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Billy Liar - Wikipedia
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class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Billy Liar (disambiguation)">Billy Liar (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output 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width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Billy_Liar" title="Special:EditPage/Billy Liar">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Billy+Liar%22">"Billy Liar"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Billy+Liar%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Billy+Liar%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Billy+Liar%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Billy+Liar%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Billy+Liar%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">May 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.infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">Billy Liar <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Billy+Liar&rft.author=%5B%5BKeith+Waterhouse%5D%5D&rft.pub=%5B%5BMichael+Joseph+%28publisher%29%7CMichael+Joseph%5D%5D&rft.place=United+Kingdom&rft_id=info:oclcnum/16230170"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Billy_Liar_Cover.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ee/Billy_Liar_Cover.jpg/220px-Billy_Liar_Cover.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="335" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Billy_Liar_Cover.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="256" data-file-height="390" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">First edition</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Keith_Waterhouse" title="Keith Waterhouse">Keith Waterhouse</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data">English</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publisher</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Michael_Joseph_(publisher)" title="Michael Joseph (publisher)">Michael Joseph</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Media type</th><td class="infobox-data">Print</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-001783-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-001783-0">978-0-14-001783-0</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)"><abbr title="Online Computer Library Center number">OCLC</abbr></a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16230170">16230170</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Followed by</th><td class="infobox-data"><i><a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_on_the_Moon" title="Billy Liar on the Moon">Billy Liar on the Moon</a> </i></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>Billy Liar</b></i> is a 1959 novel by <a href="/wiki/Keith_Waterhouse" title="Keith Waterhouse">Keith Waterhouse</a><sup id="cite_ref-The_Guardian_-_11_August_2009_-_Fifty_years_on,_Billy_Liar_has_not_grown_old_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-The_Guardian_-_11_August_2009_-_Fifty_years_on,_Billy_Liar_has_not_grown_old-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that was later adapted into a play, a <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(film)" title="Billy Liar (film)">film</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Musical_theatre" title="Musical theatre">musical</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(TV_series)" title="Billy Liar (TV series)">TV series</a>. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popular songs. </p><p>The semi-comical story is about William Fisher, a working-class 19-year-old living with his parents in the fictional town of Stradhoughton in <a href="/wiki/Yorkshire" title="Yorkshire">Yorkshire</a>. Bored by his job as a lowly <a href="/wiki/Clerk_(position)" class="mw-redirect" title="Clerk (position)">clerk</a> for an <a href="/wiki/Undertaker" class="mw-redirect" title="Undertaker">undertaker</a>, Billy spends his time indulging in fantasies and dreams of life in the big city as a comedy writer. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Characters">Characters</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Characters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dt>William "Billy" Fisher</dt> <dd>Billy is 19, and living with parents Alice and Geoffrey, and his grandmother, Florence Boothroyd. Billy lies compulsively to everyone he comes across, whether it is by claiming that his father is a retired naval captain/cobbler, or telling his parents that Arthur's mother has broken her leg. Billy works as a clerk for undertakers Shadrack & Duxbury. He is engaged to two girls and in love with a third, and he constantly refers to a vague job offer writing scripts in London for comedian "Danny Boon".</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Alice Fisher</dt> <dd>Billy's mother. She rarely sits down in the play, constantly working hard to keep the house tidy and look after her husband, her mother, and Billy.