Gerald Douglas Savory (17 November 1909 – 9 February 1996) was an English writer and television producer specialising in comedies. ^{[1] [2]}

The son of Kenneth Douglas Savory and actress Grace Lane (1877–1956), ^{[3] [4]} Savory was educated at Bradfield College and worked as a stockbroker's clerk before turning to the stage ( Hull Repertory Theatre Company 1931–33), first as an actor then a writer. ^{[2] [5]}

Savory's play George and Margaret, written while out of work as an actor, ran for two years at Wyndham's Theatre and a year at the Piccadilly. ^[6] It then transferred to Broadway, where it ran for 86 performances, and was later filmed. ^{[7] [8]} His earliest work in the film industry was as a dialogue writer for director Alfred Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937). ^[1]

Savory lived in the USA in the 1940s and 50s writing for film and television, and became an American citizen. ^[2] After returning to England in the mid 1950s he became a writer, producer and production manager for Granada Television, producing five episodes of ITV Play of the Week; adapting Saki, J.B. Priestley, Noël Coward and Tennessee Williams for television. He then joined BBC Television, first as Head of Serials, then Head of Plays. ^[4] He produced the unsuccessful series Churchill's People (1975–76) for the BBC and Love in a Cold Climate (1980) for Thames Television. ^{[9] [10]}

Savory was married four times but had no children other than a stepson by his fourth wife. His first marriage, to writer Teo Dunbar, ^[3] ended in divorce. In 1950, he married American actress Althea Murphy (1916–1952), who died of leukemia in 1952. ^{[11] [12] [13]} In 1953, he married actress Annette Carell, who died by suicide in 1967. ^{[14] [15]} He was survived by his fourth wife, actress Sheila Brennan, whom he married in 1970. ^{[16] [3]}

Savory died in England on 9 February 1996. ^[17]

• George and Margaret 1937 ^[18] (377 performances in the West End, filmed in 1940)
• Hand in Glove 1944 with Charles K. Freeman based on his own novel Hughie Roddis ^[19]
• A Likely Tale 1957 ^[20]
• A Month of Sundays 1957
• So Many Children 1959
• Cup and Saucer 1961
• Twinkling of an Eye 1965

• Hughie Roddis 1942
• Behold This Dreamer 1943

• South, 24 November 1959, ITV Play of the Week (adaptation)
• Count Dracula, 1977
• Mapp and Lucia, Series One 1985; Series Two 1986

• Gerald Savory at IMDb
• Gerald Savory at the Internet Broadway Database

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