TEXT: ‘Untold Stories’ was first published, in part, in the London Review of Books. ‘Seeing Stars’, ‘Spoiled for Choice’, ‘Lindsay Anderson’, ‘A Common Assault’ and extracts from the Diaries were also first published in the London Review of Books. Other articles first appeared in The World of Interiors (‘A Room of My Own’, published in the supplement, Interior Worlds, December 1999; and ‘Making York Minster’, September 2001); and the Independent (‘Going to the Pictures’, 1993). ‘The National Theatre’ was written for the National Theatre programme in 2001. The prefaces to The History Boys and The Lady in the Van were written for the Faber editions. ‘Denton Welch’ appeared as the Introduction to Denton Welch: Writer and Artist by James Methuen-Campbell (Tartarus Press, 2002). ‘The Last of the Sun’ was first recorded in 2002 and together with this introduction was first broadcast on BBC7 in 2004. ‘Hymn’ was written for the Medici String Quartet’s 30th anniversary and was recorded for the BBC Radio Collection. ‘Portrait or Bust’ was first transmitted on BBC2 in 1994, and was published in booklet form for the Leeds City Art Gallery. ‘County Arcade’ was written for the BBC2 series, Building Sights, in 1991.
Extract from Sonnet XXVI, ‘The World’s a Stage’, Sonnets and Verse by Hilaire Belloc (copyright © The Estate of Hilaire Belloc 1923, 1938) is reproduced by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co. uk) on behalf of the Estate of Hilaire Belloc. ‘The Odd Couple’ by F. Pratt Green from New Poems 1965 (Hutchinson), originally published in The Listener, 27 April, 1964. ‘The Things that Matter’ by E. Nesbit from The Rainbow and the Rose (Longman). ‘Aubade’ and ‘The Trees’ from Collected Poems by Philip Larkin (Faber and Faber Ltd); ‘Church Going’ from The Less Deceived (Marvell Press) and also in Collected Poems. ‘The Send-Off ’ by Wilfred Owen from Collected Poems (Chatto and Windus Ltd) by kind permission from the Owen Literary Estate. ‘We are on a kind of stair’ by Ian Hamilton, first published in the London Review of Books, reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of Ian Hamilton.
PLATE SECTION: all photographs are from Alan Bennett’s private collection, except: 19, © BBC Photo Library; 21, © Cecil Beaton, by courtesy of Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, Sotheby’s; 32, © Donald Cooper; 34, 37, 38, © Adrian Bedson; 35, © Derry Moore; 36, © Ivan Kyncl; 43, 44, © Bill Batten.
PICTURES IN TEXT: p. 453, The Wilton Diptych, late 14th century (egg tempera on oak), by unknown artist © The National Gallery, London; p. 459, Adriana van Heusden and Her Daughter at the New Fishmarket in Amsterdam, c.1662 (oil on canvas), by Emmanuel de Witte © The National Gallery, London; p. 460, The Family of Darius before Alexander, 1565–70 (oil on canvas), by Paolo Veronese © The National Gallery, London; p. 463, Mr and Mrs Andrews, c.1750 (oil on canvas), by Thomas Gainsborough © The National Gallery, London; p. 470, The Taking of Christ, c.1598 (oil on canvas), by Caravaggio, courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland and the Jesuit Community who acknowledge the generosity of the late Dr Marie-Lea Wilson; pp. 472–3, The Baptism of Christ, 1450s (egg tempera on poplar), and The Nativity, 1470–75 (oil on wood), by Piero della Francesca © The National Gallery, London; p. 474, The Vendramin Family, mid1450s (oil on canvas), by