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Geoffrey Fisher</dt> <dd>Billy's father. Geoffrey uses the word "bloody" in his sentences so often it has lost all meaning. Geoffrey has been a successful garage owner who also works in the removal business so his family live middle-class lives despite his working-class background. Geoffrey has a short temper, but otherwise rarely shows emotion. Relations between Geoffrey and Billy have broken down, providing the story's main source of conflict.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Florence Boothroyd</dt> <dd>Billy's grandmother, Alice's mother. She is ignored by her family and never seen as a loved character until the end. Florence talks to the <a href="/wiki/Sideboard" title="Sideboard">sideboard</a> more than her own family, and is always drinking tea out of a <a href="/wiki/Pint_pot" title="Pint pot">pint pot</a>. She keeps pots of <a href="/wiki/Condensed_milk" title="Condensed milk">condensed milk</a> upstairs. Florence falls ill in Act 2 and is taken upstairs. By Act 3, she has died. She likely has a form of dementia because of her strange behaviour throughout the book. Her age is either 80 or 81 years old, and she was born in August.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Arthur Crabtree</dt> <dd>Billy's best friend. Arthur works at Shadrack & Duxbury with Billy. When we first see Arthur and Billy together in Act 1, they adopt thick northern accents and engage in buffoonery, imitating their elders. Despite this tomfoolery, Arthur's mood towards Billy changes in Act 3. Arthur does not appear in Act 2.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Barbara</dt> <dd>One of Billy's <a href="/wiki/Fiancee" class="mw-redirect" title="Fiancee">fiancees</a>. Barbara is prudish, always eating oranges, and harbours dreams of living with Billy in a cottage in Devon, with "little Billy and little Barbara". She finds out about other girlfriends later in the play.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Rita</dt> <dd>Rita is 17, is short, but comes across as a "hard lass". She is engaged to Billy, and has a habit of mimicking Billy every time he offers an excuse for her missing engagement ring. Unbeknown to her, it is on Barbara's finger. Rita appears in Acts 2 and 3.</dd></dl> <dl><dt>Liz</dt> <dd>Liz is described as a scruffy girl in need of a new skirt, but she's the one who truly understands Billy and the only one in which he's genuinely interested. Before her appearance in the play, Billy pretends he does not have much interest in her, but it is clear when she appears that he is still smitten with her.</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Adaptations">Adaptations</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Adaptations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Stage_play">Stage play</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Stage play"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1960, the novel's author, Keith Waterhouse, co-wrote a <a href="/wiki/Three-act_structure" title="Three-act structure">three-act stage version</a> with <a href="/wiki/Willis_Hall" title="Willis Hall">Willis Hall</a>. The action took place on a single set combining the living-room, hallway, and porch of the Fisher household. The first production opened in the <a href="/wiki/West_End_theatre" title="West End theatre">West End</a> of London with <a href="/wiki/Albert_Finney" title="Albert Finney">Albert Finney</a> in the title role. It has since been produced all over the world, and has become a favourite with <a href="/wiki/Amateur_dramatics" class="mw-redirect" title="Amateur dramatics">amateur</a> groups. The play was adapted for the Irish stage as <i>Liam Liar</i> by <a href="/wiki/Hugh_Leonard" title="Hugh Leonard">Hugh Leonard</a> in 1976.<sup id="cite_ref-Irish_Playography,_Hugh_Leonard,_Liam_Liar_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Irish_Playography,_Hugh_Leonard,_Liam_Liar-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The play is set in one Saturday: Act 1 in the morning, Act 2 in the early evening, and Act 3 at night. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Film">Film</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Film"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(film)" title="Billy Liar (film)">Billy Liar (film)</a></div> <p>The 1963 film was directed by <a href="/wiki/John_Schlesinger" title="John Schlesinger">John Schlesinger</a> and featured <a href="/wiki/Tom_Courtenay" title="Tom Courtenay">Tom Courtenay</a>, who played the part when <a href="/wiki/Albert_Finney" title="Albert Finney">Albert Finney</a> left the cast in the West End play, as Billy and <a href="/wiki/Julie_Christie" title="Julie Christie">Julie Christie</a> as Liz, one of his three girlfriends. <a href="/wiki/Mona_Washbourne" title="Mona Washbourne">Mona Washbourne</a> played Mrs. Fisher, and <a href="/wiki/Wilfred_Pickles" title="Wilfred Pickles">Wilfred Pickles</a> played Mr. Fisher. <a href="/wiki/Rodney_Bewes" title="Rodney Bewes">Rodney Bewes</a>, <a href="/wiki/Finlay_Currie" title="Finlay Currie">Finlay Currie</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Leonard_Rossiter" title="Leonard Rossiter">Leonard Rossiter</a> also had roles. