Another left-winger from a functional family
Longish article....
Synopsis: Actors are nuts!;)
Some things are better kept in closets
Starting with Nero, history has produced a LONG, LONG line of thespian weirdos. The Redgraves, it appears, have been doing what they can to provide their share of the insanity.
Surprise, Surprise! People who pretend to be other people for a living turn out to be seriously unstable when it comes to their domestic entanglements.
Natasha Richardson seemed fairly normal all things considered, I always liked her a lot, and I was very saddened when she had her tragic accident.
Now THAT was some highly enjoyable and entirely believable gossip and dish, Brit-style. My wife got a chuckle out of Vanessa Redgrave, who walked past us in the lobby of the Playwrights Horizons theatre in NYC, about 8 years ago. It was Hallowe’en and my wife had her usual token, minimalist ‘costume’ on: A scarlet letter (”A”) cut out of construction paper, hung from a string around her neck. Vanessa saw it and laughed.
It was the times. Stories about KGB agents blackmailing queer MI5 and MI6 agents for intelligence was a major literary gendre during the 50’s and 60’s. And the fact that this was a real problem was a major source of embarrassment for British intelligence. Spies Kim Philby, the team of Burgess and McClean, and the “Surveyor of the Queen’s pictures” were real life characters who worked together. Philby became a Hero of the USSR and was made a Colonel in the KGB after he defected. They gave him a Russian wife. They latter 3 were swishbuckling homosexuals. Maybe that’s why James Bond had all the women to himself
As a baby Boomer I always had a crush on the Redgrave Ladies.
With such a sordid family life I guess I can forgive a lot here.
I can almost see why Vanessa went off on such a tangent with the far left politics.
Her brother died lat year along with her sister Lynn, very sad all the way aroound.
The characters were so interwoven that to keep them straight (!) I had to diagram the hetero and homo affairs like sports announcers diagram baseball games.
Personally, I never found any of the Redgraves all that good-looking, although makeup helps (except for those long British chins).
As a classic movie buff, I do still enjoy many of Sir Michael's old British WW2 films.....he always looked good as a naval officer in full, impressive uniform.
I would bet that the average Hollyweird or New York actor or director would read this story and think: so what’s wrong with having sex with your wife’s father? They wouldn’t understand why people might be appalled and probably would make a film or play about nasty, evil, judgmental Christians condemning two people who just want to have a little love. Think Woody Allen.
Oh those silly Brits.
Well, that’s one of the most vile headers I’ve ever read.