Titian © The National Gallery, London; p. 479, The Adoration of the Kings, 1510–15 (oil on wood), by Jan Gossaert, also called Mabuse © The National Gallery, London; p. 484, Hambletonian, Rubbing Down by George Stubbs, c.1800, Mount Stewart House (The National Trust) © NTPL; p. 487, Lorenzo and Isabella by John Everett Millais, 1849, National Museums Liverpool (Walker Art Gallery); p. 489, Southwold, 1937 © Estate of Stanley Spencer 2005, All Rights Reserved, DACS; p. 499, The Shadow of Death, 1870–73 (oil on canvas), by William Holman Hunt © Leeds Museum and Art Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK, www.bridgeman.co. uk; p. 500, Christ Returning from the Temple with His Parents by Rembrandt van Rijn, Rosenwald Collection, Image © 2005 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1654, etching and drypoint (White/Boon 60. only); p. 501, Park Row, Leeds, by Moonlight, 1882 (oil on canvas), by Atkinson Grimshaw © Leeds Museum and Art Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK, www.bridgeman.co.uk; p. 502, The Hope of Venus, c.1818–20 (marble), by Antonio Canova © Leeds Museum and Art Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK, www.bridgeman.co. uk; p. 504, A Ploughed Field, c.1807 (pencil and w/c on paper), by John Sell Cotman © Leeds Museum and Art Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK, www.bridgeman.co.uk; p. 505, Barges on the Thames, 1906 (oil on canvas), by André Derain (1880–1954) © Leeds Museums and Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK/Bridgeman Art Library/© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006; p. 506, Interior with Nude, c.1907 (oil on canvas), by Spencer Frederick Gore © Leeds Museum and Art Galleries (City Art Gallery) UK, www.bridgeman.co.uk; p. 509, Bust of Jacob Kramer, 1921 (bronze), by Jacob Epstein © The Estate of Jacob Epstein/Tate, London 2005.
Index
Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal: prurience of young person at 1
Aberdeen Art Gallery 1
Academy Cinema, Oxford Street, London: AB walks out of 1, 2, 3
Ackroyd, Peter 1;
as soft on More 1
Adam, Patrick William: and AB’s notion of gracious living 1
Adam Smith Institute, London: no friend to the public library 1
Addingham 1, 2
Adel, Leeds 1, 2
Advice to Iraqi Women (Crimp): as a more useful response to the Prime Minister’s folly than AB’s pounding the pavements 1
Afternoon Off (Bennett) 1, 2
Agasse, Jacques-Laurent 1
Aire River 1
Airedale 1, 2
Airedale General Hospital, Keighley 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Akhmatova, Anna 1
Alabaster Tombs (Gardner) 1
Albinoni, Tomaso 1, 2
Alexander the Great 1
Alexander Mornauer (Master of the Mornauer Portrait): aka Raymond Burr 1
Alexandra, Princess 1
Alice books (Carroll) 1, 2
Alien (film): not a patch on the Golden Legend 1
All Souls College, Oxford 1, 2, 3, 4
Alwoodley, Leeds 1
Amherst: punctiliousness about punctuation at 1
Amis, Kingsley 1, 2, 3, 4
Amnesty International 1
Amoore, Derrick 1
Anderson, Lindsay 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Andrews Sisters: obligatory listening for the Bennett family 1
Annan, Noel 1
Annigoni, Pietro 1
Antiques Roadshow (television programme) 1, 2, 3
Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare) 1, 2
Any Questions (TV programme) 1
Arch of Triumph (film) 1
Archer, Jeffrey 1, 2
Arden, Eve: as desk-perching witty sophisticate 1, 2
Ardizzone, Edward 1
Ardkinglas 1
