Willis, Ted (1914–1992)

English writer and politician. He created one of British television's most popular characters, Constable Dixon (later Sergeant), the main character in the television series Dixon of Dock Green, which ran for 22 years. He was also the author of numerous novels, plays, and scripts for films, radio, and television.

Early life and work Willis was born in London and left school at the age of 14 to work as an office boy and a bookie's runner. His political life began with a resolve to oppose fascism. He became national leader of the Labour Party's League of Youth, but in the late 1930s joined the Communist Party. He spent his war years with the Army Kinematographic Service, producing scripts for documentary films. His background and left-wing views led him to write about ordinary people. His first play, Buster (1944), was a comedy about life in London's East End. He became a theatre critic for the communist newspaper the Daily Worker, and producer and writer for the left-wing Unity Theatre. No Trees in the Street, a serious play about the London slums, was produced in 1948. He helped found the Writers' Guild and served for many years as its president.

Dixon of Dock Green In 1949, Willis and the Australian writer Jan Read submitted a play about the London police to Ealing Studios. The resulting film, The Blue Lamp, was Dixon's first appearance. Transferred to television in 1953, Dixon, played by the British actor Jack Warner, epitomized the friendly police officer as genial father figure.

Other works Willis was also a scriptwriter for the long-running radio series Mrs Dale's Diary, and wrote several other scripts and plays for television, though none achieved the outstanding success of Dixon of Dock Green. His first book was the autobiography Whatever Happened to Tom Mix (1970). He was made a Labour life peer in 1970, one of the first life peers. After this he began a new career as a writer of thrillers, the first of which was Death May Surprise Us (1974), about the kidnapping of a prime minister. His last book was another volume of autobiography, Evening All (1991).