Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at The Observer, he praised John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed as the new National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, Tynan is often believed to have been the first person to say "fuck" on British television, during a live broadcast in 1965. Later in his life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" (see below). Tynan had a stammer which was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his masters said: "He was the only boy I could never teach anything." He played the lead, Doctor Parpalaid, in an English translation of Jules Romains' farce Knock. While at school, Tynan began smoking, which became a lifelong habit. Tynan was twelve at the outbreak of the Second World War. At thirteen, he was nearly killed when a parachute landmine destroyed the houses on the other side of the Birmingham street where the Tynans lived, killing the inhabitants. He adopted opinions then deemed outrageous. During school debates, he advocated repealing laws against homosexuality and abortion. During a school debate on the motion, "This House Thinks the Present Generation Has Lost the Ability to Entertain Itself", Tynan gave a speech on the pleasures of masturbation. By the time the war ended, he had gained a scholarship to Oxford University. Oxford and other experiences At Magdalen College, Oxford, Tynan lived flamboyantly but was already beginning to suffer from the effects of his heavy smoking. The writer Paul Johnson, who was "an awestruck freshman-witness to his arrival at the Magdalen lodge" described Tynan as a "tall, beautiful, epicene youth, with pale yellow locks, Beardsley cheekbones, fashionable stammer, plum-coloured suit, lavender tie and ruby signet-ring." According to Johnson most students were "struck speechless" by Tynan's extravagant style. Disliked by some, Tynan was an intellectual and social leader among Oxford undergraduates, often made a splash ("during