Arena Chapel, Padua 1
Arezzo, Italy 1, 2
Aris, Ben 1
Arlington House hostel, Camden 1, 2, 3
Arlington Road resettlement centre, Camden: warm-hearted filthy language at 1
Armley, Leeds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Armley and Wortley News 1
Armley Baths, Leeds 1, 2
Armley Gaol, Leeds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Arnold, Edward 1, 2
Arnolfini, John 1
Arthington, Leeds 1
Arts Cinema, Cambridge 1
‘Arundel Tomb, An’ (Larkin) 1
As They Were (Fisher) 1
Ascherson, Neal 1
Ashcroft, John: U.S. Attorney General and evangelical bigot 1
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1
Aske, Robert 1, 2
Askey, Arthur 1, 2
Assault Division (Scarfe) 1
Assembly Rooms, Leeds 1
Astor, David 1
Atha, Bernard 1
Atkins, Eileen 1
ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) 1
‘Aubade’ (Larkin) 1, 2, 3
Aubrey, John 1
Auden, W. H. 1, 2, 3, 4
Auerbach, Frank 1
Austin, J. L. 1
Aveling, Valda: as décoll
eté pianist 1
Babes in the Wood (pantomime) 1
Bacall, Lauren 1
Bachardy, Don 1
Bachauer, Gina: another décolleté pianist 1
Bacon, Francis: as unlikely fount of common sense 1
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) 1
Baildon, Mr (toy shop owner) 1
Bailey, Paul 1
Bainbridge, Yorkshire 1
Baker, Hylda 1, 2
Baker, Stanley 1
Balsdon, Dacre 1,
Balthazar restaurant, New York 1
Bannockburn: fall-out from in Craven 1
Barber, Rector 1
Barber, Samuel: Adagio for Strings 1
Barbican, London 1, 2
Barbirolli, Sir John 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bardolino 1
Bare, Morecambe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Bare Ruined Choirs (Knowles) 1
Baring’s Bank 1
Barnard Castle 1
Barnes, Mary 1
Barnett, Sam 1
Barraclough, Mr (clock mender) 1
Barry, Charles 1
Barstow, Stan 1
Bassano, Jacopo 1, 2
Bates, Alan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Bayley, John 1
BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Home Service 1, 2
Light Programme 1
Radio 1 2, 3, 4, 5
Radio 1 2, 3, 4
BBC1 1
BBC2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
BBC7 Studio, Broadcasting House, London 1
Bean, Sean 1
Beano album 1
Beat the Devil (film) 1
Beaton, Cecil 1
Beaumont, Binkie: as unlikely voice of the people 1
Beaumont-de-Lomagne 1
Beckett, Samuel 1
Beckett Park, Leeds 1, 2
Beckham, David 1
Bede, Venerable 1
Beecham, Sir Thomas 1
Beeching, Dr Richard 1
Beeston, Leeds 1
Beevor, Antony 1
Bell, Julian 1
Bell, Vanessa 1, 2
Belle de Jour (film) 1
Bellini, Giovanni: Agony in the Garden 1
Belloc, Hilaire 1
Bellow, Saul 1
Belmarsh Prison 1, 2
Belsen concentration camp, Germany 1
Bennett, Alan (ex-chorister, King’s College, Cambridge) 1
Bennett, Flo (née Rostron; AB’s aunt) 1
Bennett, Geoff (AB’s cousin) 1
Bennett, George (AB’s uncle) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Bennett, Gordon (AB’s brother) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Bennett, Grandad (AB’s paternal grandfather) 1
Bennett, Jill (no relation) 1, 2, 3
Bennett, Lilian (née Peel; AB’s mother) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
Bennett, ‘the Gimmer’ (Walter’s stepmother) 1, 2, 3
Bennett, Walter (AB’s father) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
Benny, Jack 1
Benson, Albert 1
Bentley, Phyllis 1, 2
Berenson, Bernard 1, 2, 3, 4
Bergman, Ingrid 1
Berkeley, Michael 1, 2
Berlin, Isaiah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 1
Bermejo, Bartolomé: St George and the Dragon 1
