Rosenthal, Jack Morris (1931-2004)

English dramatist. His warmly humorous television plays, dramatizing real-life stories, wartime nostalgia, and domestic issues, include The Evacuees (1975), Barmitzvah Boy (1976), London's Burning (1986), Moving Story (1994), and Eskimo Day (1996). He also wrote the film scripts Lucky Star (1980) and Yentl (1983) in collaboration with Barbra Streisand, and the stage plays Smash! (1981) and Our Gracie (1983).

Rosenthal was born in Manchester, and educated at Sheffield University. He joined the promotions department of Granada television in 1956, and began his professional writing with over 150 episodes of Coronation Street (1961-69). He was a contributor to the influential satirical programme That Was The Week That Was (1963), and created the series The Lovers! (1970). Other television plays include Spend, Spend, Spend (1977) and Wide-Eyed and Legless (1993).

His wife, actor Maureen Lipman, has appeared in a number of his works including The Evacuees (1975) and The Knowledge (1979), and had starring roles in Eskimo Day (1996) and Cold Enough for Snow (1997).