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Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as '' Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the
Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...
, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess". In a second career, he wrote seven best-selling volumes of memoirs, six novels, and a volume of collected journalism, mainly from articles in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
''. During five years of active military duty during World War Two, he reached the rank of major and was awarded seven medals. His poetry has been published in war anthologies; a painting by Bogarde, also from the war, hangs in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, with many more in the
Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
. Having come to prominence in films including '' The Blue Lamp'' in the early 1950s, Bogarde starred in the successful '' Doctor'' film series (1954–1963). He twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for '' The Servant'' (1963) and '' Darling'' (1965). His other notable film roles included '' Victim'' (1961), '' Accident'' (1967), '' The Damned'' (1969), '' Death in Venice'' (1971), '' The Night Porter'' (1974), '' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) and '' Despair'' (1978). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...
in 1992.


Early years and education

Bogarde was the eldest of three children born to Ulric van den Bogaerde (1892–1972) and Margaret Niven (1898–1980). Ulric was born in
Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
, of
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
ancestry, and was art editor of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
''. Margaret Niven, a former actress, was Scottish, from
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
. Dirk Bogarde was born in a nursing home at 12 Hemstal Road,Coldstream 2004, p. 24. West Hampstead, London, and was baptised on 30 October 1921, at St. Mary's Church, Kilburn. He had a younger sister, Elizabeth (born 1924), and a brother, Gareth Ulric Van Den Bogaerde, an advertising film producer, born in July 1933 in Hendon.Moir, Jon
"Dirk could be cruel – but I know why."
''The Daily Telegraph'' (London), 2 September 2004. Retrieved: 29 March 2015.
Conditions in the family home in North London became cramped, so Bogarde was moved to Glasgow to stay with relatives of his mother. He stayed there for more than three years, returning at the end of 1937. He attended University College School and the former Allan Glen's High School of Science in Glasgow, a time he described in his autobiography as an unhappy one. He secured a scholarship to the Royal College of Arts, completed his two year course, and landed "a back-stage job as tea-boy at seven shillings and sixpence per week". A chance to act as a stand-in convinced Bogarde that "he needed some additional basic training, and he joined a provincial repertory group". His first on-screen appearance was as an uncredited extra in the George Formby comedy, '' Come On George!'' (1939).


War service

During the war, Derek "Pip" Bogaerde served in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
, initially with the Royal Corps of Signals before being commissioned at the age of 22 into the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in 1943. He served in both the European and Pacific theatres, principally as an intelligence officer.


D-Day and aftermath

Bogarde served as an intelligence officer with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s 21st Army Group as it liberated Europe. Taylor Downing's book, ''Spies in the Sky'', tells of Bogarde's work in photo-reconnaissance in the aftermath of D-Day, moving through
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
with
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
units. By July 1944, they were located at the "B.8" airfield at
Sommervieu Sommervieu () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 528 communes An intentional community is a vo ...
, near Bayeux. As an air photographic interpreter with the rank of captain, Bogarde was later attached to the Second Army, where he selected ground targets in France, Holland, and Germany for the Second Tactical Air Force and RAF Bomber Command.''Above The Title'', Yorkshire Television interview, 1986. Villages on key routes were heavily bombed to prevent the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
's armour from reaching the invasion
lodgement A lodgement is an enclave, taken and defended by force of arms against determined opposition, made by increasing the size of a bridgehead, beachhead, or airhead into a substantial defended area, at least the rear parts of which are out of dire ...
areas. In a 1986 Yorkshire Television interview with
Russell Harty Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows. Early life Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, the son of greengrocer Fred Harty, who ran a fruit-and-vege ...
, Bogarde recalled going on
painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...
trips, sometimes to see the villages which he had selected as targets:
"I found what I had thought in the rubble were a whole row of footballs, and they weren't footballs... they were children's heads...A whole school of kids, a
convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...
, had been pulled out of school, and lined up in this little narrow alleyway between the buildings to save them from the bombing, and the whole thing had come in on top of them."


Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

Bogarde said he was one of the first Allied officers to reach the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany on 20 April 1945, an experience that had the most profound effect on him and about which he had difficulty speaking for many years afterward.
"The gates were opened, and then I realised that I was looking at
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...
's ''Inferno''. And a girl came up who spoke English, because she recognised one of the badges, and she ... her breasts were like, sort of, empty purses, she had no top on, and a pair of man's pyjamas, you know, the prison pyjamas, and no hair... and all around us there were mountains of dead people, I mean mountains of them, and they were slushy, and they were slimy."
There was some doubt as to whether he really visited Belsen, although, more than a decade after publishing his biography, and following additional research, John Coldstream concluded that "it is now possible to state with some authority that he did at least set foot inside the camp."


Long-term effects

The horror and revulsion at the cruelty and inhumanity that he said he witnessed left him with a deep-seated hostility towards Germany; in the late 1980s, he wrote that he would disembark from a lift rather than ride with a German of his generation. Nevertheless, three of his more memorable film roles were as Germans, one of them as a former SS officer in '' The Night Porter'' (1974). Bogarde was most vocal towards the end of his life on voluntary euthanasia, of which he became a staunch proponent after witnessing the protracted death of his lifelong partner and manager Anthony Forwood (the former husband of actress Glynis Johns) in 1988. He gave an interview to John Hofsess, London executive director of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society:
"My views were formulated as a 24-year-old officer in Normandy ... On one occasion, the jeep ahead hit a mine ... Next thing I knew, there was this chap in the long grass beside me. A gurgling voice said, "Help. Kill me." With shaking hands I reached for my small pouch to load my revolver ... I had to look for my bullets—by which time somebody else had already taken care of him. I heard the shot. I still remember that gurgling sound. A voice pleading for death."


Career

Bogarde's London
West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194� ...
-acting debut was in 1939, with the stage name "Derek Bogaerde", in J. B. Priestley's play ''Cornelius''. After the war, he started pursuing film roles using the name "Dirk Bogarde". One of Bogarde's earliest starring roles was in the 1949 film ''Once a Jolly Swagman'', where he played a daring speedway ace, riding for the Cobras. This was filmed at New Cross Speedway, in South East London, during one of the postwar years in which speedway was the biggest spectator sport in the UK.


