Bolt, Robert Oxton

▪ 1996

      British dramatist (b. Aug. 15, 1924, Sale, near Manchester, England—d. Feb. 20, 1995, near Petersfield, Hampshire, England), drew international acclaim for his play A Man for All Seasons (1960; filmed 1966), in which he used the clash between King Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More to explore the struggle by which a man of honour and integrity achieves a kind of heroism in the face of moral ambiguity and historic upheaval. He continued to explore this issue in the screenplays for Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965), as well as the scripts for the films Ryan's Daughter (1970), Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), The Bounty (1984), and The Mission (1986). Bolt attended Victoria University of Manchester (B.A.; 1949) after completing his World War II military service. He began writing radio dramas while working as a schoolteacher, but the success of his first major play, Flowering Cherry (1957), allowed him to write full-time. Other plays include The Tiger and the Horse (1960), Gentle Jack (1963), Vivat! Vivat Regina! (1970), and State of Revolution (1977). His career was disrupted in 1979 by a near-fatal stroke. Bolt won Academy Awards for the screenplays of A Man for All Seasons and Doctor Zhivago and was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1972.

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