Playwright Russell Raintree was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. He began writing in 1986 and after sending his first play 'Stranger On A First Night' to the BBC, Russell was invited to London by Tony Dinner, Head of the BBC Scripts Department, who strongly encouraged him to take up writing as a full time career. This sentiment was echoed shortly afterwards by top London Literary Agents Margaret 'Peggy' Ramsay & Rod Hall.
After reading this play, Rod Hall, then at A.P. Watt Ltd, also invited Russell to London, where he expressed great interest in his work and offered immediate representation. Unfortunately, due to Family commitments at that time,
Russell was unable to take up Rod's kind offer ...
Now twenty Years on and with his family grown up Russell is back to pursue the career he loves and this time he is
totally determined that nothing will stand in his way!
Russell has now written several more stage plays, including 'Writings On The Wall', 'The Final Accolade',
'At Fort Felix', two screenplays, 'No Saving Grace' and his recently completed screenplay for a film entitled
'The Candle Still Burns'.
His highly acclaimed first play 'Stranger On A First Night' had it's Premiere at The Leeds Civic Theatre in July 1986, followed in Feb 1989 by his second play 'At Fort Felix' again at The Leeds Civic Theatre, where it played
to packed houses, and was later performed at Dewsbury Arts Centre.
Following the successful Premiere of his latest play 'The Puppet Man' at The Carriageworks Leeds in November
2008, Russell is now planning to take it on Tour locally around Yorkshire then to the North East and eventually
London's West End! He's then going to concentrate on bringing more of his own work to the stage and indeed
screen and has several interesting projects lined up for the near future, including an exciting New Musical..So watch
out Andrew Lloyd-Webber!