---
name: "William Sansom"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-sansom"
fi1m_id: "william-sansom"
tmdb_id: 2737562
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "18 January 1912"
died: "20 April 1976"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-25T03:19:57.707905+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# William Sansom

## Identity

William Sansom

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-sansom
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-sansom
- **TMDB ID:** 2737562
- **Same entity:** https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2737562

Writer. Born 18 January 1912 in London, England. Died 20 April 1976.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 18 January 1912, London, England
- **Died:** 20 April 1976
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2737562

## Biography

William Sansom (1912–1976) was a British novelist, short-story writer and travel writer. He served as a full-time London firefighter during the Blitz, an experience that inspired much of his early work, including the collection *Fireman Flower* (1944). He appeared uncredited in Humphrey Jennings's documentary film *Fires Were Started* (1943) as the fireman playing the piano.

After the war Sansom became a full-time writer. He received literary prizes from the Society of Authors in 1946 and 1947 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1951. His novels include *The Body* (1949) and *Goodbye* (1966), the latter adapted for *Play for Today* in 1975. He married actress Ruth Grundy in 1954.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, faber.co.uk, britannica.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Fires Were Started* (1943), Fi1m 85, as Fireman Playing the Piano (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/fires-were-started.md)

## Complete filmography (7)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Down at the Hydro* (1983), Short Story
- *All for Love* (1982), series, Writer
- *Goodbye* (1975), Novel
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Writer
- *The Wild Affair* (1965), Novel
- *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, Writer
- *Fires Were Started* (1943), as Fireman Playing the Piano (uncredited) — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/fires-were-started.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/william-sansom