Bill MacIlwraith, British playwright and screenwriter, Died at 88

William Pirie MacIlwraith was born in April 1928, in London and died on May 9, 2016.

He was a British dramatist and screenwriter.

He had Scottish parents, he trained as an actor at RADA and worked in repertory during the 1950s, performing around the country.

Along with Tyrone Power in a production of George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple which ran for a season in London.

Bill MacIlwraith ultimately concentrated on his writing career.

During the early 1960s, he had begun to develop a career as a screenwriter with the short film Linda (1960), featuring Carol White, and 8 episodes of the television series, The Human Jungle (1963–64), with Herbert Lom as a Harley Street psychiatrist, among his credits.

He was best known for the stage play The Anniversary (1966).

The show was first being aired at the Theatre Royal, Brighton had a long run at the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End with Mona Washbourne in the lead role as the domineering mother of three sons, which was adapted into a film version released in 1968, now with Bette Davis in the central role.

In 2005, the Anniversary received a West End revival with Sheila Hancock in the role.

Bill’s situation comedy Two’s Company (1975–79), about an American writer and her English butler, starred Elaine Strich and Donald Sinden.

Then a later comedy series Seconds Out (1981–82), about a boxer, starred Robert Lindsay.

Bill’s other television work includes plays for the Armchair Theatre series broadcast between 1970 and 1972, and episodes of Justice with Margaret Lockwood in a role as a barrister.

Bill MacIlwraith passed away at 88 yrs old.