Richard Courtney , drama teacher, theatre scholar and leading international expert in children's drama, was born in Newmarket , England on 4 June 1927 and was educated at Culford School and the University of Leeds . Between 1948 and 1952 Courtney studied at Leeds with Shakespeare scholar G. Wilson Knight and Pirandello scholar and translator Frederick May. While there, he directed and appeared in a number of theatre productions and upon graduation continued this endeavor with the Arts Theatre in Leeds and the Rep Theatre in Yorkshire. On 21 December 1953, he married Rosemary Gale. From 1956 to 1960, he played various roles on BBC radio. Between 1952 and 1959 he taught drama at schools in England before becoming Senior Lecturer in Drama at Trent Park College of Education in 1959, a position he would retain until 1967. From 1968 to 1971, he was Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Victoria , British Columbia and was Professor of Drama from 1971 to 1974