Kissing the Joy

This is the disarmingly frank autobiography of the English actress Rosalinde Fuller. At the age of 18, she was taken by her brother, along with her two elder sisters, to sing folk songs in America. Seven years and as many tours later, their singing career ended when the US joined the first World War. By then Rosalinde knew she wanted to be an actress, but it was only in 1920, and back in New York, that she finally landed her first role. Two years later, her career took off with a bang when she was chosen to play Ophelia to John Barrymore's Hamlet on Broadway. In 1927, she moved back to the UK where she performed until the mid-1970s. In all, she acted in more than 130 plays and shows (including revivals) and nine films, plus about a dozen radio and tv plays. From the mid-1950s onwards she put on countless solo performances of short stories that she adapted for the stage. In 1964 alone, she gave five performances a week during an eight-month world tour under the auspices of the British Council. In the 1966 New Year honours, she was awarded the OBE for a lifetime of services to the theatre. She was a truly liberated woman, loving when and where she liked, and here she tells about some of her many partners.