Richard Findlater (1921–1985) was a British theatre critic and biographer.

Early life

He was born Kenneth Bruce Findlater Bain, but worked under the pen-name Richard Findlater.

Career

Findlater was arts editor for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', and became assistant editor in 1963. He wrote 18 books, including biographies of

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, Lillian Baylis and

Joseph Grimaldi Joseph Grimaldi (18 December 1778 – 31 May 1837) was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most popular English entertainer of the Regency era.Byrne, Eugene"The patient" Historyextra.com, 13 April 2012 In the early 1800s, ...

; the definitive history of stage censorship, ''Banned''; and an account of contemporary British theatre, ''The Unholy Trade''.

Publications

* ''Grimaldi: King of Clowns'', 1955. * ''Michael Redgrave, Mask or Face'', 1958 * ''Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi'', MacGibbon & Kee, 1968 * ''Comic Cuts: A Bedside Sampler Of Censorship In Action'' Richard Findlater (ed) (Andre Deutsch, 1970) (illustrated by Willie Rushton) * ''At the Royal Court: 25 Years of the English Stage Company'', Amber Lane Press (1981);

Personal life

From 1948 to 1962, he was married to the journalist and showbusiness interviewer Romany Bain, with whom he had four children. One of their sons became an Anglican priest-clown known as Roly Bain or "Holy Roly". Their eldest son, Simon Bain, is a journalist. Romany Bain subsequently married jazz bandleader Tommy Watt, with whom she had a son, the musician Ben Watt. Richard married Angela Colbert in 1977. At his memorial service in 1985, Michael Foot and Sir John Gielgud led the tributes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlater, Richard 1921 births 1985 deaths British biographers British theatre critics People educated at Archbishop Tenison's Church of England School, Lambeth 20th-century British journalists Presidents of the Critics' Circle