Aimée Stuart
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Aimée McHardy Stuart (July 1886 – 16 April 1981) was a writer and playwright who collaborated with her husband Philip Stuart on several successful plays and wrote for both film and television. She also wrote a popular memoir of her marriage to First World War
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
, William A. Bond. Born Amy McHardy in July 1886, she was the daughter of William Arnot McHardy, a commercial clerk, and his wife Mercy (Baker) McHardy of Glasgow, Scotland. She met her first husband William A. Bond in Paris, France where he worked as a journalist for the ''London Daily Mail''. While in Paris, she changed her name to Aimée, and the couple openly lived and travelled together across Europe. They returned to England at the outbreak of the First World War, where Bill Bond joined the
Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...
, and Aimée returned to her parents’ home in St. Marylebone, London. Aimée and Bill were married in January 1917, and Bill transferred to the
Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
. While serving with No. 40 Squadron, he became an ace but was posted missing on 22 July 1917 and later confirmed as killed in action. Using their correspondence, Aimée wrote a cathartic memoir of their wartime life together titled ''An Airman's Wife: A True Story of Lovers Separated by War'', which was published in 1918. The memoir appeared in the United States as ''My Airman Over There''. Aimée later married playwright and author Philip Stuart, and together they collaborated on several successful London West End plays in the 1930s, including ''Lady Clara'' (1930), ''Nine Till Six'' (1930), ''Borrowed Clothes'' (1934), and ''Sixteen'' (1936)''.Mackersey page 163'' Several of these plays were later made into movies and/or adopted for television, including ''
Nine Till Six ''Nine till Six'' is a 1932 British drama film directed by Basil Dean and starring Louise Hampton, Elizabeth Allan and Florence Desmond. Produced by Basil Dean's Associated Talking Pictures, it was the first film made at Ealing Studios after th ...
'' (1932) and '' Borrowed Clothes'' (1934). After Stuart's death in 1936, Aimée continued writing on her own for theatre, film and television.''IMDB'' She received a posthumous writing credit for Michael Winner's 1983 remake of the 1945 drama ''
The Wicked Lady ''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring James Mason and Margaret Lockwood. Lockwood plays a nobleman's wife who becomes a Highwayman, highwaywoman for the excitement. It had one of the l ...
.'' For many years she lunched at the Ivy restaurant and shared her experience and knowledge with younger writers and actors Aimée died on 16 April 1981 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, at the age of 94.


Selected works


With Philip Stuart

*1925 ''The Cat's Cradle'' *1927 ''No Gentleman'' *1928 ''Clara Gibbings'' *1929 ''Her Shop'' *1930 ''Lady Clara'' *1930 ''Nine Till Six'' *1931 ''Supply and Demand'' *1934 ''Borrowed Clothes'' *1934 ''Sixteen'' *1935 ''Love of Women'' *1935 ''Full Circle'' *1936 ''Indian Summer''


Independently

*1938 ''Melodrama'' *1939 ''Summer Snow'' *1940 ''Jeannie'' * 1945 ''
Lady from Edinburgh ''Lady from Edinburgh'' is a 1945 comedy play by the British writers Aimée Stuart and L. Arthur Rose. A Scottish aunt arrives to oversee her family's affairs in Mayfair. It premiered at His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen before transferring to ...
'' * 1949 '' Lace on Her Petticoat''


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Aimée 1886 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish women dramatists and playwrights Scottish screenwriters 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British screenwriters 20th-century Scottish women British expatriates in France