Morley, Sheridan 1941-2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born December 5, 1941, in Ascot, England; died February 16, 2007, in London, England. Critic, broadcaster, and author. Morley was a popular theater critic who wrote for magazines and newspapers and appeared frequently on British Broadcasting Corporation programs. Coming from an acting family that included his father, Robert Morley, as well as grandparents, uncles, and his mother, all in the profession, Morley unsurprisingly developed a love of the theater. During his childhood, he was surrounded by West End and Hollywood actors and actresses and often spent his free time on movie sets. He later attended Merton College, Oxford, where he earned a degree in modern languages in 1963. He participated in college theater productions, but felt he lacked the gift to be a successful actor. Instead of becoming a thespian, Morley therefore went into journalism. The Independent Television News hired him as a newscaster and scriptwriter in 1964. Morley then spent a year teaching drama at the University of Hawaii, returning to England to be an interviewer on the BBC program Late Night Line-Up from 1967 until 1971. He next anchored the program Film Night for a year, before moving on to the London Times as deputy features editor. Honing his skills as a theater critic, Morley wrote reviews for such publications as the International Herald Tribune, Spectator, New Statesman, Playbill, and London Daily Express. He was arts editor and drama critic for Punch from 1975 until 1992, when the publication went out of business. Having known many famous actors and writers over the years, Morley put this information to good use to write several colorful biographies. Among these are A Talent to Amuse: A Biography of Noël Coward (1969), which was about his godfather, Gertrude Lawrence (1981), Katharine Hepburn (1984), Robert My Father (1994), and John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography (2002). He also wrote a stage review, Noël and Gertie: An Entertainment (1993).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2007, p. B11.

New York Times, February 19, 2007, p. A17.

Times (London, England), February 17, 2007, p. 72.

Washington Post, February 21, 2007, p. B7.