James Ambrose Brown

James Ambrose Brown (1919-) Journalist, playwright, essayist, critic, noveslit, short story writer and military historian.

Biography

Born in Scotland in 1919 and educated in Edinburgh and Kilmarnock, came to South Africa with his parents in 1936. Went to the front during World War II, then returned to become a well-known Johannesburg journalist and author.

His writing

Brown wrote a number of works, many of them either historical or dealing with the Second World War.

Splendid Sunday (1956)
The Anthill (1958)/ retitled Seven against the Sun (1960)
The Naked Blood (1961)
The Assassins (1965)
The Pact (1966)
A Gathering of Eagles; The Campaings of The South African Air Force in Italian East Africa, June 1940 - November 1941, with an Introduction 1912-1939 (1970)
The Return (1971)
Eagles strike: The campaigns of the South African Air Force in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Libya, Tunisia, Tripolitania and Madagascar, 1941-1943 (1974)
The Snare (1975)
The Circus Adventure (1978)
South African Science (1978)
South African Art (1978)
One man's war: A soldier's diary (1980)
Adrift (1981)
Journey to Seal Island (1982)
Journey to Frigidus (1982)
White Locusts (1983)
Danger Coast (1985)
100 Years of Mining Johannesburg Centenary (1986)
So Rich an Inheritance (1986)
Ridge of Gold (1986)
Archibald Abercrombie and the hieroglyphic typewriter (1987)
Seeds of Anger (1987)
Journey to Mousanzia (1988)
The War of a Hundred Days, Springboks in Somalia and Abyssinia 1940-41 (1990)
Whirlpool (1990)
They fought for King and Kaiser: South Africans in German East Africa, 1916 (1991)
Retreat to victory: A Springbok's diary in North Africa : Gazala to El Alamein 1942 (1991)
A Year in a Cottage Garden (1997)
The Seed and the Harvest: The Story of St James Church 1968-1998 (1998)

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

He is also well known as a writer for stage and radio. He also wrote prolifically for children's theatre. His plays include:

They Seek the East Wind/also known as Governor of the Black Rock (1953)
The Three Wishes (1954)
The Circus Adventure (1955)
Evening of Grand Guignol (1956)
Mango Leaf Magic (1956)
Seven against the Sun (1958)
The Red Silk Umbrella (1961)
The Coral King (1961)
Amelia's African Adventure (1962)
The Years of the Locust (1966)
Three Cheers for President Charlie (1972)
Time and the Wood (1978)
The Kimberley Circus (1978)
McCullough, or Travels with a Collapsible Woman (1979)
The Siege of Nugget Street (1979)
The Stairway (1979?)
Curtain Up! Two Plays For Children (1986)

Film

One of his stories was used as the basis for Donald Swanson's 1951 film, The Magic Garden. His 1954 play, The Three Wishes, was adapted for TV by Rex Tucker in 1954. His story was adapted as The Talking Cat for a TV film by Rex Tucker in 1956. He wrote the short film Zambezi (1960). His novel/play Seven against the Sun was filmed by David Millin in 1964. His 1955 play, The Circus Adventure was filmed as Das Zirkusabenteuer (1970). He wrote the 1973 film, Aanslag op Kariba. He wrote the 1975 film, Wing Commander. His play Time and the Wood was filmed in 1984. His novel Danger Coast was filmed as a TV mini series in 1995.

Awards, etc

A number of his works have received awards. e.g. Time and the Wood, for which he received the Amstel Playwright of the Year Award in 1978 (sharing with Windmills of the Mind by John Pank).

He was awarded a Fleur du Cap Award (the Lifetime Award) for his contribution to theatre.

Sources

NELM: [Collection: BROWN, James Ambrose]: 1998. 146. 56) (1956/7)

De Beer, 1995;

Greyvenstein, Walter 1988a. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113776/

http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79077284/

Joyce, 1999;

Tucker, 1997.

Teacher Guide, The Coral King[1]

https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/922141.James_Ambrose_Brown?page=1

Go to South African Theatre/Bibliography