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Gyles Brandreth Gyles Brandreth was born in a British Forces Hospital in Germany, where, in the aftermath of the Second World War, his father, Charles Brandreth, was serving as a legal officer with the Allied Control Commission and counted among his colleagues, H Montgomery Hyde, who, in 1948, published the first full account of the trials of Oscar Wilde. In 1974, at the Oxford Theatre Festival, Gyles Brandreth produced the first stage version of The Trials of Oscar Wilde, with Tom Baker as Wilde, and, in 2000, he edited the transcripts of the trials for an audio production starring Martin Jarvis.
Robert Sherard’s forebears included William Wordsworth. Gyles Brandreth’s include the somewhat less eminent poet, George R Sims (1847-1922), who wrote the ballads Billy’s dead and gone to glory and Christmas Day in the workhouse. Sims was also the first journalist to claim to know the true identity of ‘Jack the Ripper’. Sims, a kinsman of the Empress Eugénie and an acquaintance of both Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, was arguably the first ‘celebrity columnist’ and well-known in his day for his endorsement of an ‘infallible cure for baldness’: ‘Tatcho - The Geo R Sims Hair Restorer’. As a broadcaster, Gyles Brandreth has presented numerous series for BBC Radio 4, including A Rhyme in Time, Sound Advice and Whispers – coincidentally the title of Robert Sherard’s first collection of poetry. A regular guest on Just a Minute and Countdown, his television appearances have ranged from being the guest host of Have I Got News for You to being the subject of This Is Your Life. On stage he has starred in an award-winning revue in the West End and appeared as Malvolio in a musical version of Twelfth Night in Edinburgh. With Hinge & Bracket he scripted the TV series, Dear Ladies; with Julian Slade he wrote a play about A A Milne (featuring Aled Jones as Christopher Robin); and, with Susannah Pearse, he has written a new musical about Lewis Carroll, The Last Photograph. Gyles Brandreth is married to the writer and publisher, Michèle Brown. They have three children: a barrister, a writer and an environmental economist. Visit his website at www.gylesbrandreth.net. ‘Not merely, like all the best after-dinner speakers, does he know how to spin a yarn; unlike most politicians, he has a touching access to the secrets of the human heart.’ The Times ‘Gyles Brandreth writes so entertainingly. He is so witty and well-informed.’ Mail on Sunday ‘He can tell a story in the way Daphne du Maurier could . . . He creates a world and keeeps you there.’ Sunday Express |
Gyles
Brandreth was educated at the Lycée Français de Londres,
at Betteshanger School in Kent, and at Bedales School in Hampshire.
Like Robert Sherard, Gyles Brandreth went on to New College, Oxford,
where he was a scholar, President of the Union and editor of the
university magazine, and then, again like Sherard, embarked on a
career as an author and journalist. His first book, Created
in Captivity (1972), was a study of prison reform; his first
biography, The Funniest Man on Earth (1974), was a portrait
of the Victorian music-hall star, Dan Leno. More recently he has
published a biography of the actor, Sir John Gielgud, as well as
an acclaimed diary of his years as an MP and government whip (Breaking
the Code: Westminster Diaries 1990-97) and two best-selling
royal biographies: Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage
and Charles & Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair.site by actorsilluminated.com |