Maggie Smith: A Biography (45 page)

It strikes me that, from the moment I first saw her on the Old Vic stage in 1964, Maggie’s career has been rushing through my life like a sparkling river, and it was thanks in the first place to Beverley Cross, who provided information, contacts and encouragement, and to Nathaniel Smith, that I was able to get going. Ian Smith, Maggie’s brother in New York, now retired and living in France, was crucially informative, as were Maggie’s sons with Robert Stephens, Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens.

Documents, recordings and viewing facilities were loaned or provided by the BBC, the Stratford Festival, Ontario, Julie Pearce and Marcus Prince at the British Film Institute, Alastair Macaulay, the Oxford High School for Girls, Kathleen Tynan, Sandy Wilson and B. A. Young. I acknowledge the
Evening Standard
for permission to reproduce part of an interview published in 2007.

I am grateful to David Pelizzari of the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, who conducted an interview on my behalf with Robin Phillips, and to Robin Phillips himself. The following spared time to be interviewed: Edward Albee, Dorothy Bartholomew, Brian Bedford, Alan Bennett, Michael Blakemore, Diana Boddington, Margaret Bonfiglioli (née Slater), Ronald Bryden, Simon Callow, Jack Clayton, Sir Michael Codron, Bridget Davidson (née Senior), Dame Judi Dench, Zoë Dominic, Christopher Downes, Patrick Dromgoole, Veryl and Peter Dunlop, Lord Fellowes, Angela Fox, William Gaskill, Sir Peter Hall, Sir Derek Jacobi, Bernard Levin, Kenneth Lintott, Alec McCowen, Janet Macklam, John Madden, Joseph Maher, Miriam Margolyes, Patricia Millbourn, John Moffatt, Richard Monette, Gareth Neame, Riggs O’Hara, Anthony Page, Michael Palin, Nicholas Pennell, Stephen Poliakoff, Anthony Powell, Lynn Redgrave, Kate Reid, Sir Peter Shaffer, Ned Sherrin, Shân Smith, Robert Stephens, Christine Stotesbury (née Miller), Judith Stott, Margaret Tyzack, Isabel van Beers and Peter Wood.

I enjoyed correspondence and telephone conversations with John Beary, Sir Michael Caine, Ruth Clarke (née Ayers), Simon Curtis, Robert Fox, Bamber Gascoigne, Jeremy Geidt, Alice Ghostley, Sir John Gielgud, Shirley Halstead (née Jenkins), Sir Nicholas Hytner, Verena Johnston (née Hunt), Lady Olivier and Sir Tom Stoppard. Special thanks are due to Paul Lyon-Maris, Maggie’s agent; Caradoc King, Mildred Yuan and Millie Hoskins at United Agents; Alan Samson, Simon Wright and the team at Orion; and my wife, Sue Hyman.

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

Ackland, Joss

Adams, Polly

Adamson, Samuel

Adjani, Isabelle

Adrian, Max

Albee, Edward

A Delicate Balance

The Lady from Dubuque

Three Tall Women

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Alda, Alan

All the King’s Men
(TV film)

Allam, Roger

Allen, Dave

Allen, Sheila

Allen, Woody

Allio, René

Altman, Robert

Anderson, Judith

Anderson, Lindsay

Andress, Ursula

Andrews, Anthony

Andrews, Julie

Andreyev, Leonid,
He Who Gets Slapped

Anouilh, Jean,
The Rehearsal

Antonioni, Michelangelo

Apartment, The
(film)

Arden, Jane,
The Party

Ardizzone, Edward

Arrowsmith, Adrian

Arthur, Jean

Ashcroft, Peggy

Asherson, Renée

Askey, Arthur

Asquith, Anthony

Atkins, Eileen

Atkinson, Brooks

Atkinson, Rowan

Attenborough, Richard

Auden and Isherwood,
The Dog Beneath the Skin

Austen, Jane

Ayckbourn, Alan

Bacall, Lauren

Bacharach, Burt

Badel, Alan

BAFTA Awards

Bailey, Bill

Baker, Tom

Balcon, Michael

Ball, Lucille

Bancroft, Anne

Bankhead, Tallulah

Banks-Smith, Nancy

Bannen, Ian

Banning, Peter

Banville, John

Barber, Matt

Bardach, Emilie

Barker, Felix

Barker, Howard

Barker, Margaret

Barker, Ronnie

Barkworth, Peter

Barnes, Clive

Barrault, Jean-Louis

Barrie, J. M.

Peter Pan

What Every Woman Knows

Bartholomew, Dorothy

Barton, Anne

Bassett, Tarn

Bates, Alan

Bates, Michael

Baxter, Keith

Baylis, Lilian

Beary, John

Beaumont, Hugh ‘Binkie’

Beckett, Samuel

Becoming Jane
(film)

Bed Among the Lentils
(stage play)

Bed Among the Lentils
(TV play)

Bedford, Brian

Beecham, Sir Thomas

Beerbohm, Max

Bell, Quentin

Bening, Annette

Bennett, Alan

The Habit of Art

The History Boys

Kafka’s Dick

People

A Question of Attribution

see also
Bed Among the Lentils
;
An Englishman Abroad
;
The
Lady in the Van
;
A Private Function
;
Soldiering On

Bennett, Jill

Bennett, Richard Rodney

Benny, Jack

Benson, E. F.

