Michael Redgrave
He was born in Bristol and educated at Clifton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His parents, Roy Redgrave and Margaret Scudamore, were both actors, but his father emigrated to Australia when Michael was six months old.
He appeared many times on the stage, and also on film and television.
He was married to the actress Rachel Kempson. His two daughters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, and his son Corin Redgrave, all became well-known actors.
Bisexuality
Corin Redgrave helped his father in the writing of his last autobiography. During one of Corin's visits, Michael said, "There is something I ought to tell you". Then, after a very long pause, "I am, to say the least of it, bisexual". Corin encouraged him to acknowledge his bisexuality in the book. Michael agreed to do so, but in the end he chose to remain silent about it.[1] Alan Strachan's 2004 biography of Redgrave discusses his affairs with both men and women.[2] Although Redgrave had some long-term relationships with men, he also was prone to cruising Victoria or Knightsbridge for what he called "a necessary degradation", a habit that gave him a lasting sense of self-disgust.[3]
The 1996 BBC documentary film Michael Redgrave: My Father, narrated by Corin Redgrave, and based on his book of the same name, discusses Michael's bisexuality in some depth.[4] Rachel Kempson recounted that, when she proposed to him, Redgrave said that there were "difficulties to do with his nature, and that he felt he ought not to marry". She said that she understood, it didn't matter and that she loved him.[5] To this, Redgrave replied, "Very well. If you're sure, we will".[6]
During the filming of Fritz Lang's Secret Beyond the Door (1948), Redgrave met Bob Michell. They became lovers, Michell set up house close to the Redgraves, and he became a surrogate "uncle" to Redgrave's children (then aged 11, 9 and 5), who adored him. Michell later had children of his own, including a son he named Michael.[1]Template:Rp Michell was followed by Fred Sadoff, an actor/director who became Redgrave's assistant and shared his lodgings in New York and London.[1]Template:Rp
A card was found among Redgrave's effects after his death. The card was signed "Tommy, Liverpool, January 1940", and on it were the words (quoted from W.H. Auden): "The word is love. Surely one fearless kiss would cure the million fevers".[7]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Donald Spoto, The Redgraves: A Family Epic (New York: Random House, 2012) page 274.
- ↑ http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/20937/part_2/one-rung-below-greatness.thtml
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3616047/His-necessary-degradations.html |last=Barber|first=Lynn|title=His necessary degradations|url=|accessdate=6 November 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=28 Apr 2004
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite news
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- ↑ Template:Cite web
