Tributes paid to writer Jimmie

GREATLY missed . . . playwright Jimmie Chinn

OLDHAM-BORN playwright Jimmie Chinn has died in London, aged 70.

Jimmie, who was born in the town but raised in Middleton, wrote the very successful Straight and Narrow and A Different Way Home, which provided a one-man show for Roy Barraclough. Both were shown at Oldham Coliseum.

Jimmie had 20 of his plays published, all bitter-sweet comedies which aimed to give his audience a laugh while exploring serious issues.

He also wrote the TV series PS I Love You and a radio play, Looks Like Rain Again, a sequel to Looks Like Rain which featured three other famous ex-Oldhamers — Dora Bryan, Bernard Cribbins and Roy Barraclough — when it was heard on Radio 4 in 2001.

He died on Saturday at West Middlesex Hospital in London, and his funeral and cremation will be in London, but his ashes will be scattered in Middleton.

Paying tribute, Roy Barraclough said: “Jimmie was one of my closest friends having worked together on A Different Way Home and he was a lovely man who used his experience in Oldham and Middleton in many of his plays.

“He will be greatly missed.”