J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) was a British playwright, critic, and broadcaster. He is known today primarily for his plays, especially An Inspector Calls-still widely performed-but he was also a bestselling novelist, and several of his books were adapted into film. A household name in his time, he was a popular broadcaster for the BBC during World War II, attracting audiences of up to fifteen million listeners; Graham Greene commented that he had become "a leader second only in importance to Mr Churchill." Following the war, he was a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.