A Postillion Struck by Lightning (47 page)

5 Grandfather Aimé, in the middle, with an unknown friend and their guide. Somewhere on the Amazon about 1907-8 in their base hut. Note orchids everywhere which were, so I was told, the reason for the family's “ruin”. The skin survived, smelly and cracking, for many years. The small snapshot, on the shelf, of my father aged 6, stands on my bedside table today.

6(a) My maternal grandfather as Charles Surface, “The School for Scandal”.

6(b) My mother with Abe Barker in “Bunty Pulls The Strings”, Haymarket Theatre, 1911.

7(a) Myself as Raleigh, Mr (Lionel) Cox as Osborne in “Journey's End”, Newick, 1938.

7(b) William Wightman (far right) with members of the Company. Eric Rutherford, Peggy Pritchard, Uckfield, June 1939.

8(a) My father in his office at Printing House Square,
The Times
, 1938.

8(b) Satyres Wood, the Somme, 1916. One of the many “agonized sketches” from my 1938-39 sketch books at the Chelsea Poly. This was probably pinched from an old photograph.

9(a) Self and Natalie Jordan, “Grief Goes Over”, Amersham 1940.

9(b) Lieutenant Anthony Forwood R.A., Summer 1940.

9(c) The Playhouse, Amersham on the Hill, 1940.

Sir Dirk Bogarde (1921–1999) was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as
Death In Venice
; between 1947 and 1991, Bogarde made more than sixty films.

In his writing career, as well as completing six novels, Bogarde wrote several volumes of autobiography. For over two decades he lived in Italy and France, which was where he began to write seriously. In 1985 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of St Andrews and in 1990 was promoted to Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

Sir Dirk Bogarde has a legion of fans to this day – an extraordinary commitment to an extraordinary man.

Discover books by Dirk Bogarde published by Bloomsbury Reader at

www.bloomsbury.com/DirkBogarde

A Gentle Occupation

A Particular Friendship

A Period of Adjustment

A Postillion Struck by Lightning

A Short Walk from Harrods

An Orderly Man

Backcloth

Cleared for Take-Off

Closing Ranks

For the Time Being

Great Meadow

Jericho

Snakes and Ladders

Voices in the Garden

West of Sunset

For copyright reasons, any images not belonging to the original author have been removed from this book. The text has not been changed, and may still contain references to missing images.

This electronic edition published in 2014 by Bloomsbury Reader

Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square,
London WC1B 3DP

First published in Great Britain in 1977 by Chatto & Windus

Copyright © 1977 Dirk Bogarde

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