Identity area
Reference code
Beaton/A/A2/14a/34
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 20 June 1948 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
5 p. paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Photographer, artist, writer, and designer of scenery and costumes. Educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, 1922-5. Made his name as a photographer through portraits of the Sitwells. Employed by Vogue in London and New York. Published 'The Book of Beauty' (1930). Photographed the Duke of Windsor's wedding, 1937. War photographer, 1939-45. Designed 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 1945. Designed costumes for 'An Ideal Husband' and 'Anna Karenina', 1948. Worked on 'The School for Scandal', 1949, 'Quadrille' for Noel Coward, 1952, 'Turandot', 1961, and 'La Traviata', 1966. Designed costumes for 'My Fair Lady', 1956, and for the film version in Hollywood, 1963. His play 'The Gainsborough Girls', 1951 and 1959, was unsuccessful. Published 'The Glass of Fashion' (1954), and six volumes of diaries. Exhibited photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, 1968. Knighted 1972.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Complains that Garbo has not written to answer his questions. Describes a special screening of 'The eagle with two heads' in London, attended by Jean Cocteau, Bebe [Christian Berard], and the Duchess of Kent, among others. Details his activities during a further two nights in London, including attending a performance of 'All my sons' and spending an evening with Tennessee Williams. Writes about a theatre-going trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. Praises the actor, Paul Schofield, starring in 'Hamlet'. Mentions Diana Wynyard. Writes that he is having a break from writing his Gainsborough play.