Wimperis was born in London, the son of the painter
Edmund Morison Wimperis and Anne Harry Edmonds. Educated at
Dulwich College and
University College London, he began a career as an illustrator on the
Daily Graphic. This was soon interrupted by service in the
Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902 with
Paget's Horse.
1906–1930: Theatre and songwriting years Wimperis then began a theatre writing career as a lyricist and librettist for
Edwardian musical comedies in London. His first major show was
The Dairymaids (1906), which was favourably reviewed by
The Times, though the derivative nature of the plot was noted, as was the similarity between the lyrics for the song "Mary in the Dairy" and an earlier
Punch magazine parody of a musical comedy number which contained the words, "Mary, Mary, managed a dairy". This similarity was attributed to the paucity of rhymes for Mary, rather than deliberate plagiarism. The show was followed by
The Gay Gordons written with
Seymour Hicks in 1907. He next contributed songs (including "The Pipes of Pan", "I've Got a Motter", "Arcady Is Always Young", and "Half Past Two") for one of the most popular musicals of the Edwardian age,
The Arcadians (1909), as well as to the short-lived
The Mountaineers. In addition to contributing lyrics or dialogue to other shows, he then began adapting Viennese operettas into English. The best-known of these are
The Balkan Princess (1910) and
The Girl in the Taxi (
Die keusche Susanne; 1912). He also wrote for
The Sunshine Girl (1912). Wimperis also wrote lyrics for reviews such as
The Follies and
The Passing Show of 1914, and many of his songs became
music hall hits, such as "Gilbert the Filbert" and "I'll Make a Man of You". He served in the
Royal Artillery as a temporary
second lieutenant during the First World War, and then resumed playwriting and songwriting, including for
My Lady Frayle (1916) and
Pamela (1917). In 1925, he wrote the English-language adaptation of for the American production of
Sigmund Romberg's
Louie the Fourteenth, and the next year he had another hit with
Princess Charming in London. His last London success was a vehicle for
Binnie Hale in 1930 called
Nippy. Wimperis also contributed lyrics and scenes to many other reviews and musicals in London and New York and created English-language adaptations of several French and German plays. He collaborated on many screenplays with
Lajos Bíró.
The Drum (1938) and
The Four Feathers (1939). He won an
Academy Award for
Best Writing for his contribution to the screenplay of
Mrs. Miniver (1942), in which he also had a small acting part. He was also nominated for another Oscar for his contribution to the screenplay of
Random Harvest (1942). His later films included
If Winter Comes (1947),
Julia Misbehaves (1948),
The Red Danube (1949),
That Forsyte Woman (1949),
Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951),
Young Bess (1953) and
Storm Over the Nile (1955). Wimperis died in
Maidenhead,
Berkshire, England, at the age of 78. ==Selected filmography==