Roland Pertwee (1885 - 1963)

Roland Pertwee (born 17 May 1885, Brighton, Sussex – died 26 April 1963, London) was an English playwright, film and television screenwriter, director and actor. He was the father of both Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee and fellow playwright and screenwriter Michael Pertwee. He was also the second cousin of actor Bill Pertwee and the grandfather of actors Sean Pertwee and Dariel Pertwee. Following the end of the First World War in 1918, Roland Pertwee retired from the British Army and began to pursue a career in the burgeoning British film industry. From the 1910s to 1950s, he worked as a writer on many British films, generally providing either the basic story or full screenplay. He was one of numerous writers working on the script of A Yank at Oxford starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh, the film in which his son Jon made his screen debut, and on Caravan. While he seemingly preferred writing, he acted in ten films between 1915 and 1945 and directed Breach of Promise, which he also wrote.