George Bernard Shaw

Shaw wrote or helped write screenplays for the film versions of three of his plays: Pygmalion in 1938, Major Barbara in 1941, and Caesar and Cleopatra in 1945.

Shaw was one of the many liberal dupes of the 1930s who professed to admire Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Concerned about the spelling of many English words, Shaw wanted to start a new phonemic alphabet for the English language and left money in his will for this.

Shaw's Oscar was discovered in tarnished condition after his death but has since been restored and is now in the official Shaw museum on the grounds of his former estate.

Shaw was a supporter of the Salvation Army even though he satirized the organization in his play Major Barbara.

Shaw was cremated after his death and his ashes were scattered in the garden of his estate.

Shaw was close friends with T. E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence would later legally change his name to T. E. Shaw, choosing to honor his friend with his new last name.

Shaw visited America several times during the course of his life and once referred to New York baseball Giants manager John McGraw as "the one true American."

Shaw's picture appears on the cover of the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Shaw was an avid motorcyclist.

Shaw's play Mrs. Warren's Profession was controversial in its day because it dealt with the topic of prostitution.

Shaw was a close friend of IRA leader Michael Collins and contributed money to his cause.

Shaw is the only person to have won both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.

Shaw's first successful play was Candida published and performed in 1898.

A characteristic of Shaw's published plays were their lengthy prefaces in which Shaw often expounded on his personal philosophy. Several of these written prefaces were longer than the plays themselves.

Shaw's play The Devil's Disciple was about the American Revolution and featured as a character real-life British general John Burgoyne.

Shaw worked as a drama critic for the Star newspaper and Saturday Review magazine before becoming established as a playwright.

Shaw attended Wesley College in Dublin. After graduating he moved to London in the 1870s to establish a literary career.

Shaw's play Pygmalion was turned into the classic musical My Fair Lady.

Shaw won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Pygmalion in 1938.

Shaw won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.

Shaw stood 6 feet, 2 inches tall when he wrote the likes of Saint Joan and Major Barbara.

Shaw was married to Charlotte Payne Townshend from 1898 until her death in 1942.

Shaw wrote five novels but none were ever published during his lifetime.

Shaw went by his middle name "Bernard." He also signed documents using only his middle name.

Shaw was a vegetarian and anti-vivesectionist.

Politically, Shaw was a committed socialist who helped found the Fabian Society.