Hall, Willis (1929–2005)

English dramatist. He wrote numerous plays for stage, radio, television, and cinema, as well as more than a dozen children's novels. His best-known work is the play The Long and the Short and the Tall (1958, published 1959), which was successful on stage in both London and New York.

Hall is also well known for his long and successful collaboration with Keith Waterhouse. Among their many joint ventures for the stage were the adaptation of Waterhouse's novel Billy Liar (1960), Celebration (1961), Squat Betty (1962), Say Who You Are (1965), and The Card (1973). Their many screenplays include Whistle Down the Wind (1961), A Kind of Loving (1962), and the film adaptation of Billy Liar (1963).

He was born and educated in Leeds. After working for trawler crews out of Hull, he became a soldier. He travelled to Malaya, where he worked as a signals corporal and wrote plays for the local radio station. When he returned to the UK, he wrote plays for BBC radio.