Sheridan Morley

Rank Outsider

Dirk Bogarde

Noel Coward

The simple story of an unconsummated love affair between a suburban doctor and a middle-class housewife, Brief Encounter can claim to be the most romantic film in British cinema. Based by Noel Coward upon his short play Still Life, the screenplay conjures up the drab, emotionally restrained world of post-war Britain better than almost any other literary text. It was nominated for an Oscar at the 1947 Academy Awards. Brief Encounter is perhaps the most moving and fully realized of all David Lean's films. This volume contains a specially commissioned introduction by Coward's biographer, Sheridan Morley.

Brief Encounter

Superbly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs, this celebration of Elizabeth Taylor places her in the pantheon of leading ladies who can truly be called screen legends. 127 photographs.

A Celebration

Elizabeth Taylor

The story of Elizabeth Taylor has always been told in gossip-column terms: the seven marriages, the physical breakdowns, the priceless diamonds, the press hysteria over her private life with Richard Burton. But behind this typecasting of Taylor as the last of the great headline-grabbing movie stars there has always existed an extremely powerful actress. Sheridan Morley follows the development of her career from the first Lassie in 1943 to Giant and Butterfield 8, for which she was finally awarded an Oscar.

Ingrid Bergman

The English film and theater critic offers a critical appraisal of the long and consequential career of the great actress and a pictorial celebration of her presence and achievement in American cinema

Katharine Hepburn

This lavish pictorial biography celebrates the woman with whom cinema came of age--Katharine Hepburn. Married only once with no children, the three things that she most cared about were Spencer Tracy, her privacy, and her career. All her wit, style, and grandeur are in abundant evidence in this fitting tribute. 264 photographs.

Morley follows the life and work of this exc eptional actress from her early childhood in Nazi-occupied H olland to her campaigning work with UNICEF in Somalia. He in cludes personal recollections of his meetings with Hepburn. '

Audrey Hepburn

Odd Man Out

James Mason

Ruth Leon

Leslie Caron

Featuring more than 100 photographs & an informed text, this tribute looks back at the remarkable & influential career of one of cinema's most popular stars.

Gene Kelly

The Life of David Niven

The Other Side of the Moon

My Father

Robert

Sir John Gielgud's career as an actor was perhaps the most distinguished of any of his generation, and, in a lifetime that spanned almost a century, he appeared in hundreds of theatrical productions and films, receiving virtually every honor given, including an Academy Award. Now, in this wonderfully insightful biography, fully authorized and written with first-ever access to Gielgud's personal letters and diaries, bestselling biographer Sheridan Morley not only traces the actor's fascinating career, but provides a fresh and remarkably frank look into John Gielgud the man, showing how his success as an actor in many ways came at the expense of his personal happiness. Born into a theatrical family, John Gielgud took to the stage as naturally as a duck to water, and almost from the beginning, those who saw him perform knew that they were experiencing something extraordinary. A determined actor, intent on learning and polishing his craft, he worked incessantly, taking on one role after another, the greater the challenge, the better. During his long and remarkable career, he took on every truly great and demanding role, including all of Shakespeare's major plays as well as many contemporary and experimental productions. At ease in both great drama and light comedy, he was blessed with a great range and a seemingly infinite capacity to inhabit whatever character he attempted. Basically a somewhat shy man offstage, however, Gielgud for the most part limited his friendships to those with whom he worked, and as a result the theater -- and later, film -- made up just about his entire life. That he was flesh and blood, however, was reflected in the fact that he did enter into two long-term relationships, the first with a man who eventually left him for another, but with whom Gielgud maintained a strong tie, and the second with a handsome, mysterious Hungarian who lived with him until he died, just a few months before Sir John. True scandal came into Gielgud's life only once. In 1953, just weeks after Gielgud had been knighted by the Queen, he was arrested in a public men's room and charged with solicitation. The British press had a field day, but Gielgud's friends and fellow actors rallied to his support, as did his thousands of fans, and the result was the eventual change of law in England regarding sex between consenting adults. While these and many other aspects of his personal life are discussed for the first time in this distinguished biography, it is Gielgud's career as an actor, of course, that receives the greatest attention. And while British audiences had the pleasure of seeing him perform in the theater for his entire life, Americans came to know him best for his work in the movies, and most especially for his Oscar-winning performance as Hobson the butler in the Dudley Moore film Arthur. As dramatic and captivating as one of Sir John's many performances, this authorized biography is an intimate and fully rounded portrait of an unforgettable actor and a remarkable man.

The Authorized Biography

John Gielgud

Accessible and affordable illustrated biography

Noël Coward

'A highly readable work ... Niven emerges as gallant and gracious.' Chicago Tribune Sheridan Morley wrote this biography of the consummate on-screen English gentleman after speaking to over 150 of Niven's friends and colleagues (only Rex Harrison refused). The result is a picture which both supports and contradicts the charming vagabond persona depicted in Niven's own bestselling memoirs. While millions throughout his life were enchanted by Niven's happy-go-lucky charisma and world-class anecdotage, he was in many respects a private figure, haunted by a fear of failure, and a victim of several key tragedies in his personal life. Morley's biography is a warm, appreciative but perceptive account which captures both sides of one of Hollywood's most enduringly lovable figures. 'a compassionate account that goes past the blithe persona ... yet, there is much humor--the actor's and his biographer's--in this notable book' Publishers Weekly 'Head and shoulders above the average showbiz biography ... He understands many of Niven's deeper feelings' John Mortimer, Sunday Times 'A well-told story ... the darker side as well as the mask of a complex and perhaps desperate character. He was a life-enhancer off-screen as well as on' The Times 'Shrewd and pleasing; shows how dark Niven's moon could be' Alexander Walker, Evening Standard

David Niven

Oscar Wilde

Ranges from the Greek theatre of Aeschylus and Sophocles to Broadway and London's West End, via a great variety of productions and people. Includes stories such as the legendary ghost of Drury Lane, how an actor can exorcise the curse of Macbeth and the theatre manager who fried bacon and eggs in Royal Box to feed her starving cast.

Sheridan Morley

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