The John G: The Authorized Biography - Tapa dura

Born into a thespian family, Sheridan Morley was given not so much a silver spoon - more a silver typewriter. His numerous subjects have included Coward, Bogarde, Garland, Hepburn and Niven, as well as his father, Robert Morley, and his grandmother, Gladys Cooper. As to Gielgud, whom he grew up knowing as a friend, Morley took over the project in 1988 on the death of Observer Arts Editor Richard Findlater, who had originally been assigned the task. Drawing on the hundreds of interviews he'd undertaken, plus hundreds more of his own, Morley didn't finally begin writing until the week following Sir John's death last year. Though the actor never wanted a right of veto and had never asked that the study be published posthumously, neither biographer nor publisher saw how it could be published in Gielgud's lifetime. Inevitably, there are revelations that will hurt - others as well as the subject: Gielgud wasn't the only distinguished actor charged with soliciting, though he was the only one to make the headlines. The book is as much a biography of 20th century British theatre in a golden age that may never be surpassed as it is the story of an actor who, far from being cosy and avuncular, was a radical, a revolutionary in terms of his career and how he saw the theatre.

The authorised biography of the greatest classical actor of all time John Gielgud's career, spanning almost eighty years, could be described as the history of twentieth-century British theatre. Seven years before his death, John Gielgud invited Sheridan Morley to become his only authorised biographer, handing over to him letters and diaries and personal files. In addition to this huge archive, Morley has interviewed more than two hundred of John's colleagues, friends, rivals and critics to form a fully rounded and detailed portrait of the great man. Sheridan Morley has produced the definitive portrait of one of the most-loved actors of the twentieth century.