Background

Arthur Hopcraft was born on November 29, 1932, in London, City of London, United Kingdom.

Education

Hopcraft attended a school but left it to start a career.

Career

Arthur Hopcraft's journalism career began at the age of fifteen when he left school to write for various local newspapers. During the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, he wrote for such papers as the Guardian, Daily Mirror, and Observer, often traveling the world to report on such serious issues as world hunger and poverty, a subject about which he wrote in his first book - Born to Hunger, published in 1968. His favorite topic, however, was soccer, or football, as it is known in England and Europe, and he became well-established as a sports journalist. Hopcraft's second book, The Football Man, published in 1968, was a critical and popular success.

By the 1970s, however, Hopcraft was becoming increasingly plagued by claustrophobia, which hampered his ability to attend crowded sporting events for his reports. He found a solution when a chance meeting with someone who worked at the Stables Theatre led to his writing his first play, Cyril and the Sex Kittens. This was followed by other early plays, including The Mosedale Horseshow of 1971, and the teleplays The Reporters of 1972 and The Nearly Man of 1975. By the mid-1970s, Hopcraft had built a successful television writing career, to which he added adaptations of books by such writers as Charles Dickens and John le Carre. The winner of the 1985 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award, his more recent works for television include Hostage of 1992 and Rebecca,1997. Hopcraft also published the autobiographical The Great Apple Raid in 1970, and the book Mid-Century Man in 1982.

Achievements

• Hopcraft was a well-known sportswriter who later became a successful author of television screenplays. He worked for such known publishers as the Guardian, Daily Mirror, and Observer.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Football Man

    (The Football Man takes the reader back to the heart and s...)

    2013
  • Born to Hunger 1968
  • Rebecca 1997
  • World Cup '70 1970

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Arthur Hopcraft had claustrophobia, which led him to screenwrite instead of sportswriting.

References

• Contemporary Authors vol. 233