Douglas Howard Gresham (born November 10, 1945)
[ is an American British stage and voice-over actor, biographer, film producer, and executive record producer. He is one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis.
]
Early life
Gresham was born in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the son of writers William Lindsay Gresham
William Lindsay Gresham (; August 20, 1909 – September 14, 1962) was an American novelist and non-fiction author particularly well-regarded among readers of noir. His best-known work is '' Nightmare Alley'' (1946), which was adapted to film i ...
and Joy Davidman
Helen Joy Davidman (18 April 1915 – 13 July 1960) was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. For her book of po ...
. William Gresham was the author of '' Nightmare Alley'', the classic of American noir literature, while Joy Davidman was best known for her book ''Smoke on the Mountain'', about the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
. The couple were separated in 1954, and Joy moved to England with her two sons.[Sibley (1985), pp. 108–12.] His mother was of Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent.
C. S. Lewis
Gresham's mother had become friends with C. S. Lewis through correspondence, and the friendship blossomed, eventually leading to marriage in 1956. Gresham's mother died of cancer in 1960, and Lewis continued to raise Douglas and his elder brother David. (Lewis had adopted the boys when he married, and ''The Horse and His Boy
''The Horse and His Boy'' is a novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1954. Of the seven novels that comprise ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956), ''The Horse and His Boy'' was the fifth to be published. The nove ...
'' is dedicated to them both.) At Lewis's death in 1963, his estate went to his brother Major Warren Hamilton Lewis. The Major in turn passed the estate to Douglas and David ten years later.
Douglas Gresham is a Christian, as were Lewis and his mother, while David returned to the Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...
of their mother's ancestors while still a child in Lewis's home. Lewis made an effort to find kosher food for him.
Career
Gresham hosted Focus on the Family's radio adaptations of his stepfather's most famous works, and his interest in media versions thereof was later shown again when he was named co- producer for the series of theatrical films adaptations of ''The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tele ...
''; he also made a cameo in the first installment as a radio newscaster, the second as a " Telmarine crier" and the third as a slaver.
Gresham came on as executive producer of recording artist Meg Sutherland's debut album in 2014, successfully signing her to Sprig Music in March with producer Christopher Hopper.
Personal life
Douglas Gresham and his wife, Merrie, lived at Rathvinden House in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland, before moving to their house in Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in 2008. They have five children: three sons, James, Timothy, and Dominick, and two daughters, Lucinda, and Melodie. Prior to this he owned four farms in Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, Australia, with his wife Merrie and their four children.
Gresham has written an autobiography, ''Lenten Lands'', of his life to the age of 28 in 1973. A fictionalized young Douglas Gresham is a character in the 1993 film '' Shadowlands'', in part derived from ''Lenten Lands''. In the film, Gresham is played by the American actor Joseph Mazzello. There is no character derived from Douglas' brother David in the film or in the stage play on which the film was based, although both Douglas and David were portrayed in the original teleplay (1985) on which the stage play was based.
Douglas Gresham acknowledged in a 15 November 2005 interview on NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
that he and his brother, David, had been estranged, although in a 4 December 2005 interview he did say that they had been in email contact.
/ref>
Bibliography
* ''Lenten Lands: My Childhood with Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis'', Macmillan (USA 1988)
* ''Jack's Life:The Life Story of C.S. Lewis'', Broadman and Holman (2005)
References
* Sibley, Brian (1985). ''C. S. Lewis: Through the Shadowlands'', Fleming H. Revell,
External links
More to Doug Gresham than Narnia
*
"In Lenten Lands"
''Le Penseur Réfléchit'', the Mr. Renaissance bi-weekly newsletter, 2001–2002 archive
with Douglas Gresham
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gresham, Douglas
1945 births
Living people
C. S. Lewis
British biographers
British film producers
20th-century biographers
British Christians
British people of American descent
British people of Polish-Jewish descent
British people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent