Sewell Stokes

He collaborated on a number of occasions with his brother, Leslie Stokes, an actor and later in life a BBC radio producer, with whom he shared a flat for many years overlooking the British Museum.

Stokes, together with Christine Jope-Slade, wrote the play Britannia of Billingsgate, which was produced by A. R. Whatmore at the St Martin's Theatre, London, on 30 November 1931 and made into a film of the same name, directed by Sinclair Hill, in 1933.

Stokes co-wrote a series of plays with his brother, Leslie, beginning with Laura Garnett, whose main character had much in common with Isadora Duncan.

Starring Robert Morley, John Bryning and Frith Banbury, directed by Norman Marshall, the play had its first production at London's Gate Theatre Studio in 1936.

At that time Robert Morley was known in America only through his portrayal of Louis XVI, the French King, in the film Marie Antoinette and it was his success with the role of Wilde that launched his career as a stage actor on both sides of the Atlantic.

They return to London for the opening of The Importance of Being Earnest and to attend Wilde's libel suit against the Marquess of Queensbury, Lord Alfred's father.

The title alludes to the fact that Morley started his acting career as a "responsible gentleman", an actor who portrayed professional men such as doctors, lawyers and official receivers in bankruptcy cases.

The film Oscar Wilde, based on the Stokes brothers' play, and directed by Gregory Ratoff, starred Robert Morley, Ralph Richardson, was released in 1960.