main content Lord Ted Willis (1918-1992)

5 Shepherds Green, Chislehurst, BR7 6PB

The playwright, politician and author, Lord Ted Willis, was born Edward Henry Willis, in Tottenham (1918).

Ted Willis married Audrey Hale in 1944 and they had a son and a daughter. They moved to Chislehurst and the family still reside there today.

In 1949, in collaboration with an Australian, Willis sent an unpublished play about the London Police to Ealing Studios. It was called `The Blue Lamp` and introduced the character of Constable Dixon. In the film Dixon was killed half way through, but he was resurrected for `Dixon of Dock Green` on television. The series became a British institution. It started in 1953 and ran for 22 years and 430 editions.

Lord Ted Willis of Chislehurst died on 22nd September 1992 at the age of 74.