Sheridan Morley

Sheridan Morley
Born	(1941-12-05) 5 December 1941 Ascot, Berkshire, England
Died	16 February 2007(2007-02-16) (aged 65)
Occupation(s)	Writer, biographer, critic, broadcaster
Years active	1965–2006

Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 – 16 February 2007) was a distinguished English writer, biographer, critic, and broadcaster. He served as the authorized biographer of Sir John Gielgud and authored biographies of prominent theatre personalities such as Noël Coward. Described by Nicholas Kenyon as a "cultural omnivore," Morley enjoyed widespread popularity.

Early life

Morley was born in Ascot, Berkshire as the eldest child of actor Robert Morley and the grandson of renowned actress Dame Gladys Cooper. His name was inspired by Sheridan Whiteside, a character his father portrayed in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Theatre ran deeply in his family: his uncle was actor John Buckmaster, his aunt Sally Pearson was married to actor Robert Hardy, and Joanna Lumley was reportedly among his cousins. His godparents included playwright Sewell Stokes and actor Peter Bull, while Morley's own son Hugo became one of Noël Coward's godchildren.

Raised across Berkshire, Hollywood, and New York, Morley's father sought a school that valued both nourishment and education. This led to his enrollment at Sizewell Hall in Suffolk, a coeducational preparatory school managed by Harry Tuyn. Following Sizewell Hall's closure in 1955, he continued his education privately in Château-d'Œx, Switzerland. After attending a preparatory crammer in Kensington High Street, he pursued modern languages at Merton College, Oxford starting in 1960, where he participated in student theatre alongside Michael York and others. Graduating with third-class honours, he then spent a year teaching drama at the University of Hawaii.

Career

Morley commenced his professional journey as a late-night newsreader for ITN in 1965 before joining the BBC, where he co-presented Late Night Line-Up on BBC 2 from 1967 until 1971 with colleagues such as Joan Bakewell and Tony Bilbow. He also hosted Film Night on BBC 2 between 1971 and 1972 and presented Kaleidoscope on BBC Radio 4. Between 1990 and 2004, he produced an innovative arts programme on BBC Radio 2, initially featuring three weekly two-hour broadcasts that included a flagship magazine format combining diverse topics with related music selections. In 2004, Morley shifted to presenting Melodies For You on BBC Radio 2, concluding his broadcasting career with his final show in November 2006.

He was a regular guest participant in the Dictionary Corner on the Channel 4 quiz show Countdown.

Among his most significant literary achievements was the biography of Noël Coward, titled A Talent to Amuse (1969), which received Coward's personal approval.

In journalism, Morley began as deputy features editor at The Times in 1973 before becoming drama critic and arts editor at Punch from 1975 to 1989. He contributed as an arts diarist and television critic for The Times during the late 1980s through 1990 and served as drama critic for The Spectator between 1990 and 2001. His career also included brief periods at the New Statesman and later joining the Daily Express from 2004 until his passing in 2007. Furthermore, he held the role of drama critic for the International Herald Tribune from 1979 to 2005 and film critic for the Sunday Express between 1992 and 1995. His contributions earned him the Arts Journalist of the Year award in 1990 and a Grammy nomination.

Morley penned the play Noël and Gertie, centered on Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, which debuted in London in 1986 starring Simon Cadell and Joanna Lumley, enjoying a nine-year run. The production also had a US engagement featuring performers such as Harry Groener and Twiggy. Additionally, he wrote Spread a Little Happiness, based on songs by Vivian Ellis, which premiered in 1992.

His last theatrical directing effort was a revival of Noël Coward's A Song at Twilight staged in 1999, initially performed at The King's Head Theatre in Islington, followed by a West End run at the Gielgud Theatre from October 1999 to March 2000. The cast included notable actors such as Corin Redgrave, Kika Markham, Mathew Bose, and Vanessa Redgrave.

Legacy

On 22 May 2007, a gala event took place at the Gielgud Theatre to honor Morley's memory. This tribute was organised by his widow, Ruth Leon, and included performances and contributions from numerous friends and collaborators such as Liz Robertson, Edward Fox, Jenny Seagrove, Cameron Mackintosh, Patricia Hodge, Michael Law, and Annabel Leventon.

Morley’s personal archives are preserved at Kingston University in London. The Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography was created in his honor and was last awarded to Stephen Sondheim in 2012; the prize was discontinued in 2014.

Personal life

In 1965, Morley wed Margaret Gudejko, with whom he had three children before their divorce in 1990. He later married Ruth Leon in 1995, a critic and television producer he had known since 1960. Leon disclosed in her 2011 memoir that Morley experienced a stroke in 2002, which aggravated his bipolar disorder.

Biographies

• A Talent to Amuse: A Biography of Noël Coward, published by Heinemann in London, 1969. It was revised in 1974 and reissued with a new Prologue in 1985. The later edition carried the subtitle "The First Biography of Noël Coward".
• Oscar Wilde (1976)
• Marlene Dietrich (1977)
• Sybil Thorndike: A Life in the Theatre (1977)
• Gladys Cooper: Biography (1979)
• Gertrude Lawrence: A Bright Particular Star, released by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in London, 1981.
• 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, co-authored with Ruth Leon)
• Judy Garland: Beyond The Rainbow (1999, co-written with Ruth Leon)
• John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography, published by Hodder & Stoughton in London, 2001.

Theatre retrospectives and collected reviews

• Theatre 71: Plays, Players, Playwrights, Opera, Ballet, edited by Sheridan Morley (Hutchinson, 1971).
• Theatre 72, editor (Hutchinson, 1972).
• Theatre 73, editor (Hutchinson, 1973).
• Theatre 74, editor (Hutchinson, 1974).
• Review Copies: Plays & Players in London 1970-74 (Robson Books, 1974).
• The Theatre Addict's Archive (Elm Tree Books, 1977).
• Shooting Stars: Plays and Players,1975-1983 (Quartet Books, 1983).
• Spread A Little Happiness: The First Hundred Years of the British Musical (Thames & Hudson, 1987).
• Our Theatres in the Eighties (John Curtis/Hodder & Stoughton, 1990).
• A Century of Theatre, co-authored with Ruth Leon (Oberon Books, 2000).
• Spectator at the Theatre: A decade of First Nights 1990-1999 (Oberon Books, 2002).

Other works

• The Stephen Sondheim Songbook (Chappel/Elm Tree Books, 1979).
• The Brits in Hollywood: Tales from the Hollywood Raj, published in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1983; also released as Tales From The Hollywood Raj: The British, the Movies, and Tinseltown’’ in New York by Viking the same year.
• The Noël Coward Diaries, co-written with Graham Payn, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982.
• The Great Stage Stars, published by Angus & Robertson for Australia and UK markets in 1986. Dedicated "For Margaret whose book this really is."
• Theatrical Companion to Coward, second edition with Barry Day, Oberon Books, 2000.
• Memoirs titled Asking For Trouble, Hodder & Stoughton, 2002.
• CD titled An Evening with Sheridan Morley and Michael Law, featuring Judy Campbell.

References

• "Sheridan Morley, broadcaster and critic, passes away", The Times, 16 February 2007
• "Broadcaster Sheridan Morley has died", BBC News, 17 February 2007
• "Morley’s 'insatiable curiosity' remembered", BBC News, 17 February 2007
• Stanley Reynolds, "Obituary: Sheridan Morley", The Guardian, 19 February 2007
• Obituary, The Independent, 19 February 2007
• Biography by Norman Phillips