Arnold Wesker

Arnold Wesker was born on May 24, 1932 in Stepney, London, England.

Prolific British play-wright Arnold Wesker, who drew on his heritage as a working class Jew to create plays that captured the dialogue and struggles of the common man, died at age 83 and had Parkinson's Disease. Wesker, who wrote more than 40 plays that were translated into 18 languages, first gained prominence with a trilogy about the lives of Jewish socialist intellectuals. "Chicken Soup with Barley" (1958), "Roots" (1959) and "I"m talking about Jerusalem" (1960). He was well known, together with writers including John Osborne and Brendan Behan, as one of the "angry young men" of the British stage in the 1950s -- though he dismissed the label. The playwright drew on his youth in east London, where conversation, argument and song were woven into the fabric of daily life. He loved the rhythms, the dialogue and the thirst for knowledge gained just by sitting around talking. "There were quarrels and they were upsetting, but in a strange way there was so much love around, it over shadowed the distress," he told the BBC's "Desert Island Discs" program in 2006.

He was a prolific, often political writer who produced more than 40 plays, as well as books of essays, poetry and short stories. He is considered a prominent voice of 1960s "kitchen sink" British drama. He went to jail in 1961 for taking part in non-violent protests against nuclear weapons.

He was a writer and actor, known for The Kitchen (1961), Waking the Dead (2000) and Festival (1960). He was married to Doreen (Dusty) Cecile Bicker.

He was awarded the Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to literature and drama.