Friday, February 27, 2015
By Craig Brown for the Daily Mail
Published: 01:35 GMT, 20 January 2015 | Updated: 01:41 GMT, 20 January 2015
www.inulpoker.com, Agen Poker Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Online Indonesia Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Terbaik,
The letters of Noel Coward (pictured), edited by Barry Day, were first published eight years ago, in 2007, amid great acclaim
One of the most talented forgers of the 20th century has just died. And to the irritation of some, and the delight of others, her legacy seems likely to live on.
The letters of Noel Coward, edited by Barry Day, were first published eight years ago, in 2007, amid great acclaim.
‘A far more complex figure than the one we thought we knew,’ wrote Sheridan Morley. ‘Here you get the truly private Noel.’
‘Coward’s own record is made all the more delightful by the wise and helpful interpolations of Barry Day, the soundest authority on the Master that there is,’ wrote Stephen Fry.
In one of the published letters, headed ‘Les Avants sur Montreux’, his Swiss address, Coward wrote to Clifton Webb about their mutual friend Marlene Dietrich.
‘SUNDAY. Dear Boy, The London sojourn was exhausting. Marlene’s opening was divine. The silly old Kraut remains one of the most attractive women on the face of the earth and during this brief period of triumph has ceased moaning about getting old.
‘As I have told you on countless occasions I am sure — Marlene seems to think that she is the only higher primate to suffer the depradations of growing old and she is determinedly ungraceful about the whole business.
‘Are you tired yet of my paeans to the Queen Mother? We all watched “Ninety Years On” together. She was moved and I was thrilled. I love her more and more for her good heart and her grand style. That she is genuinely fond of me delights me beyond my meagre powers of expression . . .
Yours, as ever, Noel.’
In one of the published letters, headed ‘Les Avants sur Montreux’, his Swiss address, Coward wrote to Clifton Webb (pictured) about their mutual friend Marlene Dietrich
In another letter, Coward discussed the casting of Julie Andrews as Gertie Lawrence in the film Star, saying that Andrews ‘is about as much like Gertie as I am Edna Ferber’s twin, but what can one do? . . . She is a bright, talented actress and quite attractive since she dealt with her monstrous English over-bite. It will be interesting — more interesting, I hope, than dear Gertie’s actual life.’
Both these letters perfectly capture the Coward tone: camp and crisp, witty and bitchy. Any editor would have been pleased to include them in the collected works.
But — and this a rather big ‘but’ — they were in fact composed in 1990, a full 17 years after Noel Coward had died. They were written not by Coward, but by an alcoholic out-of-work New York writer-turned-forger called Lee Israel.
Lee Israel died this Christmas Eve, aged 75. It is unlikely that the books she published under her own name — including biographies of Tallulah Bankhead and Estee Lauder — will be remembered, but I think her brilliant forgeries deserve their own little corner in literary history.
Over the course of 18 months she composed about 400 letters, ostensibly by famous people, including Eugene O’Neill, Lillian Hellman, Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Louise Brooks and, of course, Noel Coward.
She was later to say that, though she had written and published many hundreds of thousands of words under her own name, ‘I still consider these letters to be my best work’. It is a judgment with which few would disagree.
It is unlikely that the books Lee Israel published under her own name — including biographies of Tallulah Bankhead (left) and Estee Lauder (right) — will be remembered
In the 1970s and 1980s, Lee Israel had been a moderately successful author, one of her books even making it onto the New York Times bestseller list.
But by the end of the 1980s, things had begun to go awry. A succession of writing projects had fallen by the wayside, and she was obliged to pay back publishers’ advances for showbiz biographies that had been commissioned but she had failed to write. These included works on Vanessa Redgrave, Woody Allen and Bette Davis.
To the irritation of some, and the delight of others, her legacy seems likely to live on‘She wanted me to co-author one of her several autobiographies,’ Lee Israel recalled of Bette Davis, ‘and when people asked me what had finally gone wrong with the project, I told them: “I yelled back!” ’
Faced by this downturn in her fortunes, Lee Israel drank more and more, and the more she drank, the more difficult she became. Like many a writer before and since, she never forgave publishers for refusing to finance her failures.
‘Advances had to be returned, in their entirety, though many thousands had been spent by me in determining that a book was not do-able. Writers, unlike lawyers, doctors, agents, do not get paid when they fail or misjudge.’
By now, she was virtually blacklisted by publishers, so came to the conclusion that she would never again be able to make money writing under her own name.
