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A biography of the writer and entertainer Noel Coward.
Biografie van de Britse toneelschrijver en acteur (1899-1973)
'A gold mine of gossip with a cast of thousands' GUARDIAN The unexpurgated diaries of one of the greatest, most talented, and wittily flamboyant characters of the 20th century - with a new introduction by Stephen Fry 'Compulsive reading' SUNDAY TIMES '19th February 1956. A A Milne has died. Lord Beaverbrook has not ... Larry is going to make a movie of The Sleeping Prince with Marilyn Monroe, which might conceivably drive him round the bend' '28th February 1960 Princess Margaret has announced her engagement to Tony Armstrong-Jones ... He looks quite pretty, but whether or not the marriage is entirely suitable remains to be seen.' Noel Coward was a renowned actor, dramatist, director - and star. His incredible zest, versatility and unrivalled wit are revealed in these diaries, with a cast of characters ranging from The Beatles to the Queen, Churchill to Marilyn Monroe. Touching, funny and revealing, THE NOEL COWARD DIARIES is a superb account of one of the greatest entertainers of all time.
Gore Vidal—novelist, playwright, critic, screenwriter, memoirist, indefatigable political commentator, and controversialist—is America's premier man of letters. No other living writer brings more sparkling wit, vast learning, indelible personality, and provocative mirth to the job of writing an essay.This long-needed volume comprises some twenty-four of his best-loved pieces of criticism, political commentary, memoir, portraiture, and, occasionally, unfettered score settling. It will stand as one of the most enjoyable and durable works from the hand and mind of this vastly accomplished and entertaining immortal of American literature.
Accessible and affordable illustrated biography
This is the first book-length work to draw extensively on unpublished archive material to document the composition and reception of some of Noël Coward's most significant plays. It examines his working practices as a playwright, from manuscript to performance. This study argues that, while he did not embrace any of the more radical theatrical 'isms' of his time, Coward experimented with both form and content. He adapted the familiar 'well-made' formulas, while also emphasizing theatrical self-consciousness and an exploration of radical social and sexual relationships. After an overview of Coward's career and the reception of his plays, the work discusses selected texts from successive phases of Coward's career, including some unproduced or uncompleted work and perennially popular plays such as The Vortex, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Blithe Spirit and Present Laughter. This study also explores how, in the aftermaths of two world wars, as major changes in social and political circumstances suggested new approaches to dramaturgy, Coward's post-1945 work failed to achieve the same success he had enjoyed in earlier periods. The final chapter examines Coward's approach to his craft in response to the new theatrical and cultural environment, and the new freedom in the treatment of homosexuality represented by Suite in Three Keys and his final, uncompleted play, Age Cannot Wither.
Ruth Leon was married to Sheridan Morley - theatre critic, broadcaster and Britain's pre-eminent arts journalist. He'd suffered from bouts of depression all his life but suddenly, after a mild stroke, his usual treatments stopped working. He sat, crying, his chin pressed down into his chest, all day, every day. Ruth looked after him - sometimes gracefully and sympathetically, often angrily and tensely. Also an arts journalist, for two years she did her own freelance work as well as his. She no longer recognised her husband, but she could be him. One day, a consultant in Oxford said he thought they'd been treating the wrong kind of depression; that the stroke had damaged the emotional centre of Sheridan's brain. He knew of a procedure that might help, but it had never before been performed in the UK. It was an outlandish, fantastical idea - an implant would be put in Sheridan's brain that would allow doctors to adjust his mood with an electronic remote control. They would be tampering with the very core of what made Sheridan Sheridan. On behalf of her long-absent husband, Ruth agreed. Ruth Leon's account of this unique journey to the heart of what it is to be human is as honest and moving as it is fascinating and challenging.