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="British_television_series">British television series</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: British television series"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(TV_series)" title="Billy Liar (TV series)">Billy Liar (TV series)</a></div> <p>The novel was also used as the basis for a <a href="/wiki/British_sitcom" title="British sitcom">sitcom</a> made by <a href="/wiki/London_Weekend_Television" title="London Weekend Television">London Weekend Television</a> in 1973–1974, starring <a href="/wiki/Jeff_Rawle" title="Jeff Rawle">Jeff Rawle</a> as Billy. The series was scripted by the play's writers, Waterhouse and Hall, and the action was updated to the 1970s. <a href="/wiki/George_A._Cooper" title="George A. Cooper">George A. Cooper</a> reprised his West End role as Billy's father. Other regular cast members included <a href="/wiki/Pamela_Vezey" title="Pamela Vezey">Pamela Vezey</a> as Alice, <a href="/wiki/Colin_Jeavons" title="Colin Jeavons">Colin Jeavons</a> as Shadrack, <a href="/wiki/May_Warden" title="May Warden">May Warden</a> as Billy's grandmother, and <a href="/wiki/Sally_Watts" title="Sally Watts">Sally Watts</a> as Barbara. Several new girlfriends were also introduced. </p><p>The series was shown on the Seven Network in Australia during the non-ratings season of 1975–1976, shown on <a href="/wiki/CBC_Television" title="CBC Television">CBC Television</a> in Canada in 1975–1976, and shown on <a href="/wiki/RT%C3%89_2" class="mw-redirect" title="RTÉ 2">RTÉ 2</a> in Ireland in 1982. It has never been <a href="/wiki/Rerun" title="Rerun">rerun</a>, although the first series was released on Region 2 DVD in August 2006. The second series was released in March 2007. The complete series was released on 07/05/2018. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Stage_musical">Stage musical</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Stage musical"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Billy_(musical)" title="Billy (musical)">Billy (musical)</a></div> <p>In 1974, a successful <a href="/wiki/West_End_theatre" title="West End theatre">West End</a> musical (entitled simply <i><a href="/wiki/Billy_(musical)" title="Billy (musical)">Billy</a></i>) starred <a href="/wiki/Michael_Crawford" title="Michael Crawford">Michael Crawford</a> and, in her West End debut, <a href="/wiki/Elaine_Paige" title="Elaine Paige">Elaine Paige</a>. The cast also included <a href="/wiki/Gay_Soper" title="Gay Soper">Gay Soper</a>, <a href="/wiki/Avis_Bunnage" title="Avis Bunnage">Avis Bunnage</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bryan_Pringle" title="Bryan Pringle">Bryan Pringle</a> and <a href="/wiki/Lockwood_West" title="Lockwood West">Lockwood West</a>. The book was by well-known British sitcom writers <a href="/wiki/Dick_Clement" title="Dick Clement">Dick Clement</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ian_La_Frenais" title="Ian La Frenais">Ian La Frenais</a>, and the music and lyrics were by <a href="/wiki/Film_scores" class="mw-redirect" title="Film scores">film composer</a> <a href="/wiki/John_Barry_(composer)" title="John Barry (composer)">John Barry</a> and <a href="/wiki/Don_Black_(lyricist)" title="Don Black (lyricist)">Don Black</a> respectively. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="American_television_series">American television series</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: American television series"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>An American adaptation entitled <i><a href="/wiki/Billy_(1979_TV_series)" title="Billy (1979 TV series)">Billy</a></i> and starring <a href="/wiki/Steve_Guttenberg" title="Steve Guttenberg">Steve Guttenberg</a>, <a href="/wiki/Peggy_Pope" title="Peggy Pope">Peggy Pope</a>, and <a href="/w/index.php?title=James_Gallery&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Gallery (page does not exist)">James Gallery</a> aired briefly on <a href="/wiki/CBS" title="CBS">CBS</a> in 1979. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_popular_culture">In popular culture</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: In popular culture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-More_citations_needed plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Billy_Liar" title="Special:EditPage/Billy Liar">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a> in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Billy+Liar%22">"Billy Liar"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Billy+Liar%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Billy+Liar%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Billy+Liar%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Billy+Liar%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Billy+Liar%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">July 2021</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li>Waterhouse later wrote a sequel called <i><a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_on_the_Moon" title="Billy Liar on the Moon">Billy Liar on the Moon</a></i>.