British Women Playwrights

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 1 
Daphne du Maurier
(English Novelist, Biographer and Playwright)
Daphne du Maurier
5
Birthdate: May 13, 1907
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: London, England
Died: April 19, 1989

Daphne du Maurier was an English playwright and author. Many of her works, which have been praised for narrative craft, have been adapted into films, including three of Alfred Hitchcock's movies. Such was her popularity that she was selected along with four other Women of Achievement to be featured on a set of British stamps, which were issued in 1996.

 2 
Sophie Hunter
(Theatre Director)
Sophie Hunter
10
Birthdate: March 16, 1978
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London

Sophie Hunter is an English playwright, opera director, and former performer. She is credited with co-founding and popularizing a theatre company called Boileroom, which was honored with the Samuel Theatre Trust Award in 2007 for its play The Terrific Electric, which marked Sophie Hunter's directorial debut.

 3 
Aphra Behn
(Playwright)
Aphra Behn
6
Birthdate: July 10, 1640
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Canterbury, England
Died: April 16, 1689
 4 
Carol Ann Duffy
7
Birthdate: December 23, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
 5 
Amelia Bullmore
7
Birthdate: January 31, 1964
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
 6 
Caryl Churchill
(British Playwright Best Known for Her Plays: ‘Top Girls’, ‘Cloud 9’ and ‘Serious Money’)
Caryl Churchill
3
Birthdate: September 3, 1938
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: London, England

British playwright Caryl Churchill is best-known for works that emphasize on feminist-issues, sexual-politics and abuses of power. Most renowned works of Churchill, who also gained attention for using non-naturalistic techniques, include the farce Cloud 9 about sexual politics; the play Top Girls that deals with feminist issues; and the satirical play Serious Money that was largely written in rhyming couplets.

 7 
Dorothy L. Sayers
(English crime writer and poet.)
Dorothy L. Sayers
7
Birthdate: June 13, 1893
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Oxford, England
Died: December 17, 1957
Frances Hodgson Burnett
7
Birthdate: November 24, 1849
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Cheetham, Manchester, England
Died: October 29, 1924
 9 
Julia Donaldson
(English Writer and Playwright Best Known for Her Popular Rhyming Stories for Children)
Julia Donaldson
7
Birthdate: September 16, 1948
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Hampstead, London, United Kingdom
 10 
Mary Hayley Bell
(English Writer and Actress Who is Best Remembered for Her Novel 'Whistle Down')
Mary Hayley Bell
3
Birthdate: January 22, 1911
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Shanghai, China
Died: December 1, 2005

Mary Hayley Bell was an English writer and actress. She is perhaps best remembered for her novel Whistle Down the Wind, which was later adapted into a film with her daughter Hayley Mills playing the lead role. As far as her acting career is concerned, Mary Hayley Bell had a prominent stage acting career for about a decade. 

 11 
Katharine Viner
(Journalist)
Katharine Viner
6
Birthdate: January 4, 1971
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Yorkshire, England
 12 
Kate Atkinson
(Novelist)
Kate Atkinson
6
Birthdate: December 20, 1951
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: York, England
 13 
Lucy Prebble
(Playwright)
Lucy Prebble
6
Birthdate: 1981 AD
Birthplace: Haslemere, England
 14 
Caroline Graham
(Screenwriter, Novelist, Writer)
Caroline Graham
5
Birthdate: July 17, 1931
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Nuneaton
 15 
Sue Townsend
(Writer and Humorist Best Known for Creating the Character 'Adrian Mole')
Sue Townsend
6
Birthdate: April 2, 1946
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Leicester, England
Died: April 10, 2014

Best known for creating the protagonist Adrian Mole, Sue Townsend was a legendary comic writer from Britain. Apart from the Adrian Mole series, she had also penned other novels and plays. A chain-smoker as a teenager, she had her first marriage at 18 and was a mother of three by 22.

 16 
Judy Campbell
(Actor, Playwright)
Judy Campbell
6
Birthdate: May 31, 1916
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Grantham
Died: June 6, 2004
 17 
Sharman Macdonald
(Scottish Playwright, Screenwriter and Actress)
Sharman Macdonald
6
Birthdate: February 8, 1951
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
 18 
Laura Wade
(Writer)
Laura Wade
8
Birthdate: October 16, 1977
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Bedford
 19 
Sarah Kane
(Playwright, Writer)
Sarah Kane
10
Birthdate: February 3, 1971
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Brentwood
Died: February 20, 1999
 20 
Susannah Doyle
(Actor, Film actor)
Susannah Doyle
5
Birthdate: July 5, 1966
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Kingston upon Thames
 21 
Hannah More
(Writer, Poet, Essayist)
Hannah More
6
Birthdate: February 2, 1745
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Fishponds
Died: September 7, 1833

English religious author Hannah More soared to literary fame with the release of Village Politics, penned under the pseudonym Will Chip. Its popularity made her write an entire series of tracts that educated the poor. She also established clubs and schools, apart from opposing slavery along with the Clapham Sect.

