Norman Robbins was born in Yorkshire and made his first stage appearance aged three. He spent many years in amateur theatre but made his professional performance debut in pantomime in 1965
He is probably best known for writing pantomimes – in fact he is reputed to be the most prolific author of pantos in the world. His first, “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, was written in 1952 and is still listed by Samuel French (the leading agents for playwrights in the UK), along with 20 more pantomimes. These include all the favourites, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and so on.
Initially writing was just a hobby and Robbins worked for many years as an actor, performing (often in Pantomime) with stars like Ken Dodd, Danny la Rue, and Morecambe & Wise. Eventually he found himself acting less and writing more.
To date he has written nearly a dozen plays, mainly comedy thrillers, his first play “‘Pull The Other One” was written in 1970. “Prescription for Murder” is one of his latest plays, written in 2008, and he has left the mock horror behind and created a tight thriller that slowly builds tension through various twists and turns, right up to the dénouement.