Ted Willis, Baron Willis

Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914), commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party.

Political life

Willis was elected Chairman of the Labour League of Youth as the candidate of the left in 1937. In 1941 he became Secretary General of the Young Communist League. He was a charismatic personality and an excellent public speaker. He often spoke at meetings in favour of opening a second front in order to help the Red Army which was bearing the brunt of the Nazi onslaught.

Career

His passion for drama first manifested in plays he wrote for the Unity Theatre, based in a former chapel near St Pancras, during the war. He was best known for writing the television series Dixon of Dock Green which ran for more than twenty years, and he also wrote nine films. He was Chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain from 1958 to 1964. Willis created several British television series such as Virgin of the Secret Service, Hunter's Walk, The Adventures of Black Beauty, Copper's End, Sergeant Cork and Mrs Thursday.

Honours and awards

On 23 December 1963 he was awarded a life peerage with the title Baron Willis, of Chislehurst in the County of Kent, on a Labour Party nomination.

Films

• The Undefeated 1949
• A Boy, a Girl and a Bike 1949
• The Huggetts Abroad......

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