Samuel Barclay Beckett
(1906-1989), PlaywrightSitter in 40 portraits
Born in Dublin Beckett studied modern European Literature at Trinity College, Dublin (1923-1927). From 1932 he lived mainly in Paris becoming closely associated with James Joyce. His plays and novels, mostly written first in French, deliver a reductive view of human existence, and have been internationally influential. They include the novel trilogy Molloy (1951), Malone Dies (1951) and The Unnamable (1953), and the plays Waiting for Godot (premiered in Paris in 1953 and first staged in London in 1955), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape(1959), Happy Days (1961) and Not I(1973). Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
Tell us more back to top
Can you tell us more about this person? Spotted an error, information that is missing (a sitter’s life dates, occupation or family relationships, or a date of portrait for example) or do you know anything that we don't know? If you have information to share please complete the form below.
If you require information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service. If you wish to license an image, please use our Rights and Images service.
Please note that we cannot provide valuations.
We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.