Film stardom

Bogarde was contracted to the
Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...
under the wing of the prolific independent film producer Betty Box, who produced most of his early films and was instrumental in creating his matinée idol image.Morley 1999, pp. 8–9. His Rank contract began following his appearance in ''
Esther Waters ''Esther Waters'' is a novel by George Moore first published in 1894. Overview Set in England from the early 1870s onward, the novel is about a pious young woman from a poor working-class family who, while working as a kitchen maid, is seduced ...
'' (1948), his first credited role, replacing Stewart Granger. Another early role of his was in '' The Blue Lamp'' (1950), playing a hoodlum who shoots and kills a police constable ( Jack Warner), whilst in '' So Long at the Fair'' (1950), a film noir, he played a handsome artist who comes to the rescue of
Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and aft ...
during the World's Fair in Paris. He also had roles as an accidental murderer in '' Hunted'' (or ''The Stranger in Between'', 1952), a young wing commander in Bomber Command in '' Appointment in London'' (1953), and in ''
Desperate Moment ''Desperate Moment'' is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling and Philip Friend. It is based on the 1951 novel of the same title by Martha Albrand. It was made at Pinewood Studios ...
'' (1953), a wrongly imprisoned man who regains hope of clearing his name when he learns his sweetheart,
Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actor. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at ...
, is still alive. Bogarde featured as a medical student in '' Doctor in the House'' (1954), a film that made him one of the most popular British stars of the 1950s. The film co-starred Kenneth More and Donald Sinden, with James Robertson Justice as their crabby mentor. The production was initiated by Betty Box, who had picked up a copy of the book at
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
during a long rail journey and had seen its possibility as a film. Box and Ralph Thomas had difficulties convincing Rank executives that people would go to a film about doctors and that Bogarde, who up to then had played character roles, had sex appeal and could play light comedy. They were allocated a modest budget and were allowed to use only available Rank contract artists. The film was the first of the ''Doctor'' film series based on the books by Richard Gordon. In ''
The Sleeping Tiger ''The Sleeping Tiger'' is a 1954 British film noir directed by Joseph Losey and starring Alexis Smith, Dirk Bogarde and Alexander Knox. It was Losey's first British feature, which he directed under the pseudonym of Victor Hanbury due to being bl ...
'' (1954), Bogarde played a neurotic criminal with co-star
Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...
. It was Bogarde's first film for American expatriate director Joseph Losey. He did his second ''Doctor'' film, '' Doctor at Sea'' (1955), co-starring
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
in one of her first film roles; played a returning colonial who fights the Mau-Mau with
Virginia McKenna Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), ''Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ...
and Donald Sinden in '' Simba'' (1955); ''
Cast a Dark Shadow ''Cast a Dark Shadow'' is a 1955 black-and-white British suspense film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert, based on the play ''Murder Mistaken'' by Janet Green. The story concerns a husband played by Dirk Bogarde who murders his wife. Plot After a ...
'' (1955), as a man who marries women for money and then murders them; '' The Spanish Gardener'' (1956), with Michael Hordern,
Jon Whiteley Jon James Lamont Whiteley (19 February 1945 – 16 May 2020) was a Scottish child film actor and in adult life a distinguished art historian. Life and career The Monymusk-born Whiteley appeared in five films during his brief acting career, a ...
and Cyril Cusack; '' Doctor at Large'' (1957), again with Donald Sinden, another entry in the ''Doctor'' film series, with later Bond girl Shirley Eaton; the
Powell and Pressburger The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. T ...
production ''
Ill Met by Moonlight ''Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe'' is a non-fiction partly-autobiographical book written by W. Stanley Moss, a British soldier, writer and traveller. It describes an operation in Crete during the Second World War to cap ...
'' (1957) co-starring Marius Goring as German General Kreipe, kidnapped on
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
by Patrick "Paddy" Leigh Fermor (Bogarde) and
W. Stanley Moss Ivan William Stanley Moss MC (15 June 1921 – 9 August 1965), commonly known as W. Stanley Moss or Billy Moss, was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist and traveller. He served with t ...
(David Oxley), and a fellow band of Cretan resistance fighters based on
W. Stanley Moss Ivan William Stanley Moss MC (15 June 1921 – 9 August 1965), commonly known as W. Stanley Moss or Billy Moss, was a British army officer in World War II, and later a successful writer, broadcaster, journalist and traveller. He served with t ...
' real-life account (''
Ill Met by Moonlight ''Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe'' is a non-fiction partly-autobiographical book written by W. Stanley Moss, a British soldier, writer and traveller. It describes an operation in Crete during the Second World War to cap ...
'') of the Second World War
abduction Abduction may refer to: Media Film and television * "Abduction" (''The Outer Limits''), a 2001 television episode * " Abduction" (''Death Note'') a Japanese animation television series * " Abductions" (''Totally Spies!''), a 2002 episode of an ...
; '' A Tale of Two Cities'' (1958), a faithful retelling of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
' classic; as a flight lieutenant in the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...
, who falls in love with a beautiful Japanese teacher Yoko Tani in ''
The Wind Cannot Read ''The Wind Cannot Read'' is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, Yoko Tani, Ronald Lewis and John Fraser. It was based on the 1946 novel by Richard Mason, who also wrote the screenplay. Songwriter ...
'' (1958);'' The Doctor's Dilemma'' (1959), based on a play by
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
and co-starring Leslie Caron and Robert Morley; and ''
Libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
'' (1959), playing three separate roles and co-starring
Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
.


