Bill Naughton was born in Ballyhaunis, Ireland. In 1914 his family moved to Bolton, Lancashire, England, where he attended Saint Peter and Paul's School. He worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver before he started writing. He wrote many plays, the most famous of which is Alfie (1963), which was made into two films, as well as short stories. He died in 1992, in Ballasalla on the Isle of Man.