Jeffrey Bernard
Jeffrey Bernard | |
---|---|
Born | Hampstead, London, England | 27 May 1932
Died | 4 September 1997 Soho, London, England | (aged 65)
Occupation | Journalist |
Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (/bərˈnɑːrd/;[1] 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in The Spectator magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abuse.
He became associated with the louche and bohemian atmosphere that existed in London's Soho district and was later immortalised in the comical play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell by Keith Waterhouse. He was played by his friend Peter O'Toole when the play first opened. The title refers to a notice The Spectator would put in the place of Bernard's column on occasions in which he was unable to write.
Life
Bernard was born in Hampstead, London, and was the youngest of the three sons of the English architect Oliver Percy Bernard (1881–1939) and his opera singer wife Edith Dora Hodges (1896–1950). His siblings were the poet Oliver Bernard, and the photographer Bruce Bernard.[2] He was a paternal cousin to the actor Stanley Holloway.[3][4]
Bernard attended
Soho
Even while at school, Bernard had begun to explore Soho and Fitzrovia at age 14 with his brother Bruce. Seduced by the area's lurid glamour, he moved there at 16, supporting himself in a variety of jobs that were at odds with his middle-class background, including boxing booth attendant, building labourer, dishwasher, stagehand, kitchen assistant and coal miner. His fellow miners mocked him for bringing his lunch wrapped up in pages from The Times.[6]
As a stagehand, Bernard worked at
In 1962, Norman and Bernard worked together on a collection of writing and photography based on Soho called Soho Night and Day. "I think we were drunk for a year," Bernard later reflected. The duo obtained an advance of £100 for the collection, but Bernard lost his payment playing roulette.[7]
By this time, Bernard became a regular at
Bernard took racing bets for his friends and infamous pub landlord
Over the years, Bernard built a circle of friends and associates that included
.Love life
In his youth Bernard was considered extremely good-looking and supplemented his earnings with gifts and loans from wealthy older women. Some acquaintances suggested he did the same with older men but Bernard always vehemently denied this. Many of his oldest friends were convinced he went through a "homosexual phase" in his late teens and early twenties.[8]
Though married four times (Anna Grace in 1952, Jackie Ellis in 1959, Jill Wilsworth in 1966 and Susan Ashley Gluck in 1978), he often remarked, only half in jest, that alcohol was the other woman. He was a womaniser and had numerous affairs. His drinking, gambling, violence and infidelities ensured each marriage failed.
In the case of his third wife, Wilsworth divorced Bernard in 1973 after he punched a woman in The Coach and Horses. He sought treatment for alcoholism and was sober for two years before returning to the bottle.[7] The couple had a daughter Isabel Bernard, though he later learned he was not the biological father.[8]
Bernard and Gluck divorced in 1980. He later described her as "my fourth, last and most angry wife". He did not remarry for the rest of his life.
Writing
He later became racing correspondent for satirical magazine
Bernard was given a column in
This was mixed with anecdotes, many of which were repeated in the play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, and ponderings on life.[10] His lifestyle had an inevitable effect on his health and reliability, and the magazine often had to post the notice "Jeffrey Bernard is unwell" in place of his column.[5]
Decline and death
Bernard was an unrepentant
He often forgot to take insulin regularly and his right leg was amputated due to the resulting complications.[11] Instead of the regular notice, The Spectator announced, "Jeffrey Bernard has had his leg off".[12]
Bernard died at his home in Soho at age 65 on 4 September 1997 of
References
- ^ Wordsworth, Dot (6 September 2008). "Mind Your Language". The Spectator.
- ^ Searle, Adrian (30 March 2000). "Obituary: Bruce Bernard". The Guardian.
- ^ "He was the nice one: farewell to Oliver Bernard". London Evening Standard. 4 June 2013.
- ^ Holloway and Richards, pp. 74–75.
- ^ a b c d Waterhouse (2004)
- ^ a b c Howse, Christopher (5 September 1997). "Obituary: Jeffrey Bernard". The Independent.
- ^ a b c d e f Ashforth, David (22 January 2010). "David Ashforth on the life of racing's most infamous journalist Jeffrey Bernard". Racing Post.
- ^ ISBN 1-85619-174-5
- ^ "Last orders for Jeffrey Bernard". The Daily Telegraph. 13 September 1997. Archived from the original on 24 November 2011.
- ^ Bernard (1996) is a collection of his Low Life pieces from the Spectator.
- ^ "JEFFREY BERNARD DIES AT 65". The Free Library.
- ^ "Jeffrey Bernard has had his leg off". The Spectator Archive. 12 February 1994.
Bibliography
- Obituaries:
- The Scotsman, 6 September 1997
- The Independent, 6 September 1997
- The Times, 8 September 1997
- The Daily Telegraph, 8 September 1997
- Bernard, J., Low Life 1987, Pan Books
- Bernard, J., More Low Life 1989, Pan Books ISBN 0-330-31295-2
- Bernard, J. (1996). Reach for the Ground: The Downhill Struggle of Jeffrey Bernard. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-3150-0.
- ISBN 0-7206-0865-1.
- ISBN 0-7472-6004-4.
- OCLC 3647363.
- required.)