11 Facts About Alfred Shaughnessy

Alfred James Shaughnessy was an English scriptwriter, film director and producer best known for being the script editor of Upstairs, Downstairs.

Alfred Shaughnessy was born in London, his father, the Hon Alfred Thomas Shaughnessy, having died while serving with the Canadian army in France two months before.

Alfred Shaughnessy's grandfather Thomas Shaughnessy was an American-born Canadian railway administrator, who was created Baron Shaughnessy in 1916, and his mother was a second cousin of James K Polk, the 11th US President.

Alfred Shaughnessy spent his early years living in Tennessee, and in 1920 his mother, Sarah Polk Bradford, married The Hon Sir Piers Legh who then became Equerry to the Prince of Wales, and the family moved to Norfolk Square in London.

Alfred Shaughnessy often spent weekends and holidays at Lyme Park, his stepfather's ancestral home.

Alfred Shaughnessy then had an unsuccessful time at the London Stock Exchange, and had a hectic social life, with debutante balls, shooting parties and country weekends.

Alfred Shaughnessy wrote fifteen episodes and was the script editor for 66 episodes, and was meticulous in researching facts about the era.

Alfred Shaughnessy married the actress Jean Lodge in 1948, and they had two sons, Charles, who is an actor best known for his roles as Shane Donovan on the American television soap opera Days of Our Lives and as Maxwell Sheffield on the American television series The Nanny, and David, an actor and producer.

Alfred Shaughnessy wrote his autobiography, Both Ends of the Candle, in 1975, and followed this with A Confession in Writing in 1997.

Alfred Shaughnessy died in 2005 aged 89, in Plymouth, Devon, shortly after having recorded an interview with Simon Williams about Upstairs, Downstairs.

Pete Walker, director of two films written by Alfred Shaughnessy, described him as "an Eton-educated pillar of the establishment - the Queen's first boyfriend, actually".