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 George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin on 26th July 1856 to George Carr Shaw & Lucinda Elizabeth Gurly. The youngest of three children, his sister's, Eleanor & Lucinda who died young & childless. Shaw hated the name George & was known to friends as Bernard Shaw & to the public as GBS. At the age of twenty one, Shaw came to live in London. The young writer could not tolerate the confinements of full time work & without shame, relied upon his mother who kept him for nine years until he received his first payment as a writer. The years were spent writing five novels & were rejected by London publishers, but became well sort after when Shaw became famous. Friends employed Shaw to write articles, reviews on music, art & the theatre, for various newspapers & magazines. He found fame as a playwright & Fabian executive, but rejected the plea to become a full time MP. He said ' all those who think they should be politicians, should not be allowed to become one'. His interests lay in politics, Socialism, Communism, & humanist issues. He was an ardent Vegetarian & Vivisectionist & wrote about almost every subject known to man. With his striking good looks & long slender body, women fell at Shaw's feet, he was one of the most sort after men in London. Shaw had a great respect for woman, fighting many causes for them. He spoke up for the Suffragette movement in Parliament & the prison movement. Married couples asked Shaw for his advise on their dull marriage, sex lives, & children. Actresses begged him to write plays for them. Shaw married an Irish land ownwers daughter Charlotte Payne-Townshend, whose present to her husband on their honey moon night was forcing Shaw to sign a contract that did not allow the marriage to be consumated. This sent his famous firey red hair white over night. Through out Shaw's 94 years, famous actors, Presidents, Priminister's, Scientists, Royalty, Lords & Ladies etc. requested Shaw at their dinner tables. At the age of ninety four Bernard Shaw died on All Souls Day on 2nd November 1950. It was the first time the lights on Broadway went out as a mark of respect. At their request, Mr & Mrs Shaw's ashes were mixed together & spread at various points in their garden. A few weeks before Shaw died in 1950, he made the remark that when he dies, after five years the world would forget him & ask, "who the hell was Bernard Shaw?" He would be thrilled that even in the year 2000, we still want to know about him. Shaw was not too pleased at the prospect of students learning his works in schools & colleges, he forbade it during his lifetime, saying, "My plays are for pleasure, not instruments of torture". And we agree. That is why we have made the information 'Jargon free', with the purpose of appealing to everyone, it does not matter whether or not you are an expert or a novice. The information available is clear & direct & every subject is written as Shaw intended them. The year 2000 was the 50th Anniversary of Shaw's death. Watch out for the year 2006 which is the 150th Anniversary of Shaw's birth. If you would like to advertise a Shaw play etc on this site, please go to our advertising page for details. Because we are a non profit making site, we have a minimum charge of £4.99 per item to cover costs of keeping the site up & running. You can purchase Information Subjects written by experts, from Politics, Theatre to Stimulants & or if you are studying one of Shaw's plays, we have Play Analysis of several plays from Man & Super Man to St Joan. We also have a Special Offer of 4 Info Subjects or Play Analysis for £10.00, which you can purchase through the Research Service. We are here to provide you with all the information you need on the subject of Shaw. All information is written by experts in an easy to understand manner. If you need further help, contact our friendly experts at the Research Service page. We look forward to hearing from you. Happy Shaw Researching! From Diane Uttley. President/Founder Patrons: Dame Wendy Hiller, Dame Diana Rigg, Brian Cox, Richard E.Grant & Jerry Hall |
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