Dirk Bogarde – actor, author, artist, screen idol. He was born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde on 28 March 1921 and died on 8 May 1999. In my childhood I knew him as one of the most gorgeous looking actors on screen, star of the three Doctor movies, Doctor in the House, Doctor at Sea and Doctor at Large based on the books written by Richard Gordon. He was a really good actor as well as being very good looking and starred in so many things I can’t possibly write them all here so if you’re interested just follow the link to IMDB.
His official website was created by his nephew, Brock Van den Bogaerde. While I can’t recommend this site too much, it does have a very good timeline: clear, concise and easily readable. This fan website is much better for getting a list of his books along with a precis of the book. Not to mention Wikipedia which has a very comprehensive article on him.
Having seen him in the movies I was quite astonished to find some books with his name on them so I had to buy them. I was more than pleasantly surprised to find they were eminently readable. I find his writing style to match his looks, witty, elegant and literary. While some of the things he wrote about weren’t pleasant they were still very readable and I was left with an indelible impression of his life. It was lovely to see his acting career from his point of view, especially the beginning and it was quite touching to see how he coped with his partner’s illnesses and his own health challenges. Certainly an author to watch out for.