Shaun Duggan
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Morrissey and Shaun together in 1987 (whilst filming The Tube) and a postcard sent to Shaun by Morrissey:
Shaun on The Smiths and Morrissey's influence via The Guardian (October 2, 2011):
"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he changed my life," Shaun Duggan says of Morrissey. Growing up on the Norris Green council estate in Liverpool, Duggan, who is now 41, was bullied at home and at school – "I was probably just a bit too sensitive and effeminate for my own good" – and he found solace in the Smiths, particularly in their first couple of albums, when he was 14 or 15. "It just got me at the right time really, when you're at that age when you don't know who or what you are."
Duggan had always wanted to be a writer and within a year of his first encounter with the Smiths he had written a play called William, after "William It Was Really Nothing". In 1986, when he was 16, it won a competition at the Royal Court's Young Writers' festival and was staged at the theatre theatre. The play's success, which Duggan saw as "the only possible escape route", led to introductions to Morrissey and the band and ultimately to friendship. The first time they met was at London's Brixton Academy in 1986, at what was to be the Smiths' last live performance. "I remember at one point being the only person in the whole auditorium with the Smiths live on stage running through their songs. It was very surreal."
The play wasn't all good news: when it was performed, the bullying escalated and bricks were thrown through Duggan's window. He was placed under police protection. Throughout, Morrissey would write him letters, encouraging him in his writing. "I remember one in particular where he said, 'As they're hammering nails into your kidneys, you hereby earn your qualifications to write.'"
In December 2024, Shaun shared a Christmas card he received from Morrissey in 1986:
Biography
Shaun Duggan is an English writer of plays and TV scripts.
He became known during the mid-1980's after his play William achieved success. It was based on The Smiths song William, It Was Really Nothing. This gained Morrissey's admiration and they became personal friends. Morrissey and Shaun interviewed each other on the music programme The Tube in 1987.
He appeared on The South Bank Show in 1987, speaking of being a Smiths fan, and similarly in 2001 on the BBC's I Love 1984.
Since then, he has written scripts for successful UK soap operas Brookside and EastEnders, and several popular dramas for UK TV.
Video
Interview With Morrissey
Credits
- The Tube, Channel 4, 1987
Mentioned In
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