Art house and European cinema

After leaving the Rank Organisation in the early 1960s, Bogarde abandoned his heart-throb image and "chose roles that challenged received morality and that pushed the scope of cinema". He starred in the film '' Victim'' (1961), playing a London
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
who fights the blackmailers of a young man with whom he has had a deeply emotional relationship. The young man commits suicide after being arrested for embezzlement, rather than ruin his beloved's career. In exposing the ring of extortionists, Bogarde's character risks his reputation and marriage to see that justice is done. ''Victim'' was the first British film to portray the humiliation to which gay people were exposed via discriminatory law and as a victimised minority; it is said to have had some effect upon the later
Sexual Offences Act 1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained t ...
ending the illegal status of male homosexual activity. He again teamed up with Joseph Losey to play Hugo Barrett, a decadent valet, in '' The Servant'' (1963), with a script by Harold Pinter, and which garnered Bogarde a BAFTA Award. That year also saw the release of '' The Mind Benders'', in which he played a professor conducting sensory deprivation experiments at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(and which anticipates '' Altered States'' (1980)). The following year saw another collaboration with Losey in the antiwar film ''
King & Country ''King and Country'' (stylised as ''King & Country'') is a 1964 British war film directed by Joseph Losey, shot in black and white, and starring Dirk Bogarde and Tom Courtenay. The film was adapted for the screen by British screenwriter Evan ...
'', in which Bogarde played an army officer at a court-martial, reluctantly defending deserter Tom Courtenay. He won a second BAFTA for his role as a television broadcaster-writer Robert Gold in '' Darling'' (1965), directed by John Schlesinger. Bogarde, Losey and Pinter reunited for '' Accident'' (1967), which recounted the travails of Stephen, a bored Oxford University professor. '' Our Mother's House'' (1967) is an off-beat film noir and the British entry at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
, directed by Jack Clayton, in which Bogarde plays a ne'er-do-well father who descends upon "his" seven children on the death of their mother. In his first collaboration with Luchino Visconti in ''La Caduta degli dei, The Damned'' (1969), Bogarde played German industrialist Frederick Bruckmann alongside Ingrid Thulin. Two years later Visconti was back at the helm when Bogarde portrayed Gustav von Aschenbach in ''Morte a Venezia, Death in Venice''. In 1974, the controversial ''Il Portiere di notte'' (or '' The Night Porter'') saw Bogarde cast as an ex-Nazi, Max Aldorfer, co-starring Charlotte Rampling, and directed by Liliana Cavani. He played Claude, the lawyer son of a dying, drunken writer ( John Gielgud) in the well-received, multidimensional French film ''
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
'' (1977), directed by Alain Resnais, and industrialist Hermann Hermann, who descends into madness in '' Despair'' (1978) directed by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's mai ...
. "It was the best performance I've ever done in my life", he later recounted. "Fassbinder... really screwed the film up. He tore it to pieces with a scissors." This led to Bogarde going on an extended haitus. "And I thought, 'OK. Give it up'. So I gave it up and I didn't do another film for fourteen years". He returned one last time, as Daddy in Bertrand Tavernier's ''
Daddy Nostalgie ''Daddy Nostalgie'', released as These Foolish Things in the UK and ''Daddy Nostalgia'' in the USA, is a 1990 French drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and is Dirk Bogarde's last film. ...
'', (or''These Foolish Things'') (1991), co-starring Jane Birkin as his daughter, Bogarde's final film role.


