Willy Russell was born in 1947 at Whiston near Liverpool. His school career in the 'D-stream' was undistinguished and as a result, he left school with one O-level in English language at the age of fifteen. As there was a strong tradition of story telling in his family, he had a vague notion of wanting to become a writer. He drifted into hairdressing but eventually left that job and began working in several industrial jobs before deciding to return to full-time education. During this time, Willy Russell soon decided to become a dramatist whilst at St. Catherine's college. It was around this…
