About Paul Bailey (British writer)
Peter Harry "Paul" Bailey was an English novelist and critic, as well as a biographer of Cynthia Payne and Quentin Crisp. He won a scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1953 and worked as an actor between 1956 and 1964, during which he adopted the name Paul Bailey. Bailey began to pursue writing in between acting jobs, and his first novel, At the Jerusalem, was published in 1967. The book, set in an old people's home, won a Somerset Maugham Award and an Arts Council Writers' Award. Forster Award in 1974 and in 1978 he won the George Orwell Memorial Prize for his essay "The Limitations of Despair", first published in The Listener magazine.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.