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Highgate playwright dies aged 71
Simon Gray, (pictured) the Highgate playwright and diarist best known for penning The Smoking Diaries and for his heavy smoking and drinking, has died aged 71.
The author of 30 stage and TV plays and five novels was born in Hampshire on October 21, 1936. He had lived in Highgate for years.
His first stage play, Wise Child, premiered in the West End in 1967 and starred Alec Guinness. Two more plays - Butley (1971) and Otherwise Engaged (1975) - ran successfully with good friend Harold Pinter as director and Alan Bates starring in both. In 2005, he was awarded a CBE for services to drama and literature.
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