Basil Boothroyd

John Basil Boothroyd (also known as J. B. Boothroyd; 4 March 1910 – 27 February 1988) was an English humorous writer, best known for his long association with Punch. As a young man he worked for a bank, but began contributing articles to Punch, and became its assistant editor, a post in which he served for eighteen years. His career as a writer for Punch spanned the editorships of E. V. Knox to Alan Coren. Boothroyd's chief literary work outside the comic essay was an official biography of Prince Philip undertaken at the request of its subject. Boothroyd also wrote for television and radio, and was a frequent broadcaster.

Biography Boothroyd was born in Worksop, England, son of James and Sarah Jackson Boothroyd (née Binch). He later said of his birthplace,

James Boothroyd was a man of diverse trades, whom Boothroyd later remembered accompanying on clock-winding visits to great houses. Boothroyd was educated at Lincoln Cathedral Choir School and Lincoln School. In 1927 he became a bank clerk (it was later a source of pleasure to him that P G Wodehouse had started his working career similarly) and in his spare time he played the saxophone in a band called 'The Synco Peppers' and was a part-time repertory actor for the St Pancras People's Theatre. He also wrote for television, including adaptations of George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody in 1979 and H F Ellis's A J Wentworth, BA, in 1982.

P. G. Wodehouse said of Boothroyd, "There are very few humorists you can rely on to be funny every time. In fact I can think of only one. He is a writer of whom I never miss a word."

Books Boothroyd published eighteen books between 1941 and 1987, mostly collections of his Punch articles, together with his biography of Prince Philip and his autobiography.

Adastral Bodies 1942

To My Embarrassment, 1961 The Whole Thing's Laughable, 1964 You Can't Be Serious, 1967

Stay Married Abroad, 1968 Boothroyd at Bay: Some Radio Talks, 1970