 22 
Baroness Orczy
(British Novelist and Playwright Best Known for Her Series of Novels Featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel)
Baroness Orczy
3
Birthdate: September 23, 1865
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Tarnaörs, Heves County, Hungary
Died: November 12, 1947

Best known for her historical novel The Scarlet Pimpernel, Hungarian-British novelist Emma Orczy was the only child of noted composer Baron Felix Orczy. While she initially studied art, she later took to writing. Apart from the Pimpernel sequels, she also penned several collections of detective stories, such as Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.

 23 
Mina Loy
(Poet)
Mina Loy
4
Birthdate: December 27, 1882
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: London, England
Died: September 25, 1966
 24 
Eliza Haywood
(British author)
Eliza Haywood
2
Birthdate: 1693 AD
Birthplace: England
Died: February 25, 1756
 25 
Enid Bagnold
(Author)
Enid Bagnold
2
Birthdate: October 27, 1889
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Rochester, England
Died: March 31, 1981
 26 
Felicia Hemans
(Poet)
Felicia Hemans
3
Birthdate: September 25, 1793
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Liverpool, England
Died: May 16, 1835
 27 
Brigid Brophy
(British Writer Whose Satiric, Witty Novels Explore the Psychology of Sex)
Brigid Brophy
2
Birthdate: June 12, 1929
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Ealing, England
Died: August 7, 1995

Author, feminist, and social activist Brigid Brophy mostly dealt with themes such as sexual liberation in her works. One of the first to demand legalization of gay marriage in England, she was also against imposing monogamy. Her Fifty Works of English and American Literature We Could Do Without created furore.

 28 
Katherine Philips
(Poet)
Katherine Philips
2
Birthdate: January 1, 1632
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: London, England
Died: June 22, 1664
 29 
Mary Russell Mitford
(Author)
Mary Russell Mitford
2
Birthdate: December 16, 1787
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: New Alresford, England
Died: January 10, 1855
 30 
Margaret Kennedy
(Novelist & Playwright)
Margaret Kennedy
2
Birthdate: April 23, 1896
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Hyde Park Gate, London, England
Died: July 31, 1967
 31 
Charlotte Lennox
(Author)
Charlotte Lennox
2
Birthdate: 1730 AD
Birthplace: Gibraltar, United Kingdom
Died: January 4, 1804
 32 
Pamela Hansford Johnson
(Novelist)
Pamela Hansford Johnson
2
Birthdate: May 29, 1912
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: London, England
Died: June 19, 1981
 33 
Susanna Rowson
(Novelist)
Susanna Rowson
2
Birthdate: 1762 AD
Birthplace: Portsmouth, England
Died: March 2, 1824
 34 
Elizabeth Inchbald
(Novelist)
Elizabeth Inchbald
2
Birthdate: October 15, 1753
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Suffolk, England
Died: August 1, 1821
 35 
Delarivier Manley
(Author)
Delarivier Manley
1
Birthdate: 1663 AD
Birthplace: Jersey, Channel Islands
Died: July 11, 1724
 36 
Elaine Feinstein
(Poet)
Elaine Feinstein
1
Birthdate: October 24, 1930
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bootle, England
Died: September 23, 2019
 37 
Pam Gems
(Playwright)
Pam Gems
1
Birthdate: August 1, 1925
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Bransgore, England
Died: May 13, 2011
 38 
Elsie Fogerty
(Teacher)
Elsie Fogerty
1
Birthdate: December 16, 1865
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Sydenham, London, England
Died: July 4, 1945
 39 
Kitty Clive
(Actress)
Kitty Clive
1
Birthdate: November 5, 1711
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: London, England
Died: December 6, 1785
 40 
Jan Mark
(Writer)
Jan Mark
1
Birthdate: June 22, 1943
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Welwyn Garden City, England
Died: January 16, 2006
 41 
Anne Ridler
(Poet)
Anne Ridler
1
Birthdate: July 30, 1912
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Rugby, England
Died: October 15, 2001
 42 
Julia Jones
(Actress)
Julia Jones
0
Birthdate: March 27, 1923
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: West Derby, Liverpool, England, UK
Died: October 9, 2015
 43 
Maria Theresa Kemble
(Actress)
Maria Theresa Kemble
0
Birthdate: January 17, 1774
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: September 3, 1838
 44 
Rebecca Humphries
(British Actress and Playwright)
Rebecca Humphries
0
Birthdate: October 3, 1987
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Norwich, England