Benthall, Michael

Bergman, Ingmar

Bergman, Ingrid

Bergner, Elisabeth

Bernstein, Leonard

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
,
The
(film)

Best, George

Betjeman, John

Better Late Than Never
(film)

Betti, Ugo,
Summertime

Beyond the Fringe
(revue)

Billington, Michael

Billy
(musical)

Birkin, Jane

Black, Cilla

Black Sails
(TV series)

Blair, Isla

Blakely, Colin

Blakemore, Michael

Blanchett, Cate

Bloom, Claire

Blunt, Anthony

Boddington, Diana

Boeing-Boeing
(Cross)

Bogarde, Dirk

Bogdanovich, Peter

Bolt, Robert,
A Man for All Seasons

Bond, Edward

Bond, Samantha

Bonham-Carter, Helena

Bonneville, Hugh

Bottoms, Timothy

Bowen, Elizabeth

Bowen, Stella

Boy Meets Girl
(TV play)

Boyle, Danny

Bradley, David

Bragg, Melvyn

Brahms, Caryl

Branagh, Kenneth

Brand, Christianna

Brand, Katy

Brenton, Howard,
The Romans in Britain

Brett, Jeremy

Bridge, Peter

Brien, Alan

Broadbent, Jim

Brontë, Charlotte

Brook, Peter

Brown, Georgia

Brown, Pamela (actress)

Brown, Pamela (author)

Browne, Coral

Bruce, Brenda

Brühl, Daniel

Brustein, Robert

Bryden, Bill

Bryden, Ronald

Buchanan, Jack

Buckley, William F., Jr

Bujold, Genevieve

Bullock, Sandra

Buñuel, Luis

Burge, Stuart

Burnett, Carol

Burstyn, Ellen

Burton, Richard

Butterworth, Jez,
Mojo

Caine, Michael

Cakes and Ale
(revue)

Caldwell, Zoë

California Suite
(film)

Callow, Simon

Campbell, Douglas

Campbell, Judy

Campbell, Ken

Campbell, Patrick

Campbell, Mrs Patrick

Campbell Moore, Stephen

Canby, Vincent

Capote, Truman

Cardiff, Jack

Carmichael, Laura

Carpenter, Humphrey

Carr, Jane

Carr, Jay

Carroll, Lewis

Carter, Howard

Carter, Jim

Caught on a Train
(TV film)

Cellan Jones, James

Chain, Ernst Boris

Chancellor, Anna

Channing, Stockard

Chaplin, Ben

Chaplin, Charlie

Chariots of Fire
(film)

Charles II, King

Charles, Prince of Wales

Chekhov, Anton

The Seagull

Three Sisters

Uncle Vanya

Cher

Chetham-Strode, Warren,
The Stepmother

Chetwyn, Robert

Chiles, Lois

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(film)

Christie, Julie

Church, Esmé

Church, Tony

Cibber, Colly

Clancy, Deirdre

Clash of the Titans
(film)

Clay, Cassius

Clayton, Jack

Cleese, John

Clegg, Nick

Clements, John

Clifford, Michael

Clift, Montgomery

Clooney, George

Clunies-Ross, Elizabeth

Clurman, Harold

Coca, Imogene

Cocker, Jarvis

Cocteau, Jean,
The Infernal Machine

Codron, Michael

Coghill, Nevill

Colbert, Claudette

Cole, Stephanie

Colicos, John

Colleano, Bonar

Collier, Patience

Collin, Robbie

Collins, Gayden

Collins, Pauline

Collins, Tessa

Coltrane, Robbie

Compton, Fay

Congreve, William

The Double Dealer

The Way of the World

Connolly, Billy

Connolly, Patricia

Conrad, Joseph

Converse, Frank

Cook, Peter

Cook, Roderick

Cooper, Lady Diana

Cooper, Dominic

Cooper, Gary

Cooper, Gladys

Cooper, Tommy

Corbett, Harry H.

