Greenwood, Walter, 1903-

Walter Greenwood was born in Salford on 17th December 1903, and was educated at the local council school. After leaving school at the age of thirteen he worked in a succession of poorly paid jobs, as a pawnbroker's assistant, clerk, stable lad, maker of packing-cases, and was sometimes unemployed.

Greenwood started to write fiction in his late twenties. His first novel, Love on the Dole, was published in 1933, and was an immediate success. Over the next forty years Greenwood produced nine more novels, together with short stories, plays, film scripts, and occasional journalism.

He was briefly a member of Salford City Council (1935-36), and served in the Royal Army Service Corps during World War II. In 1938 he established a film company called Greenpark Productions Ltd and was involved in producing films for the Government during the Second World War.

Greenwood married Pearl Alice Osgood, an actress and dancer, in 1937; they separated circa 1944. After leaving Salford in the mid 1930's, he lived in London, Sussex and Cornwall, before finally settling in the Isle of Man in the late 1950's. He was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the University of Salford in 1971, and died in Douglas, Isle of Man on 11th September 1974.

From the guide to the Walter Greenwood Collection, c1860s-2004, (University of Salford)