James Lord (November 27, 1922 – August 23, 2009) was an American writer. He was the author of several books, including critically acclaimed biographies of Alberto Giacometti and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. He appeared in the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

s '' Balthus Through the Looking Glass'' (1996) and '' Picasso: Magic, Sex, Death'' (2001).

Life and career

Lord was born in Englewood, New Jersey, and grew up there, the son of Louise and Albert Lord. His father was a stockbroker, and until the Wall Street crash the family lived, as Lord put it, in "the lower echelons of the upper classes". He graduated from Englewood School for Boys (now

Dwight-Englewood School The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) is an independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, located in Englewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in three ...

) in 1940. Lord attended

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, though he never earned a degree. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was part of the

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...

who specialized in Military Intelligence. He wrote about his experiences in his book, ''My Queer War'' which discusses keeping his homosexuality carefully hidden."Lord writes about 'the inconvenience of being queer' during the Second World War with unsparing bravery.", ''My Queer War'' (excerpt of a review on the back cover), Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York (2010); (hardcover). Lord died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Paris, at the age of 86.

In popular culture

The 2017 movie ''

Final Portrait ''Final Portrait'' is a 2017 drama film written and directed by Stanley Tucci. The film stars Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Clémence Poésy, Tony Shalhoub, James Faulkner, and Sylvie Testud. The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Internati ...

'' retells the story of his friendship with the painter Alberto Giacometti. Lord is played by

Armie Hammer Armand Douglas Hammer (born August 28, 1986) is an American actor. Hammer began his acting career with guest appearances in several television series. His first leading role was as Billy Graham in the 2008 film '' Billy: The Early Years'', and ...

Selected bibliography

Biographies and novels

* * * * * * * * * * *

Essays

References

External links

* James Lord Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, James 1922 births 2009 deaths American male non-fiction writers Dwight-Englewood School alumni American gay writers LGBT people from New Jersey People from Englewood, New Jersey Wesleyan University alumni 20th-century American biographers 20th-century male writers 20th-century American male writers Ritchie Boys American expatriates in France 20th-century LGBT people