J. E. Harold Terry

Joseph Edward Harold Terry (1885–1939) was an English novelist, actor, playwright and critic. He was was born in York and educated at Cambridge and a member of the Footlights club. He became a dramatic critic on leaving Cambridge and also took on amateur acting roles. When the First World War broke out he enlisted with the Artists Rifles. He had success early in the war with his play (co-authored with Lechmere Worrall) 'The Man Who Stayed at Home'. Both gave an interview published in The Globe on 11 December 1914 under the headline ‘“Why We Wrote It.” Chat With Authors Of The “Spy” Play'. One passage reads, 'Strangely enough, “The Man Who Stayed at Home” is literally the work of men who stayed at home when they wished to be serving their country. “Mr Terry had actually enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles,” Mr. Worrall told us, “but a breakdown made it impossible for him to proceed...We were at work on another play at the time, but we thought it would be good idea to show the armchair critics that a man may stay at home and still be intensely patriotic. That is why we wrote this play"'. In 1915 he married Constance Leetham Terry. After the war Terry continued to work as a playwright, often collaborating with others. He died on 10 August 1939.