Playwright. He is remembered as a British playwright in the 20th century. Born into a prominent family, his father's diplomatic career reached its pinnacle in 1922 on his appointment as acting high commissioner in Constantinople, before falling from grace. He was the youngest of two sons. He attended several private boarding schools before Trinity College at Oxford. He was a student at Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS). While in school, he excelled and was honored with two scholarships for college, the English literature prize and the Bourchier prize for modern history. In 1933 he left college without a degree. At the age of 25, his debut play was a comedy, "French Without Tears," which was successful, establishing Rattigan as a dramatist. His next play was "Follow my Leader," a comic spoof about Nazism, which was initially banned by Prime Minister Lord Chamberlain for fear of offending the Germans. This one and his third play were unsuccessful. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and wrote in 1942 "Flare Path," which brought his name back to the public. "Separate Tables" in 1945 could be his most well-known play. His 1947 play, "While the Sun Shines" was a great success with 1154 performances in the West End. Based on a true incident, "The Winslow Boy " in 1946 was about a family's attempt to clear the name of their son, a student at the Royal Naval Academy, who was falsely accused of stealing a postal order. This play received a New York Critics award. Like many other of his plays, this one was adapted to film in 1999. During this time for nearly five years, he had plays appearing simultaneously on the bill boards of three adjacent West End theaters. Dealing with personal relationships in a time when homosexuality was illegal in England, his 1952 play, "The Deep Blue Sea," was adapted to film in 2011. At this point, he had a decline in popularity although he was writing plays with the last stage play being "Look Back in Anger" in 1956. By the 1960s, he was busy adapting his plays to film and writing for television. The radio play "Cause Célèbre" was his final work; first broadcast in 1975, it was performed onstage in 1977. He was appointed CBE in 1958 and officially honored with a knighthood in 1971 for his services to the theatre. While sources state his birthdate as June 10th, his birth certificate states the 9th and that he did not have a middle name at birth. Although he died of cancer in Bermuda, his ashes are in England, yet his name was never recorded on the family memorial. He was considered a master of playwriting. He never married.