Joe Brearley (1909 - 1977)

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Mr Joe Brearley (Male)

Nationality: English

Born: 1909

Schoolmaster at Hackney Downs Grammar School. Teacher, counsellor and eventual friend of Harold Pinter. Brearley was appointed to the school in April 1939, but was soon serving overseas during the war. Speaking in 1995 on the occasion of his receipt of the David Cohen Prize for Literature, Pinter recalled how Brearley had set in motion in him a passion for words and their performance, through an exposure to the works of William Shakespeare and John Webster: 'That language made me dizzy. Joe Brearley fired my imagination. I can never forget him'. (Various Voices, p. 72). In a poem, written as obituary in 1977, Pinter recalled the walks around Hackney and Clapton that he would enjoy with Brearley (Various Voices, p. 177). Brearley spoke as a character witness at Pinter's 1949 trial as a conscientious objector (Billington, p. 22).

Training and Education

No training and education have been added to this person record yet.

Other Names

Joesph Brearley (Birth name)

Productions

Macbeth (Hackney Downs Grammar School) (1947)

Creative | Director

Notes:

Romeo and Juliet (Hackney Downs Grammar School) (1948)

Creative | Director

Notes:

Appears In

Romeo and Juliet (Hackney Downs Grammar School) (1948)

Escalus, Prince of Verona (Age: Not Specified, Male)

Performer

Linked People

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Linked Awards

No award have been added to this person record yet.

Resources

No resources have been added to this person record yet.

Sources

Harold Pinter's speech upon receipt of the David Cohen Prize for Literature, 15 March 1993

'Harold Pinter, 'A Speech of Thanks', Various Voices, further revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2009, pp. 69-73.

Public speech

Harold Pinter, 'Joseph Brearley 1909-1977' (poem)

'Harold Pinter, 'Joseph Brearley 1909-1977', Various Voices, further revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2009, p. 177.

Poem

Michael Billington's biography of Harold Pinter

Michael Billington, Harold Pinter, revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 2007.

Biography

English Teachers in a Postwar Democracy

P. Medway, J. Hardcastle, G. Brewis, and D. Crook, English Teachers in a Postwar Democracy: Emerging Choice in London Schools, 1945-1965, London: springer, 2014.

Academic book