Corbett, Leonora

Corden, James

Cosby, Bill

Courtenay, Tom

Courtneidge, Cicely

Cousins, Norman

Coward, Noël

Blithe Spirit

Design for Living

Hay Fever

Hay Fever
(TV play)

Private Lives

Cowell, Simon

Coyle, Brendan

Cranko, John

Crawford, Joan

Crawford, Michael

Crist, Judith

Cronyn, Hume

Cross, Beverley

his death

early relationship with Maggie

holidays with Kenneth Williams

marriage with Maggie

married life

resumes writing career

W
ORKS
:

Boeing-Boeing

Haworth

One More River

Miranda

Strip the Willow

Cross, George

Crowley, Bob

Crowley, Mart,
The Boys in the Band

Cuarón, Alfonso

Cucci, Frank

Cukor, George

Curtis, Anthony

Curtis, Simon

Cusack, Cyril

Dale, Eileen

Dance, Charles

Darbishire, Helen

Dare, Daphne

David Copperfield
(TV drama)

Davies, Howard

Davis, Bette

Davis, Sammy, Jr

Dawson, Beatrice

Dawson, Helen

Day-Lewis, Daniel

de Havilland, Olivia

de Jongh, Nicholas

de la Tour, Frances

de Souza, Edward

Dean, James

Death on the Nile
(film)

Delaney, Pauline

Dempsey, Jack

Dench, Judi

and
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

and
The Breath of Life

and
Ladies in Lavender

and
A Room with a View

and
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

and
Tea with Mussolini

Dennis, Sandy

Devine, George

Dewhurst, Colleen

Dexter, John

Dhawan, Sacha

Diamond, I. A. L.

Dibb, Frank

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
(film)

Dockery, Michelle

Dominic, Zoë

Donat, Robert

Donne, John

Donnelly, Donal

Dorfman, Lloyd

Double Your Money
(TV quiz game)

Downes, Christopher

Downey, Robert, Jr

Downton Abbey
(TV series)

Doyle, Kevin

Drake, Fabia

Draper, Peter

Sunday out of Season

Dreamchild

Dromgoole, Patrick

du Maurier, Daphne

Dubuque, Julien

Duncombe, Juliet

Dunlop, Frank

Dunlop, Peter

Durrell, Gerald

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich,
The Visit

Dylan, Bob

Eddington, Paul

Eddison, Robert

Eder, Richard

Edward II, King

Edwards, Sian

Edwards, Sydney

Eliot, T. S.

Murder in the Cathedral

Elizabeth I, Queen

Elizabeth II, Queen

Elliott, Denholm

Elliott, Michael

Ellis, Vivian,
Listen to the Wind

Englishman Abroad, An
(Bennett)

Evans, Edith

and
Hay Fever

Evans, Laurence ‘Lol’

Eve, Trevor

Evening Standard
awards

Evil Under the Sun
(film)

Eyre, Peter

Eyre, Richard

and National Theatre

Fairbanks, Douglas

Fairweather, Virginia

Farquhar, George

The Beaux’ Stratagem

The Recruiting Officer

Farrell, Nicholas

Farrow, Mia

Fellini, Federico

Fellowes, Julian

Felton, Tom

Ferris, Pam

Ffrangcon-Davies, Gwen

Field, Shirley Ann

Fiennes, Ralph

Finch, Jon

Finch, Peter

Findlater, Richard

Finlay, Frank

Finney, Albert

Firbank, Ann

First Wives Club, The
(film)

Flacks, Niki

Flanagan, Fionnula

Fleetwood, Susan

Fleming, Sir Alexander

Fleming, Ann

Florey, Howard Walter

Florey, Paquita

Folger Shakespeare Library

Fonda, Henry

Fonda, Jane

Fontanne, Lynne (Mrs Alfred Lunt)

Forbes, Bryan

Ford, Ford Madox

Ford, John

Forrest, Frederic

Forster, E. M.

Forsyte Saga, The
(TV series)

Fox, Angela

Fox, Edward

Fox, Emilia

Fox, Laurence

Fox, Robert

France, Peter

Francis, Derek

Franklin, Olga

Franklin, Pamela

Fraser, Lady Antonia

Fraser, Jimmy

Fraser, Moyra

Fraser Paye, Robin

Frayn, Michael

Frears, Stephen

French, Philip

French Lieutenant’s Woman, The
(film)

Fridh, Gertrud

Frisby, Terence,
There’s a Girl in My Soup

From Time to Time
(film)

Frost, David

Fry, Christopher

Fry, Stephen

Fryer, Robert

Gainsbourg, Charlotte

Gale, Max

Galloway, Pat

Galsworthy, John

Gambon, Michael

Garbo, Greta

Gardner, Ava

Gardner, Lyn

Garland, Judy

Garner, James

Garrick, David

Gascoigne, Bamber

Gascon, Jean

Gaskill, William

and Chichester
Way of the World

Geidt, Jeremy

Gere, Richard

Ghostley, Alice

Gielgud, John

directs
Private Lives

Gill, Brendan

Gilliam, Terry

Gilliatt, Penelope

Ginsberg, Allen

Gish, Lillian

Gish, Sheila

Gleeson, Brendan

Go to Blazes
(film)

Goetz, Ruth and Augustus

Gogol, Nikolai,
The Government Inspector

Goldberg, Whoopi

Goldman, Milton

Goldoni, Carlo

Il Campiello

La Locandiera

Goon Show, The
(radio programme)

Gordon, Ruth