Other later career roles

In the 1960s and 1970s Bogarde played opposite many renowned stars. ''
The Angel Wore Red ''The Angel Wore Red'', also known as ''La sposa bella'' in its Italian version, is a 1960 Italian-American MGM/Titanus coproduction war drama starring Ava Gardner and Dirk Bogarde. It was directed by Nunnally Johnson and produced by Goffredo Lomb ...
'' (1960) saw Bogarde playing an unfrocked priest who falls in love with cabaret entertainer Ava Gardner during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
. The same year, in '' Song Without End'' he portrayed Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, a film initially directed by
Charles Vidor Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1900June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), '' The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), '' The Desperadoes'' (1943), '' Cover Girl'' (1944), '' Togeth ...
(who died during shooting) and completed by Bogarde's friend
George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...
, which was the actor's only foray into Hollywood. The campy '' The Singer Not the Song'' (1961) starred Bogarde as a Mexican bandit alongside
John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...
as a priest. In ''
H.M.S. Defiant ''H.M.S. Defiant'' (released as ''Damn the Defiant!'' in the United States) is a British naval war CinemaScope and Technicolor film from 1962 starring Alec Guinness and Dirk Bogarde. It tells the story of a mutiny aboard the fictitious ship of ...
'' (or ''Damn the Defiant!'') (1962), he played the sadistic Lieutenant Scott-Padget, co-starring Sir Alec Guinness; '' I Could Go On Singing'' (1963), co-starring
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
in her final screen role; '' Hot Enough for June'' (or ''Agent 8¾'') (1964), a
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...
-type spy spoof co-starring Robert Morley; '' Modesty Blaise'' (1966), a campy spy send-up playing archvillain Gabriel opposite Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp and directed by Joseph Losey; '' The Fixer'' (1968), based on
Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseba ...
's novel, co-starring
Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...
; '' Sebastian'' (1968), as Sebastian, a mathematician working on code decryption, who falls in love with Susannah York, a decrypter in the all-female decoding office he heads for British Intelligence, also co-starring Sir John Gielgud and Lilli Palmer, co-produced by Michael Powell; ''
Oh! What a Lovely War ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British comedy musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivie ...
'' (1969), co-starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
and directed by Richard Attenborough; '' Justine'' (1969), directed by George Cukor; '' Le Serpent'' (1973), co-starring Henry Fonda and Yul Brynner; '' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) saw Bogarde give a controversial performance as Lieutenant General Frederick 'Boy' Browning, also starring
Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...
and an all-star cast and again directed by Richard Attenborough. Bogarde claimed he had known General Browning from his time on Field Marshal Montgomery's staff during the war, and took issue with the largely negative portrayal of the general whom he played in ''A Bridge Too Far''. Browning's widow, author Dame Daphne du Maurier, ferociously attacked his characterisation and "the resultant establishment fallout, much of it homophobic, wrongly convinced ogardethat the newly ennobled Sir Richard ttenboroughhad deliberately contrived to scupper his own chance of a knighthood." While several of his fellow actors were veterans, Bogarde was the only cast member to have served at the battles being depicted in the film, having entered Brussels the day after its liberation, and worked on the planning of Operation Market Garden.


Biographer and novelist

In 1977, Bogarde embarked on his second career as an author. Starting with a first volume ''A Postillion Struck by Lightning'' (an allusion to the phrase '' My postillion has been struck by lightning''), he wrote a series of 15 best-selling books—nine volumes of memoirs and six novels, as well as essays, reviews, poetry and collected journalism. As a writer, Bogarde displayed a witty, elegant, highly literate and thoughtful style.


Missed roles

While under contract with the Rank Organisation, Bogarde was set to play the role of T. E. Lawrence in a proposed film ''Lawrence'' written by
Terrence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...
and to be directed by Anthony Asquith. On the eve of production, after a year of preparation by Bogarde, Rattigan, and Asquith, the film was scrapped without full explanation—ostensibly for budgetary reasons—to the dismay of all three men. The abrupt scrapping of ''Lawrence'', a role long researched and keenly anticipated by Bogarde, was among his greatest screen disappointments. (Rattigan reworked the script as a play, '' Ross'', which opened to great success in 1960, initially with Alec Guinness playing Lawrence.) Bogarde was also reportedly considered for the title role in MGM's ''
Doctor Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...
'' (1965). Earlier, he had declined
Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's '' The Paradine Case'' (1947), ''Lette ...
's role as Gaston in MGM's '' Gigi'' (1958). His contract with Rank had precluded him from accepting the lead in the film adaptation of John Osborne’s ground-breaking stage play, Look Back in Anger in 1959. In 1961, Bogarde was offered the chance to play Hamlet at the recently founded Chichester Festival Theatre by artistic director Sir
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...
but had to decline owing to film commitments. Bogarde later said that he regretted declining Olivier's offer and with it the chance to "really learn my craft."


