms and contributing as a critic for reputable publications like The Guardian and The Sunday Times.
Brooks authored a number of novels, including "The Water Carnival" and "Smith, as Hero," and is recognized for his ability to explore complex moral dilemmas within his narratives. He often wrote under the pseudonym Clive Meikle and translated many Russian plays into English. In addition to his literary pursuits, he served as literary manager and play advisor for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company. Jeremy Brooks passed away in 1994 in Wales, leaving behind a legacy of rich literary contributions and a deep engagement with theater.
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Jeremy Brooks
Writer
- Born: December 17, 1926
- Birthplace: Southampton, Hampshire, England
- Died: June 27, 1994
- Place of death: Llanfrothen, Wales
Biography
Jeremy Brooks was born in Southampton, England, in 1926 to civil servant William Meikle Brooks and Patricia Jenner Brooks. He attended Oxford University between 1944 and 1945 and Camberwell School of Art between 1948 and 1950. He served in the Royal Naval Reserve from 1945 to 1947, reaching the rank of sublieutenant with the Fifth Minesweeping Flotilla. In 1959, Brooks married painter Eleanor Nevile. The couple had four children. He died in Wales in 1994.
Brooks’s theatre career began in 1949 at the Scala Theater in Dartford, England, where he worked as a stage designer and scene painter. During the 1950’s, he worked for various publishing houses: He was a feature writer at the Pictorial Press but left in 1952 to work at Christy & Moore Ltd. Eventually, he moved on to Eyre & Spottiswoode, Robert Hale, Macmillan, and David Higham London. At these firms he learned how to be a feature writer, literary agent, and reader. He also worked in London as a fiction critic for The Guardian and The Sunday Times, as a drama critic for The New Statesman, and as a reviewer for The Observer and The Spectator. He served as the literary manger and play advisor for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company. Highly regarded as a writer, Brooks’s novels include The Water Carnival (1957), Jampot Smith (1960) and Smith, as Hero (1965).
Although Brooks, who sometimes used the pseudonym Clive Meikle, much preferred writing novels, he often wrote drama to supplement his income and translated a large number of Russian plays into English. His works examine the various junctions people invariably reach in their lives and significant moral choices they must unavoidably make.