Nevill Coghill

Irish-born writer Nevill Coghill's much admired theatrical productions in England had an indirect influence on Great Britain's film industry, through those actors and artisans that worked under him  before successfully moving from stage to screen. But there were direct actions, as well. A working relationship with Richard Burton led Coghill to adapt Christopher Marlowe's play, co-direct with Burton, and cameo in the 1967 film, Doctor Faustus (1967).   After Coghill served in World War I, he turned to reading English at Exeter College, Oxford, England, where he became a Fellow in 1924. His personal faith was a major influence on a friend from his undergraduate days, atheist turned theological author C.S. Lewis, and it was Lewis who later invited him to join the Inklings - that informal gathering of literary minds co-founded by Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield and Charles Williams. While participating in Exeter College's Essay Club, Coghill heard Tolkien recite 'The Fall of Gondolin' from "The Silmarillion".   Nevill Coghill served as Professor of English Literature at Oxford from 1957 till 1966. He made literary history by translating Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" into Modern English couplets.