Books by Sheridan Morley

The unexpurgated diaries of one of the greatest, most talented, and wittily flamboyant characters of the 20th century. 'A gold mine of gossip with a cast of thousands' GUARDIAN

';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.'

';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