Frank Dibb often described himself as “the most hated man in the county”.

He was the music, drama and art critic of our sister paper, The Oxford Times, for 35 years and was frequently under attack.

Groups and individuals targeted him when they felt he had criticised their performances, concerts and displays unfairly.

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Writing under his initials, FWD, he attended the ‘first night’ of productions at the New Theatre and Oxford Playhouse as well as covering events at other venues.

A native of Shipley, Yorkshire, he was born with a love of the arts and longed as a teenager to go on the stage.

As an only son, however, he met firm opposition from affectionate parents who, although not anti-theatre, wanted him to have a “good, steady job”.

Reluctantly, he gave up the idea of a stage career and went into the textile trade. He followed this with a job with a firm of solicitors.

He could not forget, however, the encouragement given to him earlier by his English master at Shipley Central School and spent much of his spare time with local amateur drama groups.

This led to a full-time job as secretary to Philip Robinson, manager-producer at Bradford Civic Playhouse – “I had to do virtually every job in the theatre,” he later recalled.

He was increasingly asked to appear on stage in productions by repertory companies in nearby Yorkshire towns, entailing long hours and much travel.

But he was young, active and ambitious and every moment was a fulfilment of his early dreams. At the same time, he was reviewing other shows for local newspapers.

After a brief spell in the Army in the early part of the Second World War, he returned to civilian life and in 1943, he joined the Oxford Playhouse, taking parts in regular stage productions and specialising in roles with difficult accents.

In 1949, he decided, apart from occasional amateur performances, to give up the stage and become a full-time critic.

His initials, FWD, appeared at the end of hundreds of reviews in The Oxford Times as well as other publications such as The Stage, The Amateur Stage, Plays and Players and Music and Musicians.

He often recalled his first contribution to a newspaper at the age of 13 when his English teacher, Dick Chapman, asked his class to write an essay on a deliberately dull subject – washing day.

The young Frank wrote a comic article which the teacher sent to a north-east newspaper. He was paid five shillings (25p) for his first venture into journalism.

When the flamboyant and often controversial critic retired in 1983, there were numerous tributes to him.

One letter in The Oxford Times read: “For many years, he has informed and entertained his readers with integrity. I am sure I shall not be alone in wishing him well in what I hope will only be semi-retirement.”

He died at Langston Priory residential home at Kingham, near Chipping Norton, in 1993 aged 78. A seat was named in his memory at Oxford Playhouse.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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