Comments on: The Kings Road, the misogynist John Osborne and the women in his life

By: Don Reed

Don Reed — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 22:26:09 +0000

Splendid article, thank you. Penelope Gilliatt ended up getting nailed at the New Yorker magazine for plagiarism (back when the magazine had standards, this was objectionable0, to add one more happy twist to this story.

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By: Jim Boxley

Jim Boxley — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 09:25:40 +0000

I’ve never found Osborne to be terribly interesting, or that significant a playwrite, still this is exactly the sort of trifle that made my- “Why don’t people realize my importance?”- Father lived on. The dry, urbane wit of Coward, et al, fascinated and compelled him. The only time he ever said “Thank You” to me was when I bought him tickets to “OH, COWARD” when it appeared at The Los Angeles Music Center in 1974. I can’t remember ever being told “I love you”. Of course, a true dilettante would never stoop to such mish mash, now would he? Didn’t work for Osborne, did it? Yes, I’m making a direct reference, in relation to dilettante. Dad was a frustrated, longing to be, Edwardian. Complete with tawdry, backstairs affairs with a Footman or three. All in his overly done, Rococo decorated mind. He died one afternoon in 1983, seemingly on command. I’m not sure how much of his death was simply medical or willed by he, himself, but there was a decidedly wry half smirk, half smile on his very dead face. Who knows? Maybe his reward was waiting and made clear to him seconds before the last beat of his under-appreciated, seldom exercised heart. I wonder what kinds of deals he had to strike with Old Lucifer to warrant that final expression. I can guarantee, however, Lucifer got rooked! (I’m 59 now, and a bit less self absorbed. Hope it helps…)

By: Eddie

Eddie — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 21:24:05 +0000

It is obvious that Osborne suffered from intense self-loathing. That is really what made him so angry, not the establishment, not the status quo in 50′s Britain. He did not really hate the women in his life, but he absolutely hated himself, and being so acutely aware of that fact made him very angry. Men who self-loathe often find a kind of release in the abuse of the women closest to them, their wives, daughters, and girlfriends, either by physically beating them, or as in Osborne’s case, using his gift of language to cruelly taunt them and put them down. I cannot understand why he is so highly regarded, if in fact he still is. His career was relatively short, and his success was based on one play, which became notorious and then famous for its shock value. The most overrated playwright of the 20th century.

By: Carole Heath

Carole Heath — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:29:08 +0000

I have read Osborne’s book Damn you England. Which I found very interesting stuff. I have wondered why Osborne was said to be so nasty to his wives. If he disliked women so much why did he marry so many times. I saw a drama once about him on TV and he really disliked his mother perhaps it stems from that relationship who knows. I knew about Jill Bennett her time with Osborne but not much about his other wives so this article has given me more insight into Jon Osborne and his life. Look back in Anger to my mind has the women has victims bullied and verbally abused by the main character Jimmy Porter I think he’s called. Why Osborne was so nasty to his daughter I have no idea. But Look back in Anger isn’t just about that type of thing it is also about I think what Osborne thought was wrong with post war Britain in the 1950′s and he used the his medium as a playwright to convey this the the theatre going public at the time. I wonder how he got on with the likes of Laurence Olivier who I think Osborne wrote the Entertainer for. Olivier said once in an interview that Osborne and himself had a good relationship with. I think Osborne was a heavy drinker at times maybe this made his behaviour worse towards others.

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:36:52 +0000

hi, who is this Bennett you talk of that he hated so much? and why? one of Nolan’s friends? I am researching his plays and interested in his influences, i wonder why he hated his own daughter so much?

By: Skinny Agnus

Skinny Agnus — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:04:11 +0000

Hmm, rather simplistic to suggest that hating Nolan (even given hating Bennett and being deeply embarrassed by Nellie Beatrice) equates to hating all women. It’s probably more accurate to suggest that Osborne was a tormented creature desperately in need of his father and in possession of a lot of fame and money for which he had little time to prepare.

Oh, and that’s ‘Osborne’ by the way — there’s no u (‘non-u’, perhaps appropriate?)

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:34:35 +0000

Sammy – you make some good points; however, with all due respect, how can you effectively explain what appears to be Osbourne’s sheer hatred of his own flesh and blood and the way in which he showed it? Nolan did not ask to be born, nor to have parents who were both, obviously, very ill. I hope that she is not irreparably damaged.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Mon, 02 May 2011 00:51:35 +0000

This was a prejudiced and inaccurate article. Osborne had sixteen years of happy marriage with his final wife: in your article you say he divorced Jill Bennett in 1988 instead of 1976. The proposal he sent to Gilliatt is wildly out of context, since they were having a fairly wild affair at the time. You have produced no evidence of misogyny, apart from the fact he had several wives. His first two wives had affairs, his third was an alcoholic, and his fourth openly called him a homosexual. There is no question that he hated Bennett, but outside of this you have done nothing to prove he was misogynistic, and I would point to his very happy final marriage to directly contradict this.

By: nickelinthemachine

nickelinthemachine — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:57:19 +0000

Reading a bit more, I think I could write a bit more about his misogynistic ways. I live half a mile from where Chaplin was born by the way.