13 Facts About Denis Johnston

Denis Johnston worked as a war correspondent, and as both a radio and television producer for the BBC.

Denis Johnston was to see the family home in Dublin occupied by rebels during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Denis Johnston was educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin, and Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh.

Denis Johnston went on to study at the Harvard Law School and entered King's Inns and the Inner Temple.

In London, developing his interest in the theatre, Denis Johnston abandoned plans for a legal and political career.

Denis Johnston was a protege of Yeats and Shaw, and had a stormy friendship with Sean O'Casey.

Denis Johnston was a pioneer of television and war reporting.

Denis Johnston worked as a lawyer in the 1920s and '30s before joining the BBC as a writer and producer, first in radio and then in the fledgling television service.

Denis Johnston had become a recognised man of the left: in 1930 he had joined the Irish Friends of Soviet Russia, and though never a party member, until as late as the 1950s he professed faith in a communist future.

Denis Johnston then became Director of Programmes for the television service.

Denis Johnston later moved to the United States and taught at Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and other universities.

Denis Johnston kept extensive diaries throughout his life, now deposited in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and these together with his many articles and essays give a distinctive picture of his times and the people he knew.

Denis Johnston received honorary degrees from the University of Ulster and Mount Holyoke College and was a member of Aosdana.