Personal life

For nearly four decades, Bogarde shared his homes, first in
Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter be ...
,
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...
, and then in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, with Anthony Forwood, who had been married to actress Glynis Johns during the 1940s. They were together until Forwood's death in 1988. Bogarde repeatedly denied that his relationship to Forwood was anything other than platonic. There was much speculation as to whether this was in fact the case, given that male homosexual acts were criminal during most of his career, and could lead to prosecution and imprisonment. Rank Studio contracts included
morality clause A morality clause (also known as a morals clause, bad boy clause or bad girl clause) is a provision within instruments of a contract which curtail, or restrain, or proscribe certain behavior of individuals or party(s) to the contract. A moral clau ...
s, which provided for termination in the event of "immoral conduct" on the part of the actor. These included same-sex relationships, thus potentially putting the actor's career in jeopardy. Bogarde's refusal to enter into a marriage of convenience was possibly a major reason for his failure to become a star in Hollywood, together with the critical and commercial failure of '' Song Without End''. His friend Helena Bonham Carter believed he did not come out during later life because this would have unbearably highlighted his regret at having been forced to camouflage his sexual orientation during his film career. He struggled with the trauma of his active service, compounded by rapid fame, recounting, "First there was the war, and then the peace to cope with, and then suddenly I was a film star. It happened all too soon”.


Death

Bogarde had a minor
stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
in November 1987 while Forwood was dying of liver cancer and
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...
. In September 1996, he underwent angioplasty to unblock arteries leading to his heart and had a massive stroke following the operation. He was paralysed on one side of his body, which affected his speech. After the stroke, he used a wheelchair. He then completed the final volume of his autobiography, which covered the effects of the stroke, and published an edition of his collected journalism, mainly from ''The Daily Telegraph''. He spent some time with his friend
Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...
the day before he died at his home in London from a pulmonary embolism on 8 May 1999, aged 78. His ashes were scattered at his former estate in Grasse, southern France.


Honours and awards

Bogarde was nominated five times as Best Actor by BAFTA, winning twice, for ''The Servant'' in 1963 and for '' Darling'' in 1965. He also received the London Film Critics Circle Lifetime Award in 1991. He made a total of 63 films between 1939 and 1991. In 1983, he received a special award for service to the cinema at the Cannes Festival. He was awarded the
British Film Institute Fellowship The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established in 1933, based in the United Kingdom. It has awarded its Fellowship title to individuals in "recognition of their outstanding contribution to film or television culture" an ...
in 1987. In 1988, Bogarde was honoured with the first BAFTA Tribute Award for an outstanding contribution to cinema. Bogarde was created a Knight Bachelor in the United Kingdom in 1992, awarded the ''Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' by the French government in 1990, an honorary doctorate of literature on 4 July 1985 by St Andrews University in Scotland, and an honorary doctorate of letters in 1993 by the
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
in England. In 1984, Bogarde served as president of the jury at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, the first British person to serve in this capacity.


Filmography

Titles preceded by an asterisk (*) are films made for television.


