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Charles William Donaldson (4 January 1935 – 22 June 2005) was a British
satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...
, writer,
playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of ''The Henry Root Letters''.


Life and career

Son of Charles Glen Donaldson (1904–1956) and Elizabeth (née Stockley; d. 1955), Donaldson enjoyed a privileged upbringing in
Sunningdale Sunningdale is a village and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England and is adjoined by green buffers including Sunningdale Golf Club and Wentworth Golf ...
, Berkshire. His father was Managing Director of the Glasgow-based family shipping line, Donaldson Line, which until its sale in the early 1960s, was one of the largest passenger lines in the world. He was educated at
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
(where he first met
Julian Mitchell Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL (born 1 May 1935) is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film '' Another Country'', and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many origi ...
) and
Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...
. He spent some money supporting young writers such as his contemporaries
Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...
and
Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...
. He completed his
National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in the late 1950s, reaching the rank of Sub-Lieutenant. On his return to civilian life, Donaldson became associated with the set surrounding
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Ma ...
, and worked as a theatrical producer. He established himself as a central player in the British
satire boom The satire boom was the output of a generation of British satirical writers, journalists and performers at the beginning of the 1960s. The satire boom is often regarded as having begun with the first performance of ''Beyond the Fringe'' on 22 Au ...
of the early 1960s, as co-producer, with
Donald Albery Sir Donald Arthur Rolleston Albery (19 June 1914 – 14 September 1988) was an English theatre impresario who did much to translate the adventurous spirit of London in the 1960s onto the stage. Biography He was born into a theatrical family ...
, of ''
Beyond the Fringe ''Beyond the Fringe'' was a British comedy Play (theatre), stage revue written and performed by Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore. It debuted at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival and went on to play in London's West End the ...
'' (1960), and of dramatisations of J. P. Donleavy's ''
The Ginger Man ''The Ginger Man'' is a picaresque novel by American-Irish writer J. P. Donleavy, first published in Paris in 1955. The story is set in Dublin, Ireland, in post-war 1947. Originally banned for obscenity, the book has since become a major commer ...
'' (1959) and
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...
's '' The Bed-Sitting Room'' (1963). The pair earned a weekly £2,000 from ''Beyond the Fringe'' while the performers
Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...
,
Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...
,
Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...
and
Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...
were earning only £75. In 1968, Donaldson received a substantial inheritance, and in 1971 he left Britain for
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
, where he imprudently spent his last £2,000 on a glass-bottomed boat. Before long he was scavenging for food on the beach. Returning to London, he found refuge with a former girlfriend who was running a
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
on the
Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamm ...
. His experiences there formed the basis of his first novel, ''Both the Ladies and the Gentlemen'' (1975). Donaldson's fictional letter-writer Henry Root made him a final fortune. Root's satirical lampooning of the rich, famous, and influential was published in the books: *''The Henry Root Letters'' (1980) – with letters to, among others, famous football clubs, publishers, chief constables,
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, politicians, newspaper editors, and, on 17 April 1979, to the
First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...
(volunteering his services owing to the "imminent outbreak of hostilities with the Soviets" and concluding "I'm on red alert here and can leave for my ship at the drop of a bollard") *''The Further Letters of Henry Root'' (1980) *''Henry Root's World of Knowledge'' (1982) *''Henry Root's A-Z of Women: "The Definitive Guide"'' (1985) *''The Soap Letters'' (1988) *''Root into Europe'' (1992) *''Root about Britain'' (1994) Donaldson lived at 139 Elm Park Mansions on Park Walk,
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...
SW10, from which address all the Root letters were sent. Nearby, The Henry Root restaurant has been established in his memory. Donaldson's biographical survey of roguish Britons through the ages, ''
Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics ''Brewer's Rogues, Villains, & Eccentrics: An A-Z of Roguish Britons Through the Ages'' is a reference book first published by Brewer's in 2002, edited and compiled by William Donaldson. The book is an esoteric look at some of the wild character ...
'' (2002), has been described as "a breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship". Donaldson also wrote novels including the semi-autobiographical 'Is This Allowed'. In the 1990s he also had a column in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. The phenomenal success of the Henry Root books, especially the first, enabled Donaldson to resume his earlier chaotic lifestyle, and in the mid-1980s he began using
crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be Smoking, smoked. Crack offers a short, intense Euphoria (emotion), high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Sub ...
. He continued its use for more than a decade, but insisted he was not addicted. Donaldson also wrote under other names, including Dr Kit Bryson, Jean-Luc Legris, and Selina Fitzherbert (who "together" wrote ''The Complete Naff Guide'' (1983) and other related books; Donaldson's co-author was Simon Carr, who would write an obituary of Donaldson for ''The Independent''), Talbot Church, and Liz Reed.


Personal life

Donaldson married Sonia Avory in 1957 and they had a son named Charlie. He left her for Jacki Ellis, then the wife of
Jeffrey Bernard Jeffrey Joseph Bernard (; 27 May 1932 – 4 September 1997) was an English journalist, best known for his weekly column "Low Life" in ''The Spectator'' magazine, and also notorious for a feckless and chaotic career and life of alcohol abus ...
, but in due course she left him. A sequence of affairs followed, including liaisons with
Sarah Miles Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is a retired English actress. She is known for her roles in films '' The Servant'' (1963), '' Blowup'' (1966), '' Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), '' The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (19 ...
and
Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...
. He left Miles for Simon, whom he described as "the answer to any sane man's prayers; funny, quick, erotic, extravagantly talented", but this did not prevent him from jilting her while they were engaged and returning to Miles. In 1968, Donaldson inherited another fortune and married Claire Gordon. The couple epitomised 1960s
Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...
. He later remembered that "sex, whether in company or not, has been the only department in life in which I have demanded from anyone taking part the very highest standards of seriousness." Donaldson's third marriage, in 1986, was to Cherry Hatrick, who survived him; they separated six months after their marriage.


References


Further reading

*


External links

*Obituaries:
''The Times''






{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, William English satirists English theatre managers and producers English socialites Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People educated at Winchester College 1935 births 2005 deaths Pseudonymous writers Carly Simon 20th-century English businesspeople Hoaxers