Richard Cameron was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. He taught for many years, was Director of Scunthorpe Youth Theatre from 1979 to 1988 and Head of Drama at the Thomas Sumpter School in Scunthorpe until 1991, then gave up teaching in order to write full-time. His plays include Haunted Flowers, now retitled Handle with Care (National Student Drama Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 1985) which won the 1985 Sunday Times Playwriting Award; Strugglers (Battersea Arts Centre, 1988), which won the 1988 Sunday Times Playwriting Award; The Moon's the Madonna (NSDF, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Battersea Arts Centre, 1989) which was shortlisted for the Independent Theatre Award and won the 1989 Company Award at the NSDF and Can't Stand Up for Falling Down (Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Hampstead Theatre, London) for which he won the Sunday Times Playwriting Award for a record third time in 1990, as well as a Scotsman Fringe First and the 1990 Independent Theatre Award. Pond Life (Bush Theatre, London, 1992), Not Fade Away (Bush Theatre, 1993), The Mortal Ash (Bush Theatre), Almost Grown (National Theatre) and Seven (Birmingham Rep) were all performed in 1994. Other plays include The Glee Club (2002) and Gong Donkeys (2004). His first television play Stone Scissors Paper won the inaugural BBC Television Dennis Potter Play of the Year Award in 1995.