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Dateline: 20th November, 2008
Thorndike Biography Launched at the National On Wednesday evening there was a gathering at the National Theatre to launch the publication of Sybil Thorndike: A Star of Life, Jonathan Croall's new biography of legendary actress Dame Sybil Thorndike, remembered so inseparably by those who knew her with her husband Sir Lewis Casson. It is impossible to think of twentieth-century theatre without them - and not just theatre, for both were very active in all sorts of other fields of social concern as this new book celebrates along with her professional career. There was not a great crowd there and no red carpet or paparazzi but if audiences on their way into the theatre looked carefully they would have seen not only seventeen members of the Thorndike and Casson families but a galaxy of important names from British theatre history, for almost everyone there had known or worked with her and contributed to Croall's research by sharing their knowledge and memories of that much loved lady. Among them there were many centuries of theatre experience and memories with actors such as George Baker, Bette Bourne, David Burke, Anna Calder-Marshall, Helen Cotterill, Frances Cuka, Julian Glover and Isla Blair, David Horovitch, Miriam Karlin and Peter Howell, along with directors Sir Peter Hall, James Roose-Evans, Philip Hedley and Waris Hussein, and writers Lesley Bruce, Terry Coleman and Irving Wardle. Sybil's eldest daughter Mary Casson, nephew Daniel Thorndike, granddaughters Diana Devlin and Glynis Casson, grandson Dirk Campbell and many other members of the family were also there to welcome this new book which is the officially authorised biography and has had the family's full co-operation. In a relaxed and informal speech Sir Peter Hall spoke of his contact with Dame Sybil but, before he could get properly started was interrupted by the ringing of a mobile phone - his own. No sooner had he asked everyone to turn theirs off than it rang again - but set a good example by registering that the call was from his son but switching it off without answering! People drew close to hear as softly spoken Sir Peter contended against the increasing noise as the evening's audiences began to gather. "It's a great honour to be here," he told us, "to send good wishes for the publication of this beautiful book, because a beautiful person deserves a beautiful book. It's full of quotations from people who went through her life with her. It's extraordinary from that point of view, as it's the first time they have been publicly aired. It all makes for a very rich and varied read." Remarking on Dame Sybil and Sir Lewis's passion for the creation of a National Theatre, Sir Peter read from a letter, which is partially quoted in the book, that Sir Laurence Olivier wrote to Sybil shortly after he had been appointed Director of the National Theatre and just after Sybil and Lewis had been in his production of Uncle Vanya at Chichester. Olivier wrote, "My darling, I can never tell you what it has meant to me to have you and Lewis helping me with this venture, it has made all the difference in the world to me for so many reasons. Nobody in the world will ever do for a venture what you do, or for a company, or for me personally …. Your Nurse (in Vanya) will always be for me one of the most perfect things I shall ever know…." Sadly Lewis did not feel up to going with the play when it became part of the National Theatre's repertoire for its first season at the Old Vic. Some years later, when he took over the reins from Olivier, and they were moving into the new building, Hall himself received a long 8-page letter from Sybil in which she told him she wished she and Lewis were many years younger so that they could have joined him "in the great adventure." Hall also told us how, as a young director, he asked her what it was like to be directed by Shaw in Saint Joan. "She said he would insist on us being word perfect: we would then read a scene through sitting down, he would then give us the moves, and we would do it from start to finish, and then he would give us notes, and we would do it again and again. As she spoke I thought, Shaw was doing everything we were taught not to do as a director. We were taught that you should make the actor feel that it was (s)he who had discovered the performance. As Sybil went on, explaining how Shaw was obsessed with his play, I was horrified. I asked her what she thought of him, and she said 'We adored him!'" Mary Casson, Sybil's eldest daughter, closed the more formal part of the proceedings on behalf of the family by thanking everyone for this tribute to her mother and for such a wonderful gathering. "I am not sure whether she is history yet or not," she said, "but it is great that there is this book for her to be remembered by." In response author Croall proposed a toast "To Sybil" to end a most moving occasion. Howard Loxton "Sybil Thorndike: A Star of Life" by Jonathan Croall is published by Haus Books at £25
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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