Biography
W.P. Lipscomb (William Percy Lipscomb) was a British screenwriter, playwright, producer and director. Born on 1 October 1887 in Merton, Surrey, he began his career editing a brewery magazine and writing sketches before his first screen credit on Balaclava (1928). He adapted numerous stage plays for the screen in the late 1920s and early 1930s, working regularly with producer Herbert Wilcox.
In 1934 he co-wrote the play Clive of India, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. He spent four years in Hollywood adapting literary works, including Les Misérables (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Cardinal Richelieu (1935), Under Two Flags (1936) and The Garden of Allah (1936). He returned to Britain and later contributed to Pygmalion (1938), sharing the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay with Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Arthur Lewis and George Bernard Shaw.
Lipscomb's later credits include A Town Like Alice (1956) and Dunkirk (1958). He also produced several films and directed Colonel Blood (1934). He died in London on 25 July 1958.