British box office ranking

For several years British film exhibitors voted Bogarde one of the most popular local stars at the box office: *1953 – 5th *1954 – 2nd (9th-most popular international star) *1955 – 1st (also most popular international star) *1956 – 3rd *1957 – 1st (also most popular international star) *1958 – 2nd (also 2nd-most popular international star) *1959 – 5th *1960 – 9th-most popular international star *1961 – 8th-most popular international star *1963 – 9th-most popular international star


Other works


Autobiographies and memoirs

*''A Postillion Struck by Lightning'', 1977 *''Snakes and Ladders'', 1978 *''An Orderly Man'', 1983 *''Backcloth'', 1986 *''A Particular Friendship'', 1989 *''Great Meadow: An Evocation'', 1992 *''A Short Walk from Harrods'', 1993 *''Cleared for Take-Off'', 1995 *''For the Time Being: Collected Journalism'', 1998 *''Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Autobiography'' (contains the first four autobiographies only)


Novels

*''A Gentle Occupation'', 1980 *''Voices in the Garden'', 1981 *''West of Sunset'', 1984 *''Jericho'', 1991 *''A Period of Adjustment'', 1994 *''Closing Ranks'', 1997


Discography

*''Lyrics for Lovers'' ( London Records, 1960) *as Njegus in ''
Die lustige Witwe ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning ...
'' (speaking role—of a narration by
Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...
—in a complete recording of the opera conducted by Franz Welser-Möst) Rodney Milnes. Opera in Concert - Die lustige Witwe. Glyndebourne Festival Opera at the Royal Festival Hall, 20 July 1993. ''
Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
'', September 1993, p1123-24. (The concert was recorded and issued on EMI CDS 5 55152-2.)


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* Bogarde, Dirk. ''For The Time Being: Collected Journalism.'' Harmondsworth, Middlesex, UK:
Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...
, 1999. . * Bogarde, Dirk. ''Snakes and Ladders''. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, UK:
Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...
, 1988. . * Brownlow, Kevin. ''David Lean: A Biography''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. . * Coldstream, John. ''Dirk Bogarde: The Authorised Biography''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004. . * Coldstream, John. ''Ever, Dirk: The Bogarde Letters''. London: Phoenix, 2009. . * Hawkins, Diana and Richard Attenborough. ''Entirely Up To You, Darling''. London:
Arrow Books Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, 2009. . * Hinxman, Margaret and Susan d'Arcy. ''The Films of Dirk Bogarde'' Richmond, California: Literary Services & Production, 1974. . * Morley, Sheridan. ''Dirk Bogarde: Rank Outsider''. Pontarddulais, Swansea, UK: Macmillan Distribution Limited, 2000. . * Shipman, David. ''The Great Movie Stars: The International Years''. London: Macdonald, 1989, p. 55-60 * Tanitch, Robert. ''Dirk Bogarde: The Complete Career Illustrated''. London: Ebury Press, 1988. .


Archival resources

* Dirk Bogarde collection, 1957–1993 (4.5 linear feet) is housed at
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
Dept. of Special Collections * Harold Matson Company, Inc. Records, 1937–1980 (68 linear feet) are housed at the
Columbia University Libraries Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resource ...
. The Matson Company was the literary agency with which Bogarde worked; the collection contains correspondence and other documents related to his literary career.


External links


dirkbogarde.co.uk Official website of the Dirk Bogarde Estate
* * Sir Dirk Bogarde at Faceboo

* . Biography and credits
Dirk Bogarde by Neil McNally


Dirk Bogarde at
glbtq.com glbtq.com (also known as the glbtq Encyclopedia Project) was an online encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer ( GLBTQ) culture. Launched in 2003, it was edited by Claude J. Summers, emeritus professor at the University ...

The letters of Dirk Bogarde
at Telegraph.co.uk
Part 1Part 2

The Spectator
Bryan Forbesreviews The letters of Dirk Bogarde
Interview with Russell Harty in 1986
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogarde, Dirk 1921 births 1999 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English novelists Actors awarded knighthoods Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts People educated at Allan Glen's School Best British Actor BAFTA Award winners British Army personnel of World War II Dutch–English translators English male film actors English memoirists English people of Dutch descent English people of Scottish descent English male stage actors Knights Bachelor People from Grasse People from West Hampstead Queen's Royal Regiment officers People educated at St Catherine's School, Twickenham 20th-century translators English male novelists British male comedy actors 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Deaths from pulmonary embolism Military personnel from London