The Entertainer (play) Holm as Jean and Bertie Carvel as Frank. In 1960, a paperback novelization by John Burke was published by Four Square Books to coincide with the release of the film. Though the attribution line says "based on the play", it is actually based on the screenplay by Osborne and Nigel Kneale. The Entertainer (play) The Entertainer is a three-act play by John Osborne, first produced in 1957. His first play, "Look Back in Anger", had attracted mixed notices but a great deal of publicity. Having depicted an "angry young man" in the earlier play, Osborne wrote at Laurence Olivier's request
John Osborne details some of the brazen subterfuges he created in order to commit adultery with Gilliatt before they were married, which included inventing a film festival in Folkestone so they could go away together. Osborne proposed marriage by asking Gilliatt: "Will you marry me? It's risky, but you'd get fucked regularly." Osborne and Gilliatt were married for five years (together for seven), and became the parents of his only natural daughter, Nolan. Osborne had an abusive relationship with his daughter: he cast her out of his house when she was 17; they never spoke again. Osborne and Gilliatt's marriage suffered through