Constance Cox


Constance Cox was a British script writer and playwright, born in Sutton, Surrey.

Life and career

Cox was born Constance Shaw in Sutton, Surrey, in 1912. She married Norman Cox, a fighter pilot, who was killed in 1942. She had been a postmistress in Shoreham-by-sea, and moved to Brighton where she took up writing full-time after the end of the war.
Cox specialised in adaptations of books by Charles Dickens and other classic literature. Her 1962 adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist led to viewer complaints over the murder of Nancy by Bill Sikes and questions asked in Parliament about the suitability of such content for family audiences.
In 1957 she adapted the J.B. Priestley novel Angel Pavement into a BBC series of the same title.
She also was a prolific playwright. She was a member of the Brighton Little Theatre from the early 1950s and directed her own and others' work there for many years.

Selected works and adaptations

The Romance of David Garrick Vanity Fair The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Play in Two Acts Adapted from Oscar Wilde's Novel 1948 The Count of Monte Cristo 1950 Northanger Abbey : a comedy in three acts, based upon Jane Austen's novel 1950 Spring at Marino: A comedy in three acts; suggested by Turgenev's Fathers and son 1951 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime Three Knaves of Normandy: Play 1958 Jane Eyre: Play 1959 based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë Bleak House: BBC television adaptation Caliph's Minstrel: Play 1961 Oliver Twist: BBC television adaptation Lord Arthur Savile's Crime: A comedy in three acts 1963 Miniature Beggar's Opera: Play Everyman: A new version of the morality play 1967 Christmas Carol 1968 Miss Letitia 1970 Maria Marten 1970 Pride and Prejudice: Play 1972 Murder Game 1976 Lady Audley's Secret 1976 Vampire, or the Bride of Death 1978 Micah Clarke 1985A Time for Loving 1986 Because of the Lockwoods: Play Constance Cox and Dorothy Whipple 1991 Return of the Church to an East Anglian Parish 1996 Wuthering Heights 1997 Mansfield Park Jane Austen and Constance Cox 1997 The Woman in White: Play 2005