</li> <li>There is also an acoustic folk/punk singer from Scotland called <a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(band)" title="Billy Liar (band)">Billy Liar</a>.</li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Billy_Liar_(song)" title="Billy Liar (song)">Billy Liar</a>" is the title of the second track of <i><a href="/wiki/Her_Majesty_the_Decemberists" title="Her Majesty the Decemberists">Her Majesty the Decemberists</a></i> by <a href="/wiki/The_Decemberists" title="The Decemberists">The Decemberists</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saint_Etienne_(band)" title="Saint Etienne (band)">Saint Etienne</a> sampled some lines from the movie in their song "<a href="/wiki/You%27re_in_a_Bad_Way" title="You're in a Bad Way">You're in a Bad Way</a>".</li> <li>The music video for the song "<a href="/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Idle_(song)" title="The Importance of Being Idle (song)">The Importance of Being Idle</a>" by <a href="/wiki/Oasis_(band)" title="Oasis (band)">Oasis</a> contains scenes based on scenes from <i>Billy Liar</i>, although most of it is based on the video for <a href="/wiki/The_Kinks" title="The Kinks">the Kinks</a>' <i>Dead End Street</i>.</li> <li>The song "<a href="/wiki/Twisterella" title="Twisterella">Twisterella</a>" is shares its title with of a song that Billy co-writes in the novel.</li> <li>The <a href="/wiki/Kids_in_the_Hall" class="mw-redirect" title="Kids in the Hall">Kids in the Hall</a> "Billy Dreamer" character is based loosely on Billy Liar.</li> <li>The song "<a href="/wiki/William,_It_Was_Really_Nothing" title="William, It Was Really Nothing">William, It Was Really Nothing</a>" by <a href="/wiki/The_Smiths" title="The Smiths">The Smiths</a> took inspiration from the book.</li> <li>It has been suggested that a local newspaper columnist parodied in both the book and the film bears a remarkable resemblance to the late-life Keith Waterhouse himself, when he was ensconced at the <i><a href="/wiki/Daily_Mail" title="Daily Mail">Daily Mail</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, given that Billy Liar was written in 1959 when Keith Waterhouse was 30 years old, and that he died in 2009, in the absence of any evidence of a time-machine among his effects, a conscious parody appears to be a particularly ludicrous post-hoc rationalisation.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Walter_Mitty" title="Walter Mitty">Walter Mitty</a>, the fantasist character in <a href="/wiki/James_Thurber" title="James Thurber">James Thurber</a>'s 1939 short story.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-The_Guardian_-_11_August_2009_-_Fifty_years_on,_Billy_Liar_has_not_grown_old-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-The_Guardian_-_11_August_2009_-_Fifty_years_on,_Billy_Liar_has_not_grown_old_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKeenan2009" class="citation news cs1">Keenan, John (11 August 2009). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/aug/11/50-years-on-billy-liar">"Fifty years on, Billy Liar has not grown old"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian">The Guardian</a></i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">4 November</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Guardian&rft.atitle=Fifty+years+on%2C+Billy+Liar+has+not+grown+old&rft.date=2009-08-11&rft.aulast=Keenan&rft.aufirst=John&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbooks%2Fbooksblog%2F2009%2Faug%2F11%2F50-years-on-billy-liar&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABilly+Liar" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Irish_Playography,_Hugh_Leonard,_Liam_Liar-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Irish_Playography,_Hugh_Leonard,_Liam_Liar_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.irishplayography.com/play.aspx?playid=1269">"Irish Playography"</a>. <i>Entry for Hugh Leonard, Liam Liar</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Entry+for+Hugh+Leonard%2C+Liam+Liar&rft.atitle=Irish+Playography&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishplayography.com%2Fplay.aspx%3Fplayid%3D1269&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABilly+Liar" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/Uncut_(magazine)" title="Uncut (magazine)">Uncut</a></i> magazine article by Nick Johnstone, 2000.