Sheridan Morley
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2012) |
Sheridan Morley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sheridan Morley 5 December 1941 Ascot, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 16 February 2007 (aged 65) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouses | Margaret Gudejko
(m. 1965; div. 1990)Ruth Leon (m. 1995) |
Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 − 16 February 2007) was an English author, biographer, critic and broadcaster. He was the official biographer of Sir John Gielgud and wrote biographies of many other theatrical figures he had known, including Noël Coward. Nicholas Kenyon called him a "cultural omnivore" who was "genuinely popular with people".[1]
Early life
Sheridan Morley was born in Ascot, Berkshire, in a nursing home opposite Ascot Racecourse, the eldest son of actor Robert Morley and grandson, via his mother Joan Buckmaster, of the actress Dame Gladys Cooper.[2] He was named after Sheridan Whiteside, the title role his father was playing in a long-running production of The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Savoy Theatre in London.
He had close family connections with stars of the stage: in addition to his father and his maternal grandmother, his uncle was the actor John Buckmaster, his aunt Sally Pearson married the actor Robert Hardy, and Joanna Lumley was a cousin. His godparents were the dramatist Sewell Stokes and the actor Peter Bull; Morley's son Hugo was one of Noël Coward's many godchildren.
Morley grew up in Wargrave in Berkshire, and in Hollywood and New York, where his father was working. His father placed an advertisement in The Times, seeking a suitable school for his son: "Father with horrible memories of own schooldays at Wellington is searching for a school for his son, where the food matters as much as the education and the standards are those of a good three-star seaside hotel."[3]
The successful reply came from
Career
Sheridan Morley worked as a late-night newscaster for
He had begun The Radio Two Arts Programme in April 1990. At first it consisted of three two-hour programmes a week: on Friday nights a regional show, on Sunday nights an arts documentary covering a single subject, and on Saturday nights the show which was to become the flagship of the series, a magazine programme tackling eight different subjects in every show, interspersed with at least eight related musical recordings. He then moved to a new programme format of Melodies For You in 2004, again on BBC Radio 2. He broadcast his last Melodies programme in November 2006, three months before his death in February 2007.
He also made frequent appearances as the guest in the Dictionary Corner for the Channel 4 game show Countdown.
Morley's best-known work was his biography of Noël Coward, A Talent to Amuse, first published in 1969. Coward gave his full blessing, providing Morley with a list of his friends, and another of his enemies, telling him to start with the second first – which would make for a better book.
Morley joined
His play Noël and Gertie, about Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, opened in London in 1986, starring Simon Cadell and Joanna Lumley, and ran for nine years. It was performed in the US with Harry Groener and Twiggy in the lead roles. He also wrote a show based on the songs of Vivian Ellis, Spread a Little Happiness, which played in 1992.
Morley's last work as a theatre director was in 1999 with a revival of Noël Coward's
Legacy
Morley's life was posthumously celebrated on 22 May 2007 with a gala afternoon performance at the Gielgud Theatre,[7] organised by his widow Ruth Leon, with contributions and performances by friends and colleagues, including Liz Robertson, Edward Fox, Jenny Seagrove, Cameron Mackintosh, Patricia Hodge, Michael Law and Annabel Leventon.[8]
Morley's archive is held by Kingston University, London.[9] The Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography, last won by Stephen Sondheim in 2012,[10] was founded in his memory but ceased to function in 2014.[11]
Personal life
Morley's first marriage was to Margaret Gudejko, whom he met in Hawaii,[6] in 1965; the couple had three children together and divorced in 1990.[2] Ruth Leon, the critic and television producer, became his second wife in 1995. Morley and Leon had known each other since 1960. She had gone to Oxford to meet a friend who was attending the university, and was introduced to Morley. The two maintained a platonic friendship from then on before, decades later, deciding to divorce their spouses and get married.[12]
Morley suffered a stroke in November 2002, the effects of which were described in her 2011 book by his wife as exacerbating a bipolar disorder – an observation challenged at the time by his three children, his two siblings and his many close friends and admirers.[13]
Ruth Leon's memoir of her husband, But What Comes After..., was published in 2011.[13]
Bibliography
Biographies
- A Talent to Amuse: A Biography of ISBN 0-434-47895-4. Revised edition 1974; re-issued with a new Prologue, 1985. Later subtitled "The First Biography of Noël Coward".
