Bonnie Greer, playwright and novelist, dies aged 77

Playwright and novelist Bonnie Greer has died aged 77 following a brief illness, her husband David Hutchins says.

He described his wife as an "acclaimed playwright, author, critic, cultural and political commentator".

She said her "intelligence, courage and distinctive voice made an enduring contribution to British cultural and public life", and those closest to her "will remember her warmth, humour, generosity and extraordinary ability to bring people together".

Greer was born in Chicago in 1948, the eldest of seven children, and lived in New York City, before moving to Britain in 1986.

In 1997, she became a British citizen and in 2010 was awarded an OBE for her services to the arts.

Greer picked up the Verity Bargate Award for Best Play for Munda Negra (1993) and she was also the author of the novels Hanging By Her Teeth (1994) and Entropy (2009).

Her memoir and music history, Obama Music, was published in October 2009.

Some of her other works include the biography Langston Hughes: The Value Of Contradiction (2011) and the play Marilyn And Ella (2008) about actress Marilyn Monroe and singer Ella Fitzgerald.

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Greer was appointed to the British Museum's board of trustees in 2005 and later served as deputy chairwoman.

She also served on the boards of the London Film School and Royal Opera House and was appointed a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.

The playwright appeared as a panellist on Newsnight Review and Question Time and served as Chancellor of Kingston University in Kingston upon Thames, London.

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