Harold Hobson
Early life and education
Hobson was born in Thorpe Hesley, near Rotherham, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He attended Sheffield Grammar School, from where he gained a scholarship to Oriel College at Oxford University, graduating with a second-class degree in Modern History in 1928.{{Cite ODNB|first=Michael|last=Billington| authorlink= Michael Billington (critic) |title=Hobson, Sir Harold (1904–1992)| year= 2004| url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51130}}
Career
In 1931, he began to write London theatre reviews for The Christian Science Monitor. In 1935, he was employed on the paper's staff, remaining its London drama critic until 1974. He was an assistant literary editor for The Sunday Times from 1944 and later became its drama critic (1947–76).
Hobson was the only drama critic to recognise the early Harold Pinter's talent as a dramatist{{cite news| first= Peter |last= Hall| url= https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/jan/04/theatre.beckettat100 |title= Godotmania| work= The Guardian| date= 4 January 2003}} and wrote of The Birthday Party: "I am willing to risk whatever reputation I have as a judge of plays by saying ... that Mr Pinter, on the evidence of this work, possesses the most original, disturbing and arresting talent in theatrical London."{{cite news| first= Michael |last= Billington| url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/03/theatre.stage |title= Fighting talk| work= The Guardian| date= 3 May 2008| access-date= }} (on 50th anniversary of the opening of The Birthday Party at the Lyric Hammersmith) During his career, he was to champion many other new playwrights, especially John Osborne, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard.
Hobson also wrote for Drama and The Listener and was a regular member of the BBC radio programme The Critics. He was invited by Peter Hall to join the board of the National Theatre.
Hobson wrote books relating to British and French theatre, including his autobiography Indirect Journey (1978), and a personal history based on his work as a drama critic, Theatre in Britain (1984). He also wrote a novel, The Devil in Woodford Wells (1946).{{cite web |title=The devil in Woodford Wells: a fantastic novel |url= https://apps.lords.org/lords/tours-and-museum/museum/searchthecollections/artefactdetails/Library/3279?page=7 |website= lords.org| publisher= Lord's |access-date=17 May 2020}}
Harold Hobson was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1971, and knighted in 1977.
References
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Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Category:British theatre critics
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:English male journalists
Category:People educated at Sheffield Grammar School
Category:People from Rotherham
Category:The Christian Science Monitor people
Category:The Sunday Times people
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