Her cat, Doris, was ill, and she could no longer afford the vet’s bills. Faced with ruin, she hit upon a ruse. She would forge letters from famous people, and sell them to dealers. What happened next will be the subject of my next column on Thursday.
www.inulpoker.com, Agen Poker Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Online Indonesia Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Terbaik,
Published: 01:35 GMT, 20 January 2015 | Updated: 01:41 GMT, 20 January 2015
www.inulpoker.com, Agen Poker Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Online Indonesia Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Terbaik,
The letters of Noel Coward (pictured), edited by Barry Day, were first published eight years ago, in 2007, amid great acclaim
One of the most talented forgers of the 20th century has just died. And to the irritation of some, and the delight of others, her legacy seems likely to live on.
The letters of Noel Coward, edited by Barry Day, were first published eight years ago, in 2007, amid great acclaim.
‘A far more complex figure than the one we thought we knew,’ wrote Sheridan Morley. ‘Here you get the truly private Noel.’
‘Coward’s own record is made all the more delightful by the wise and helpful interpolations of Barry Day, the soundest authority on the Master that there is,’ wrote Stephen Fry.
In one of the published letters, headed ‘Les Avants sur Montreux’, his Swiss address, Coward wrote to Clifton Webb about their mutual friend Marlene Dietrich.
‘SUNDAY. Dear Boy, The London sojourn was exhausting. Marlene’s opening was divine. The silly old Kraut remains one of the most attractive women on the face of the earth and during this brief period of triumph has ceased moaning about getting old.
‘As I have told you on countless occasions I am sure — Marlene seems to think that she is the only higher primate to suffer the depradations of growing old and she is determinedly ungraceful about the whole business.
‘Are you tired yet of my paeans to the Queen Mother? We all watched “Ninety Years On” together. She was moved and I was thrilled. I love her more and more for her good heart and her grand style. That she is genuinely fond of me delights me beyond my meagre powers of expression . . .
Yours, as ever, Noel.’
In one of the published letters, headed ‘Les Avants sur Montreux’, his Swiss address, Coward wrote to Clifton Webb (pictured) about their mutual friend Marlene DietrichIn another letter, Coward discussed the casting of Julie Andrews as Gertie Lawrence in the film Star, saying that Andrews ‘is about as much like Gertie as I am Edna Ferber’s twin, but what can one do? . . . She is a bright, talented actress and quite attractive since she dealt with her monstrous English over-bite. It will be interesting — more interesting, I hope, than dear Gertie’s actual life.’
Both these letters perfectly capture the Coward tone: camp and crisp, witty and bitchy. Any editor would have been pleased to include them in the collected works.
But — and this a rather big ‘but’ — they were in fact composed in 1990, a full 17 years after Noel Coward had died. They were written not by Coward, but by an alcoholic out-of-work New York writer-turned-forger called Lee Israel.
Lee Israel died this Christmas Eve, aged 75. It is unlikely that the books she published under her own name — including biographies of Tallulah Bankhead and Estee Lauder — will be remembered, but I think her brilliant forgeries deserve their own little corner in literary history.
Over the course of 18 months she composed about 400 letters, ostensibly by famous people, including Eugene O’Neill, Lillian Hellman, Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Louise Brooks and, of course, Noel Coward.
She was later to say that, though she had written and published many hundreds of thousands of words under her own name, ‘I still consider these letters to be my best work’. It is a judgment with which few would disagree.
It is unlikely that the books Lee Israel published under her own name — including biographies of Tallulah Bankhead (left) and Estee Lauder (right) — will be rememberedIn the 1970s and 1980s, Lee Israel had been a moderately successful author, one of her books even making it onto the New York Times bestseller list.
But by the end of the 1980s, things had begun to go awry. A succession of writing projects had fallen by the wayside, and she was obliged to pay back publishers’ advances for showbiz biographies that had been commissioned but she had failed to write. These included works on Vanessa Redgrave, Woody Allen and Bette Davis.
To the irritation of some, and the delight of others, her legacy seems likely to live on‘She wanted me to co-author one of her several autobiographies,’ Lee Israel recalled of Bette Davis, ‘and when people asked me what had finally gone wrong with the project, I told them: “I yelled back!” ’
Faced by this downturn in her fortunes, Lee Israel drank more and more, and the more she drank, the more difficult she became. Like many a writer before and since, she never forgave publishers for refusing to finance her failures.
‘Advances had to be returned, in their entirety, though many thousands had been spent by me in determining that a book was not do-able. Writers, unlike lawyers, doctors, agents, do not get paid when they fail or misjudge.’
By now, she was virtually blacklisted by publishers, so came to the conclusion that she would never again be able to make money writing under her own name.
Her cat, Doris, was ill, and she could no longer afford the vet’s bills. Faced with ruin, she hit upon a ruse. She would forge letters from famous people, and sell them to dealers. What happened next will be the subject of my next column on Thursday.
www.inulpoker.com, Agen Poker Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Online Indonesia Terpercaya, Poker dan Domino Terbaik,
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Kara Scott
2nd World Rank
Final Table WSOP
World Series Of Poker
0 comments:
Post a Comment