James Bridie

Who was James Bridie?

James Bridie was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor. He took his pen-name from his paternal grandfather's first name and his grandmother's maiden name.

Mavor studied medicine at the University of Glasgow graduating in 1913, then served as a military doctor during World War I, seeing service in France and Mesopotamia. His comedic plays saw success in London, and he became a full-time writer in 1938. Despite this, he returned to the army during World War II, again serving as a doctor.

He was the main founder of the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, with his cousin, the author Guy McCrone and was also instrumental in the establishment of the Edinburgh Festival.

Bridie worked with the director Alfred Hitchcock in the late 1940s. They worked together on:

The Paradine Case. Bridie originally wrote the screenplay, and Ben Hecht contributed some additional dialogue. But due to casting, the characters had to be changed. So David O. Selznick had to write another script.

Under Capricorn

Stage Fright

In 1923, he married Rona Locke Bremner. Their son was killed in World War II. His other son Ronald was also both a physician and playwright. Ronald became drama critic of The Scotsman after retiring from medicine, Director of the Scottish Arts Council and Deputy Chairman of the Edinburgh Festival. He was Professor of Drama and Head of the Drama Department at the University of Saskatchewan and was appointed C.B.E. in 1971.