Playwright and novelist, born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, Somerset, SW England, UK. He studied at Leyden, and began to write theatrical comedies, becoming author/manager of the Little Theatre in the Haymarket (1736). However, the sharpness of his burlesques led to the Licensing Act (1737), which closed his theatre, and resulted in strict control and censorship of the London Theatre. In search of an alternative career, he was called to the bar (1740), but his interests lay in journalism and fiction. On Richardson's publication of Pamela (1740), he wrote his famous parody, Joseph Andrews (1742). Several other works followed, notably The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749), which established his reputation as a founder of the English novel. As a reward for his government journalism, he was made justice of the peace to Westminster, where he helped to form the Bow Street Runners, precursors of the police force.