Sheridan Morley – författare

''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.

Playwright, actor, singer, songwriter, poet, and scriptwriter, Sir Noël Coward used his "talent to amuse" to spectacular effect for almost 60 years.Sir Laurence Olivier, Lord Mountbatten, and Joyce Carey are just some of the voices heard paying tribute to the elegant star in this audio biography, which is linked by the broadcaster and critic Sheridan Morley.Extracts from interviews with Coward himself, several of his songs and moments from his plays come together to form a fascinating picture of one of the 20th century''s theatre greats.

‘If Robert had a mission, it was to emphasise that life was meant to be fun; he was one of the few men I knew who strode through life instead of circumnavigating it. He died without ever growing old.’ Michael Parkinson

‘Comic genius’ was the uncontested verdict of the International Herald Tribune. But Robert Morley was bigger even than that. While he is remembered for landmark performances such as the first portrayal of Oscar Wilde on stage and screen, and for many more as the epitome of the crusty but lovable English gentleman, Robert Morley is equally remembered for perhaps his finest role: playing himself. Through books, plays and countless radio and television performances, Robert Morley spread his own unique brand of irresistible humour and joie de vivre, generally resembling, to quote one memorable description, ‘an indignant elephant’. In this wonderfully entertaining account of a remarkable life, Sheridan Morley reveals the true Robert Morley – actor, playwright, bon viveur, and, not least, father.

‘Warm yet unsentimental … a first-rate portrait of a true original and star’ Evening Standard

‘Affectionate and moving, packed with anecdotes. Above all it is fun’ Sunday Express

‘Charming and affectionate … What his son’s biography sets out to do, and succeeds in admirably, is to celebrate the joyful pleasure that old-fashioned performers took in their art’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Hugely entertaining, and bulges with very good stories’ Mail on Sunday

‘Hollywood is a chain gang and we lose the will to escape; the links of our chain are forged not of cruelties but of luxuries: we are pelted with orchids and roses; we are overpaid and underworked.’

First there was Charles Chaplin. Then came Stan Laurel, and subsequently a host of well-loved British actors and characters whose lives, loves, lavish parties and bitter rivalries constitute the sceptred isle’s last empire builders. This unique and comprehensive history of the dream factory starts at the very beginning of cinema history with Eadweard Muybridge, the inventor of moving pictures, and the founder of RADA Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who starred in a version of Macbeth filmed in a studio before the area was even called Hollywood. The book looks at the golden age of the 1930s, when expat life under the Californian sun revolved around cricket clubs and food parcels sent by family members left behind, before absorbing the impact of McCarthyism. Morley discusses the paradox of establishing oneself as a Beverly Hills player without losing one’s roots, the numerous successes, disasters, murders, suicides, Oscars and scandals that epitomise the British experience in the place where dreams are made.

‘Darling,’ Robert Coote once called across to Gladys Cooper in tones of some disapproval during a weekly gathering: ‘there seems to be an American on your lawn.’