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Billy_Liar&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external 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class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 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men</a></q></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Associated<br />writers</div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kingsley_Amis" title="Kingsley Amis">Kingsley Amis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Arden" title="John Arden">John Arden</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stan_Barstow" title="Stan Barstow">Stan Barstow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edward_Bond" title="Edward Bond">Edward Bond</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Braine" title="John Braine">John Braine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Hastings_(playwright)" title="Michael Hastings (playwright)">Michael Hastings</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Hinde_(novelist)" title="Thomas Hinde (novelist)">Thomas Hinde</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stuart_Holroyd" title="Stuart Holroyd">Stuart Holroyd</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bill_Hopkins_(novelist)" title="Bill Hopkins (novelist)">Bill Hopkins</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Osborne" title="John Osborne">John Osborne</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harold_Pinter" title="Harold Pinter">Harold Pinter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alan_Sillitoe" title="Alan Sillitoe">Alan Sillitoe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Storey" title="David Storey">David Storey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Tynan" title="Kenneth Tynan">Kenneth Tynan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Wain" title="John Wain">John Wain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Keith_Waterhouse" title="Keith Waterhouse">Keith Waterhouse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arnold_Wesker" title="Arnold Wesker">Arnold Wesker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Colin_Wilson" title="Colin Wilson">Colin Wilson</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Key works</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Billy Liar</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Declaration_(anthology)" title="Declaration (anthology)">Declaration</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Divine_and_the_Decay" title="The Divine and the Decay">The Divine and the Decay</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Emergence_from_Chaos" title="Emergence from Chaos">Emergence from Chaos</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Entertainer_(play)" title="The Entertainer (play)">The Entertainer</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/A_Kind_of_Loving_(novel)" title="A Kind of Loving (novel)">A Kind of Loving</a></i></li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/The_Loneliness_of_the_Long-Distance_Runner" title="The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner">The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner</a>"</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Look_Back_in_Anger" title="Look Back in Anger">Look Back in Anger</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Lucky_Jim" title="Lucky Jim">Lucky Jim</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Outsider_(Colin_Wilson)" class="mw-redirect" title="The Outsider (Colin Wilson)">The Outsider</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Room_at_the_Top_(novel)" title="Room at the Top (novel)">Room at the Top</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Saturday_Night_and_Sunday_Morning" title="Saturday Night and Sunday Morning">Saturday Night and Sunday Morning</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Saved_(play)" title="Saved (play)">Saved</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Serjeant_Musgrave%27s_Dance" title="Serjeant Musgrave's Dance">Serjeant Musgrave's Dance</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/This_Sporting_Life_(novel)" title="This Sporting Life (novel)">This Sporting Life</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/British_New_Wave" title="British New Wave">British New Wave</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kitchen_sink_realism" title="Kitchen sink realism">Kitchen sink realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Movement_(literature)" title="The Movement (literature)">The Movement</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <!-- NewPP limit report Parsed by mw‐web.eqiad.main‐5dc468848‐8mb6r Cached time: 20241122145641 Cache expiry: 2592000 Reduced expiry: false Complications: [vary‐revision‐sha1, show‐toc] CPU time usage: 0.375 seconds Real time usage: 0.598 seconds Preprocessor visited node count: 1667/1000000 Post‐expand include size: 39748/2097152 bytes Template argument size: 1847/2097152 bytes Highest expansion depth: 19/100 Expensive parser function count: 9/500 Unstrip recursion depth: 1/20 Unstrip post‐expand size: 24929/5000000 bytes Lua time usage: 0.247/10.000 seconds Lua memory usage: 5081705/52428800 bytes Number of Wikibase entities loaded: 1/400 --> <!-- Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template) 100.00% 531.907 1 -total 23.35% 124.187 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