Richard Findlater (1921–1985) was a British theatre critic and biographer.

Early life

He was born Kenneth Bruce Findlater Bain, but worked under the pen-name Richard Findlater.

Career

Findlater was arts editor for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', and became assistant editor in 1963. He wrote 18 books, including biographies of

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Lillian Baylis and Joseph Grimaldi; the definitive history of stage censorship, ''Banned''; and an account of contemporary British theatre, ''The Unholy Trade''.

Publications

* ''Grimaldi: King of Clowns'', 1955. * ''Michael Redgrave, Mask or Face'', 1958 * ''Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi'', MacGibbon & Kee, 1968 * ''Comic Cuts: A Bedside Sampler Of Censorship In Action'' Richard Findlater (ed) (Andre Deutsch, 1970) (illustrated by

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in 3 Wilbraham Plac ...

) * ''At the Royal Court: 25 Years of the English Stage Company'', Amber Lane Press (1981);

Personal life

From 1948 to 1962, he was married to the journalist and showbusiness interviewer Romany Bain, with whom he had four children. One of their sons became an Anglican priest-clown known as Roly Bain or "Holy Roly". Their eldest son, Simon Bain, is a journalist. Romany Bain subsequently married jazz bandleader Tommy Watt, with whom she had a son, the musician

Ben Watt Benjamin Brian Thomas Watt (born 6 December 1962) is a British musician, singer, songwriter, author, DJ and radio presenter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. Early life Watt was born in Marylebone, London, and grew ...

. Richard married Angela Colbert in 1977. At his memorial service in 1985, Michael Foot and Sir John Gielgud led the tributes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlater, Richard 1921 births 1985 deaths British biographers British theatre critics People educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Lambeth 20th-century British journalists Presidents of the Critics' Circle