Laing, Stuart

David Mercer was born in Yorkshire, the son of an engine-driver, and left school at 14 to become a medical laboratory technician. Before he began playwriting, he joined the Royal Navy and also studied painting and fine arts. Mercer began his career as a dramatist with the trilogy of television plays "The Generations" (1964). His stage plays include "The Governor's Lady", "Ride a Cock Horse, Belcher's Luck", "Flint" (1970), "After Haggerty" (1970), "Duck Song" (1974), and "Cousin Vladimir" (1978). He also wrote the screenplay for the motion picture "Providence".