George Bernard Shaw

In 1898, George Bernard Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshend, an Anglo-Irish heiress and a feminist who joined the Fabian Society. The marriage was a happy one although the couple had no children together.

Shaw died on November 2, 1950, at his home in Ayot St. Lawrence in Hertfordshire, England, due to renal injuries which he incurred upon falling off a ladder while trimming a tree. He was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium.

George Bernard Shaw was born on July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland, to George Carr Shaw, a civil servant, and Lucinda Elizabeth Gurly Shaw, an aspiring singer and music teacher. He was the third and youngest child in the family with two elder sisters.

He had an irregular education because he disliked any organized training. After receiving early tuitions from his clerical uncle, he attended several local schools but eventually ended his formal education. Subsequently, he developed an interest towards art and literature due to his mother’s influence.

In 1872, his mother left her husband and moved to London to live with her music teacher and longtime lover George Vandeleur Lee. She also took bother her daughters with her. Meanwhile George Bernard Shaw stayed back in Dublin with his father and worked as a land agent in a estate office. But, he was not content with his job.

In 1876, Shaw moved to London with her mother and decided to pursue a career in writing and journalism.

For the next few years, Shaw spent most of his time in the British Museum reading room and wrote several novels but was unable to get them published. During this period, he struggled financially and suffered constant embarrassment while living off of his mother and sister.

While failing in the attempt to become a novelist, George Bernard Shaw gravitated towards progressive politics and became a socialist spokesperson. Thereafter, he embraced socialism and joined the ‘Fabian Society’, a socialist political organization dedicated to transforming the English society.

Shaw lectured for the Fabian Society and wrote pamphlets on the progressive arts, later getting involved in most of its activities. Meanwhile, in 1885, he found steady journalism work as a book reviewer as well as an art critic.

In 1895, he was appointed to the Saturday Review as theatre critic, where he served until his resignation due to illness in 1898. In the meantime, he wrote several plays but failed to convince the theatre managers to produce them.

In 1904, H. G. Barker and J.E. Vedrenne managed a successful production of Shaw's play titled ‘Candida’ at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Its success prompted them to form a partnership with Shaw, who wrote several plays for them over the next few years, resulting in a series of brilliant productions.

By 1910, Shaw had established himself as a playwright through his marvelous works including ‘John Bull’s Other Island’ (1904), ‘Major Barbara’ (1905), and ‘The Doctor’s Dilemma’ (1906).

In 1912-13, Shaw came up with his most popular play, a comical masterpiece titled ‘Pygmalion’, a gentle comedy about love and the English class system. Pygmalion was a great success and achieved further fame when it was later made into a film, in 1938, for which Shaw wrote the screenplay, winning an Oscar for his work. The play was also adapted into an immensely famous musical titled ‘My Fair Lady’ (1956).