Michael Morpurgo

Children's Author

Michael Morpurgo was born in St Albans, England, United Kingdom on October 5th, 1943 and is the Children's Author. At the age of 80, Michael Morpurgo biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.

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Date of Birth
October 5, 1943
Nationality
United Kingdom
Place of Birth
St Albans, England, United Kingdom
Age
80 years old
Zodiac Sign
Libra
Profession
Author, Children's Writer, Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Writer
Michael Morpurgo Height, Weight, Eye Color and Hair Color

At 80 years old, Michael Morpurgo physical status not available right now. We will update Michael Morpurgo's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Height
Not Available
Weight
Not Available
Hair Color
Not Available
Eye Color
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Build
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Measurements
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Michael Morpurgo Religion, Education, and Hobbies
Religion
Not Available
Hobbies
Not Available
Education
King's College London
Michael Morpurgo Spouse(s), Children, Affair, Parents, and Family
Spouse(s)
Clare Lane ​(m. 1963)​
Children
3
Dating / Affair
Not Available
Parents
Not Available
Michael Morpurgo Career

===From teaching to writing novels. It was not until he was teaching in Kent that Morpurgo discovered his vocation in life, of which he later said "I could see there was magic in it for them, and realized there was magic in it for me."

Morpurgo's writing career was inspired by Ted Hughes' Poetry in the Making, Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Hughes and another poet, Seán Rafferty, were influential in his career, with Hughes becoming a friend, mentor and neighbour. Morpurgo credits Hughes and Rafferty with giving him the confidence to write War Horse, his most successful work to date.

Gentle Giant was presented as an opera by composer Stephen McNeff and librettist Mike Kenny at the Royal Opera House in 2006. Film versions have been made of Friend or Foe (1981), Private Peaceful (2012) and When the Whales Came (1989), the latter also being adapted to a stage play. My Friend Walter (1988) 'Purple Penguins' (2000) and Out of the Ashes (2001) have been adapted for television.

Composer Stephen Barlow created a musical adaptation of Rainbow Bear, narrated by his wife Joanna Lumley. This was subsequently presented as a ballet by the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain in August 2010.

War Horse has been adapted as a radio broadcast and as a stage play by Nick Stafford, premiering at the National Theatre, London, on 17 October 2007. The horses were played by life-sized horse puppets designed and built by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. It won two Olivier Awards in 2007. Initially intended to run for 16 weeks, due to popular demand the show transferred to the New London Theatre in the West End on 28 March 2009. It closed in the West End after eight years, having been seen by 2.7 million people in London and seven million worldwide at the time. It was the most successful production of the National Theatre ever.

On 15 March 2011, the show premiered on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The play's Broadway production won five Tony Awards, including Best Play. It went on several UK tours and was also staged in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, and The Netherlands. It was seen by seven million people outside the UK.

In 2011, War Horse was adapted by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis as a British film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was nominated numerous awards, including six Academy Awards and five BAFTA Awards.

Waiting for Anya was adapted as a film of the same title released in 2020.

Reading Matters website calls Morpurgo's 1999 Kensuke's Kingdom "A quietly told story, but plenty of drama and emotion."The Guardian describes Private Peaceful, his 2003 novel for older children, as a "humanising and humane work".

Morpurgo and Hughes, then Poet Laureate, originated the idea of Children's Laureate role. Morpurgo became the third person to fill the two-year position, from 2003 to 2005.

Source

War Horse author Michael Morpurgo says he was 'put off' reading for more than a decade after starting at school - because of the need for spelling and punctuation

www.dailymail.co.uk, January 17, 2024
During a five-decade career, the author, 80, has published hundreds of books. However, Sir Michael has confessed to being put off reading for more than a decade after starting at school and discovering that spelling and punctuation was crucial. He was on BBC Radio 4's Today show this morning to encourage the government to invest more in books and reading for children under the age of seven. 'I left home at the age of five and went to a primary school, and thought I was walking into more stories and more fun,' he said. No, no no no.' When it came, the characters were used, and you had to spell them out and punctuate, and this put me off for about 12, 13 years.' In a career that spans five decades, Michael Morpurgo, 80, has written hundreds of books. However, he has confessed to avoiding reading for more than a decade after starting at school and finding that spelling and punctuation was crucial. Sir Michael as a youth; the animatronic horse in the author's 1982 novel War Horse's stage version.

Katherine Rundell, 36, of the United Kingdom, says losing her sister when she was ten is the reason she writes for young people

www.dailymail.co.uk, December 1, 2023
Michael Morpurgo, a warhorse writer who spent a large portion of her childhood in Zimbabwe and was the youngest Ever Companion of Oxford's All Souls College, is the ideal successor to Tolkien and Philip Pullman. Katherine Rundell spoke about the effect losing her foster sister when she was just ten years old on her life and work on Radio 4 Private Passions in 2022, saying it was "the greatest, lasting tragedy of my life." (Pictured: Katherine Rundell)

According to the misconduct panel, a teacher at Britain's oldest school plied alcohol with alcohol, threatened to kiss him in the bath and pulled his trousers down 'for punishment.'

www.dailymail.co.uk, November 21, 2023
Martin Miles had plied a pupil with alcohol before requesting him to sit in his lap while annoyed and urged him to watch pornography, according to the panel. The hearing was also told that the pupil attempted to sexually assault the baby in the bath and that on another occasion he had pulled down his trousers 'for punishment,' with the panel finding that he had done so 'for his own sexual pleasure.'