29 Facts About Arnold Wesker

Arnold Wesker was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and other assorted writings.

Arnold Wesker's plays have been translated into 20 languages, and performed worldwide.

Arnold Wesker was delivered by Samuel Sacks, father of neurologist Oliver Sacks.

Arnold Wesker's education was then fragmented during World War II.

Arnold Wesker was briefly evacuated to Ely, Cambridgeshire, before returning to London where he attended Dean Street School during the Blitz.

Arnold Wesker then returned to live with his parents who had moved to a council flat in Hackney, East London, where he attended Northwold Road School.

Arnold Wesker then attended Upton House Central School, Hackney, from 1943.

Arnold Wesker was then evacuated again to Llantrisant, South Wales.

Arnold Wesker was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but could not afford to take up his place there.

Arnold Wesker's plays have dealt with themes including self-discovery, love, confronting death and political disillusion.

Arnold Wesker's play Roots was a kitchen sink drama about a girl, Beatie Bryant, who returns after three years of stay in London to her farming family home at Norfolk and struggles to voice herself.

Arnold Wesker joined with enthusiasm the Royal Court group on the Aldermaston March in 1959.

Arnold Wesker was an active member of the Committee of 100 and, with other prominent members, was jailed in 1961 for his part in its campaign of mass nonviolent resistance to nuclear weapons.

Arnold Wesker formally dissolved the project in 1970, although The Roundhouse did eventually open as a permanent arts centre in 2006.

The actors in that year's RSC company refused to perform it, Arnold Wesker claimed, because they were under the influence of the Workers Revolutionary Party.

Arnold Wesker is, therefore, quite as grateful as Antonio when Portia, as in Shakespeare's play, shows the legal way out.

Arnold Wesker wrote a book, The Birth of Shylock and the Death of Zero Mostel, chronicling the entire process from initial submissions and rejections of the play through to rehearsals, Zero's death, and the disappointment of the critical reception for the Broadway opening.

In 2008, Arnold Wesker published his first collection of poetry, All Things Tire of Themselves.

Arnold Wesker was a member of the editorial advisory board of Jewish Renaissance magazine.

Arnold Wesker was a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.

Arnold Wesker was the castaway on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, on in 1966 and again in 2006.

Arnold Wesker's papers, covering his entire career, were acquired by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin in 2000.

Arnold Wesker was actively involved in the organizing of his archive, and before shipping it to the Ransom Center, Arnold Wesker compiled a list of the contents, which is available to scholars for consultation.

Arnold Wesker's family shipped the last of his papers to the Ransom Center in March, 2016 shortly before his death.

Arnold Wesker had another daughter Elsa, with Swedish journalist, Disa Hastad.

Arnold Wesker was presented with the Italian Marzotto Prize in 1964 for Their Very Own and Golden City, and the Spanish Best Foreign Play Award in 1979.

Arnold Wesker became a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985 and was presented with the Goldie Award in 1987.

Arnold Wesker was knighted in the 2006 New Year Honours.

In December 2021 a plaque in Arnold Wesker's memory was installed at his former primary school, Northwold Road, Hackney, London, by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.