- Oscar Wilde (1976)
- Marlene Dietrich (1977)
- Sybil Thorndike: A Life in the Theatre (1977)
- Gladys Cooper: Biography (1979)
- ISBN 0-297-77882-X
- Katharine Hepburn, (1984)
- Ingrid Bergman (1985)
- Other Side of the Moon: The Life of David Niven (1985)
- Elizabeth Taylor (1988)
- Odd Man Out: The Life of James Mason (1989)
- Robert: My Father, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1993).
- Audrey Hepburn (1993)
- Shall We Dance: The Life of Ginger Rogers (1995)
- Gene Kelly (1996)
- Dirk Bogarde: Rank Outsider (1996)
- Marilyn Monroe (1998)
- Hey, Mr Producer (Cameron Mackintosh) (1998, with Ruth Leon)
- Judy Garland: Beyond The Rainbow (1999, with Ruth Leon)
- ISBN 0-340-36803-9
Theatre retrospectives and collected reviews
- ISBN 0-09-109210-8
- ISBN 0-09-113780-2
- ISBN 0-09-117920-3
- ISBN 0-09-122290-7
- ISBN 0-903895-25-0
- ISBN 0-241-89806-4
- ISBN 0-7043-2388-5
- ISBN 0-500-01398-5
- ISBN 0-340-50979-1
- ISBN 1-84002-058-X
- ISBN 1-84002-247-7
Other works
- The ISBN 0-241-10176-X
- The Brits in Hollywood: Tales from the Hollywood Raj (UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983). ISBN 0-670-69162-3
- The ISBN 0-297-78142-1
- ISBN 0-207-14970-4. Dedicated: "For Margaret whose book this really is.'"
- ISBN 1-84002-054-7
- Asking For Trouble, memoirs. (Hodder & Stoughton, 2002). ISBN 0-340-82057-8
- An Evening with Sheridan Morley and Michael Law with Judy Campbell (CD). [2]
References
- ^ Kenyon's remarks: Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ a b Obituary: Sheridan Morley, Daily Telegraph, 17 February 2007
- ^ a b Jonathan Sale, "PASSED/FAILED: Sheridan Morley" (interview), The Independent, 21 May 1997.
- ^ Stanley Reynolds Obituary: Sheridan Morley, The Guardian, 19 February 2007
- ^ Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 525.
- ^ a b Benedict Nightingale, "Sheridan Morley, British Theater Critic and Biographer, Dies at 65", The New York Times, 19 February 2007.
- ^ "Memorials Honour Late Pimlott, Morley & Hepple" Archived 13 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, What's On Stage, 16 May 2007.
- ^ See obituaries below.
- ^ "Sheridan Morley Collection", Kingston University Library and Learning Services. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ "All the Arts, All the Time", Los Angeles Times blog report, 9 March 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ [1] , Charity Commission details, retrieved 25 September 2015
- ^ John Nathan, "Interview: Ruth Leon", The Jewish Chronicle, 14 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Book review: But What Comes After...", The Scotsman, 24 June 2011.
- "Broadcaster and critic Sheridan Morley dies", The Times, 16 February 2007
- "Broadcaster Sheridan Morley dies", BBC News, 17 February 2007
- "'Insatiable curiosity' of Morley", BBC News, 17 February 2007
- Stanley Reynolds, "Sheridan Morley" (obituary), The Guardian, 19 February 2007
- Obituary, The Independent, 19 February 2007
- Profile by Norman Phillips
External links
- Sheridan Morley at IMDb
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