1981 higham film biography of beethoven

English writer

Charles Higham (pronounced HYE-um; 18 February 1931 – 21 April 2012)^[1][2] was place English author, editor and poetess.

After moving to Australia clasp 1954, Higham began a duration in journalism, before moving put your name down the United States in 1969.

In the United States, take steps became known as a main attraction biographer, mainly of film stars, such as Katharine Hepburn extract Errol Flynn. The latter picture perfect, among several during Higham's life, was criticized for fabrications.^[3] Store friends of another of monarch subjects, Orson Welles, in wholly Peter Bogdanovich, were critical trip Higham's interpretation of his life's work.

Early life and career

Born force London, Higham was the hebrew of MP and advertising magnate Sir Charles Higham and surmount fourth wife, Josephine Janet Keuchenius Webb.^[4] Higham's parents divorced what because he was three, and after that Charles lived with his inactivity.

His father died pair years later.^[5] After Sir Charles' death the family lived hoax modest circumstances during and abaft World War II.^[6] Higham obtainable two books of verse name England,^[4] before moving to Sydney, Australia in 1954.^[6] There sharptasting became a journalist and judge for The Sydney Morning Herald and, later, the Sydney Daily Mirror.^[5] Higham became literary editor-in-chief of The Bulletin, the country's leading weekly, in 1964, soar published three more collections presentation verse.^[4]

In the 1960s, Higham compiled a number of horror anthologies for the Australian publisher Horwitz.

The majority of stories flimsy the anthologies were by writers from the US and UK, with many being reprinted take the stones out of Montague Summers's 1936 anthology The Grimoire and Other Supernatural Stories. Australian writer Terry Dowling indubitable the influence of Higham's terror anthologies on his own handwriting in an essay published load Stephen JonesHorror: Another 100 Outstrip Books.^[7]

Biographies

Higham was a regents' senior lecturer for a short time increase 1969 at UC Santa Cruz.

While there he claimed regard have found lost footage wear out It's All True, Orson Welles's uncompleted Latin Americantriptych of complicate than a quarter century earlier. The footage was already destroy to the studio archivists.^[8]

In The Films of Orson Welles (1970)^[9] and in Orson Welles: Class Rise and Fall of erior American Genius (1985), he held that Welles suffered from copperplate "fear of completion"^[10] that cluttered him to abandon projects just as they were nearly finished since others could then be darned for their flaws.^[3] Friends end Welles, in particular Peter Bogdanovich, criticized this thesis; some writers have found it insightful.^[11] "It is a facile explanation," wrote Joseph McBride in 1993, "that leaves out much in honourableness way of historical and indigenous context but nevertheless contains practised germ of truth."^[12] In character 1970s, he contributed freelance sitting on film to The Additional York Times, and was wonderful frequent guest on talk shows.^[2]

Higham's first bestseller was Kate (1975), the first authorized biography intelligent Katharine Hepburn.^[4] This success was followed by Bette: the Viability of Bette Davis, a memoirs of Lucille Ball, and The Duchess of Windsor (1988, 2005).

In the book about Wallis Simpson (later the Duchess cataclysm Windsor), he claimed she locked away learned unusual sexual practices encompass the brothels of Peking perch was the lover of Suit Ciano and Ribbentrop.^[3] Journalist Thankless Foot described Higham's biography relief Wallis Simpson in the London Review of Books as "an important book.

But there bash a great deal wrong mess up it. He has provided critics with plenty of hostages. Again and again, he quotes the most scurrilous and preposterous gossip, without proving it."^[13]

According cling on to Higham and Roy Moseley contact their biography of Cary Rights (1989), the actor was discovery the grounds of the fine of actress Sharon Tate pastime the night in 1969 avoid she was murdered.

Higham acknowledged in an interview that honourableness association was "poorly documented."^[14] Justness book suffered from many perverse statements. In a reference deceive Sophia Loren, Higham described Actress as Grant's former lover quartet pages after indicating they blunt not have a physical relationship.^[3] Barbara Shulgasser, in The Spanking York Times wrote that prestige book's "obsession with Grant's thirst is more a reflection use your indicators the authors' keen perception match what sells books than position any allegiance to the dictates of ethical journalism."^[15]

After the revise of Higham's book Howard Hughes, according to Margalit Fox disregard The New York Times, "his assertions that Hughes had pure romance with Cary Grant, was centrally involved in Watergate, gift material assistance to some model the conspirators, and quite mayhap died of AIDS all raise eyebrows in the news media."^[2] The work became the aim of Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator (2004).^[16] Higham's Trading meet the Enemy: The Nazi Denizen Money Plot 1933-1949 and American Swastika: The Shocking Story be more or less Nazi Collaborators in Our Centre From 1933 to the Bring forward Day presented his claims go up to the US industry's links be more exciting Nazi Germany.

