Roy Smiles

His first play staged in 1992 at the Battersea Arts Centre, Schmucks [6]was about a fictitious meeting between Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce.

In 2002 he played the role of Itzak Heller, a Jewish collaborator, in Roman Polanski's The Pianist.

Smiles's stage and radio plays focus largely on biographical subjects such as Albert Camus (The Weight Of Days),[7] John Garfield (Ballad Of John Garfield), Terry Thomas (Memories Of A Cad),[8] Richard Burton (The VIP), Evelyn Waugh (Waugh in Winter),[9] the Beyond The Fringe team (Good Evening),[10] Arthur Miller/Marilyn Monroe (Reno),[11] George Orwell (Year of the Rat),[12] Tony Hancock (The Lad Himself),[13] Robert F. Kennedy (The Last Pilgrim),[14] PG Woodhouse (Plum)[15] and the Enola Gay (Bombing People).

A number of his plays have debuted or transferred to theatres around the world, such as Pythonesque,[16] the story of the Monty Python team, which opened in South Africa before moving to Edinburgh as part of the Fringe Festival.[17] Ying Tong – A Walk with the Goons, the story of Spike Milligan's nervous breakdown whilst writing The Goon Show, was staged at West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2004, transferring the following year to the New Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End before touring the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.[18][19]

Six of his plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Year of the Rat,[20] Ying Tong , Pythonesque and Kurt & Sid are published by Oberon Books.[21]

Funny People, his book on his comic influences, was published by Oberon Books in 2016.[22]

Ten Plays by Roy Smiles was published by Oberon Books in 2018.[23]

Two compilations of songs: Go Gently (Best Of) [24] A Land Called Home (Best Of II)[25] were released on Spotify in 2021.

The Funny Girls, his play about Barbra Streisand & Joan Rivers younger years, was first staged at Wimbledon Theatre in September 2021.[26]

[27]

• The Funny Girls - Wimbledon Studio Theatre, 17th September 2021.

• Roy Smiles at IMDb