Rudolf Wilhelm Besier (2 July 1878 – 16 June 1942) was a Dutch/English dramatist and translator best known for his play The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1930).
Besier was born in Blitar, East Java (Dutch East Indies), in 1878 as the son of an English mother, Margaret Ann Collinson, and the Dutch soldier Rudolf Wilhelm Besier, who died six months before he was born and after whom he was named.
[1] He had some limited success early in his career in England, which began with The Virgin Goddess (1906) produced by Otho Stuart and with music by Christopher Wilson.
[2] Then followed a series of plays, mainly dramas, but including some satires and comedies.
After being rejected by two London producers, it premièred at the Malvern Festival of 1930, directed by Sir Barry Jackson.