(
1959 ) is a
Novel by
Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a
Play ,
Film ,
Musical and
TV Series .
The semi-comical story is about Billy Fisher, a working-class 19-year-old living with his parents in the fictional town of Stradhoughton in
Yorkshire . Bored by his job as a lowly clerk for an
Undertaker , Billy spends his time indulging in
Walter Mitty -like fantasies and dreams of life in the big city as a comedy writer. However, with three girlfriends on the go, his tendency to overimagination comes at a cost.
- The title character, Billy is 19 living with his parents Alice and Geoffrey and also his grandmother, Florence Boothroyd. Billy practically lies to everyone he comes across, lies include his dad losing the chance to be a "World Champion" after having a leg amputated and telling his parents his friend Arthur's mother being pregnant then saying it was a miscarriage when he finds out Alice was to send Arthur's mother a present for the baby. Billy works as a clerk for an undertaker's called Shadrack & Duxbury, his friend Arthur Crabtree also works for the same firm. Billy is also engaged to THREE girlfriends in the play and is always talking about an offer for a script-writing job for a famous comedian in London.
- Billy's mother. Alice is always rushing about tidying up and looking after her mother that she never gets a chance to sit down for more than a few seconds.
- Billy's father. Geoffrey uses the word "bloody" in his sentences so often it has lost all meaning. Geoffrey has been a successful removals
Businessman so his family live
Middle-class lives despite him and Alice having
Working-Class upbringings. Geoffrey has a short temper but otherwise rarely shows emotion.
- Billy's grandmother. Florence talks to the sideboard more than her own family and is always drinking out of a
Pint-pot . Florence falls ill in Act 2 and is taken upstairs. But at the beginning of Act 3 the mood in the Fisher household is sombre and dark, as Florence dies in the day. Florence is seen in Act 1 & 2.
- Billy's friend. Arthur works at Shadrack & Duxbury's with Billy, but Billy is never really at work, and this Saturday is no exception. When we first see Arthur and Billy together they go into a routine including them putting on thicker Northern
Accents than they normally do. Despite this tomfoolery in Act 1. Arthur's mood towards Billy changes in Act 3. Arthur is only seen in Act 1 & 3.
- One of Billy's fiances. Barbara is always eating
Oranges and in Act 2 meets Billy's parents and tells Geoffrey ofher and Billy's plans of a
Cottage in
Devon . To which Geoffrey doesn't take much notice, but enough to criticise Billy's laziness that could lead to the cottage plans not reaching fruition. Barbara is only seen in Acts 1 & 2.
- Rita is 17, is short, but comes across as a 'hard lass'. She mimics Billy at every one of his excuses, Rita is Billy's other
Fiancee and is only seen in Act 2 & 3 demanding her
Engagement ring. Billy says it is at the
Jeweller 's but really it is on Barbara's finger.
- Scruffy Lizzie, as she is known to everyone, is Billy's third girlfriend and the only one Billy actually wants to elope with, despite being scruffy and in need of a new skirt. Billy pretends not to be interested in her, believing her to be out of town, but when Billy is told by Arthur that she's back in town he reacts in a way that shows he is still smitten with her.
Liz is only seen in Act 3.
]]In
1960 , the novel's author,
Journalist Waterhouse, cowrote a three-act stage version with
Willis Hall . The action took place on a single set combining the living room, hallway and porch of the Fisher household. The first production opened in the
West End of
London with
Albert Finney in the title role. It has since been produced all over the world, and has become a favourite with
Amateur groups.
The play is set in one Saturday: Act 1 in the morning, Act 2 in the early evening and Act 3 at night.
The
1963 film was directed by
John Schlesinger and featured
Tom Courtenay (who had understudied
Albert Finney in the West End play) as Billy and
Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends.
Mona Washbourne played Mrs Fisher, and
Wilfred Pickles played Mr Fisher.
Rodney Bewes ,
Finlay Currie and
Leonard Rossiter also had roles.
The style of the film is archetypal
British New Wave (and "
Kitchen Sink "), being inspired by the earlier
French New Wave . Characteristic of the style is a
Documentary /''
Cinéma Vérité '' feel and the use of real locations (in this case the city of
Bradford in
Yorkshire ).
One sequence had a very early use of a swear word, at least by commercial film standards. Mona Washbourne is heard to say the word '
Pissed '.
The
Cinemascope photography was by
Denys Coop , and
Richard Rodney Bennett supplied the score.
In
2004 the
Magazine ''
Total Film '' named it the 12th greatest British film of all time.
The novel was also used as the basis for a television
Sitcom series of the
1970s starring
Jeff Rawle , but it has never been
Rerun . An
American adaptation entitled ''
Billy '' and starring
Steve Guttenberg , aired briefly in 1979. A successful
West End musical (entitled simply ''Billy'') starred
Michael Crawford and, in her West End debut,
Elaine Paige . The music was by well-known British sitcom writers
Dick Clement and
Ian La Frenais , where music and lyrics were by
Film Composer John Barry and
Don Black respectively.
Waterhouse later wrote a sequel called ''Billy Liar on the Moon''.
"Billy Liar" is also the title of the second track off of
Her Majesty The Decemberists by
The Decemberists and the first track of a
CD Single of the same name.
Morrissey was heavily influenced by the novel, "borrowing" many lines from it, in particular for The Smiths song "William, It Was Really Nothing".
"Billy Liar" is also the name of a character that appears on Nottingham Hospitals' Radio's
Something For The Weekend show. This Billy is a bit of a namedropper and alleges to know a number of celebrities - mostly Z-list and has a brother called Liam and another relative called Ernest.