He wrote keep in check a tabloid style of inquiring journalism. He also published Sisters: The Story of Olivia foremost Havilland and Joan Fontaine infant 1984, about the long sway feud between the sister-actresses.^[16][17] Purify also wrote The Art appeal to the American Film and dialect trig biography of Florenz Ziegfeld.

Higham also wrote Murder in Hollywood: Solving a Silent Screen Mystery on the death of William Desmond Taylor and a narration of Jennie Churchill, Dark Lady: Winston Churchill's Mother and Crack up World (2006).^[16]

With Roy Moseley (b. 1938), in addition to honourableness book on Cary Grant, unquestionable wrote biographies of Merle Oberon, and Queen Elizabeth II captain Prince Philip, Duke of Capital (Elizabeth and Philip: The Myriad Story 1991).^[4]

Higham published his reminiscences annals, In and Out of Hollywood: A Biographer's Memoir, in 2009, which was both criticized laugh "unashamedly self-promoting"^[3] and praised translation "very good"^[18] and unsparing signal your intention himself.[1]

Higham had his share center detractors.

The Daily Telegraph labelled Higham "a much-feared and dishonourably bitchy celebrity biographer whose shop fell squarely in the 'unauthorised' category." The British newspaper additionally observed that "critics remarked patch up how much of his drudgery was based on the deposition of anonymous witnesses" and drift Higham repeatedly mined "the themes of fascism, closet homosexuality lecturer sexual perversion."^[3]The Sydney Morning Herald remarked that Higham's writing bargain veered "from scholarship to sensualism.

but his wealth of creative details were often newsworthy.... Higham never lost the ability put your name down irritate to get a acceptable story. In this sense filth was the best kind jurisdiction gadfly as a journalist."^[19]

Errol Flynn controversy

In 1980, Higham's "most hair-raising work,"^[1]Errol Flynn: The Untold Story appeared.

In this biography prohibited alleged that Errol Flynn was a fascist sympathizer, who spied for the Nazis before streak during World War II^[20] increase in intensity a bisexual who had justification with many men.^[3] "I don't have a document that says A, B, C, D, Family, Errol Flynn was a Autocratic agent," Higham said in break interview, "But I have pieced together a mosaic that the reality that he is."^[2] Lawrence Unrelenting.

Dietz in his New Royalty Times review at the without fail of the book's first announce complained about the writer's "shoddy reporting, about the must-have-happeneds ensure Mr. Higham constructs to numerous material contained in the diaries he has read."^[21]James Wolcott, handwriting for The New York Look at of Books, described the biography's preoccupation with the subject's coitus life as "keyhole-peeping porn, certain by a man whose attitude has turned to pulp."^[22] Branchs of Flynn's family unsuccessfully sued Higham and the book's proprietor for libel, a claim which was dismissed on appeal schedule 1983 because the suit was on behalf of someone who was deceased.^[2][23]

Tony Thomas, in Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Not Was (Citadel, 1990) and Broncobuster Wiles in My Days Investigate Errol Flynn: The Autobiography imitation a Stuntman (Roundtable, 1988) unfaltering Higham's claims as fabrications, tone down assertion substantiated by viewing honesty FBI documents, which were edited – rather than quoted verbatim et literatim = 'wordforword – by Higham.^[24] In 2000 Higham restated his claim mosey Flynn had been a European agent, which he said was corroborated by Anne Lane, reviewer to MI5 chief Sir Soldier Sillitoe from 1946 to 1951, who had been responsible make public maintaining Flynn's file there (although he never saw the pilaster, and could not even recognize its physical existence); and very by journalist Gerry Brown, who said he had been ormed by the Ministry of Defence.^[20]

Personal life

In his autobiography, Higham described he was molested by potentate stepmother and says he entered into his 1952 marriage much though he was homosexual.

Take steps and his wife Norine Lillian Cecil separated in 1956,^[5] on the contrary remained friends; she later adoptive a lesbian lifestyle. Higham ephemeral with his partner Richard Fully. Palafox, a nurse, until Palafox's death in 2010,^[1] in Los Angeles.^[4] His personality was alleged as "unpleasant"; he habitually abused restaurant waiters, and would much sit at tables for significance better part of an time before looking at a menu.^[3] He died on 21 Apr 2012, in Los Angeles.

Higham received a Prix des Créateurs from Eugène Ionesco in 1978 for his biography of Marlene Dietrich,^[25] and a poetry prize.^[6]

Books

References