Betjeman, Sir John 1, 2
Beyond the Fringe (Bennett, Cook, Miller and Moore) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Bielby, East Riding 1
Big Brother (television series) 1
Billy Liar (film) 1
Bin Laden, Osama 1, 2
Bindman, Professor David 1
Bingham, Tom 1
Birth of Shylock and the Death of Zero Mostel, The (Wesker) 1
Blackburn 1
Blackburn, Nurse 1, 2
Blackheath, London 1
Blackpool 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Blair, Tony 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; see also mostly under Bush
Blake, William 1
Blé en Herbe, Le (film) 1
Blitz, the 1
Bloody Sunday shootings 1
Bloom, Allan 1
Blunkett, David 1, 2, 3
Blunt, Anthony 1, 2
Boccaccio 1, 2
Bodleian Library, Oxford 1, 2, 3
Boer War 1
Bogart, Humphrey 1
Bohème, La (Puccini) 1
Boleyn, Ann 1
Bolton Abbey 1, 2, 3
Bond, Edward 1
Bond Street, London 1, 2
Bonfiglioli, Kyril 1
Booker Prize, 1
Bookmark (radio programme) 1
Boot, Das (film) 1
Born Yesterday (film) 1, 2
Boston, Mass. 1
Botanic Gardens, Oxford 1
Botticelli, Sandro 1
Boult, Sir Adrian 1
Boyer, Charles 1, 2, 3, 4
Boyle, Andrew 1
Bradbourne, Derbyshire 1
Bradford 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Bradford Grammar School 1
Bradford Telegraph and Argus 1
Brahms, Johannes 1
Alto Rhapsody 1
Second Piano Concerto 1
Braine, John 1, 2
Brando, Marlon 1
Breakspears, near Harefield 1
Brideshead Revisited (Waugh) 1
Bridgewater, Carl 1
Brief Encounter (film) 1
Briggate, Leeds 1, 2
Brighton 1
bombing 1
Brindley, Brian 1, 2
Brinsley House Variety Artists Home, Twickenham, Middlesex 1
Bristol 1, 2, 3, 4
Britannia Hospital (film) 1, 2
British Airways 1, 2
British Legion 1
British Library, London 1
British Museum, London 1
British Telecom 1
Broadcasting House, London 1, 2
Bron, Eleanor 1
Brontë sisters 1
Bronzino, Agnolo 1
Brook, Peter 1, 2, 3
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds 1
Brotherton Wing, Leeds General Infirmary 1, 2
Broughton church, near Skipton 1
Brown, Christopher 1
Brown, Ford Madox 1, 2, 3
Browne, Coral 1, 2, 3
Browning, Robert 1
Bruce Street, New Wortley, Leeds 1, 2
Bruckner, Anton: Seventh Symphony 1
Brunswick Chapel, Leeds 1
Bryant, Michael 1, 2, 3
Brynmor Jones Library, Hull 1
Buchan, John 1
Buckhaw Brow, Yorkshire 1
Buckingham Palace, London 1, 2
Buckle, Richard 1, 2
Buñuel, Luis 1
Burford, Oxfordshire 1
Burgess, Guy 1, 2
Burke, Kathy 1
Burkett, David 1
Burley in Wharfedale hospital 1
Burne-Jones, Sir Edward 1
Burnsall 1
Burton, Richard 1, 2
Burton, Sybil 1
Burton’s men’s outfitters 1
Bush, George W. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bush, Mrs Laura 1
Butler, David 1
Butler, Samuel 1
Butler Report 1
Butterfield, Robert 1
Butterworth, George 1
Byam Shaw, Glen 1
Byland Abbey 1
Byng, Hon. John 1
Cahors, France 1
Caligula (film) 1
Calthrop, Gladys 1
Calverley 1, 2
Cam Fell 1
Cam River 1
Cambridge 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Cambridge Public Library 1
Cambridge University 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Camden Council 1
Camden Lock 1, 2
Camden Town, London 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Camden Town school of painting 1, 2
Camden Town Hall 1
Camoys, Lord 1
Campbell, Alastair 1
Campion Hall, Oxford 1
Campo Santa Margherita, Venice 1
Camus, Albert 1
Canaletto 1
Cannes Festival 1
Canova, Antonio 1
Canterbury, Archbishop of 1
Canterbury Cathedral 1
Canterbury Tale, A (film) 1
Capote, Truman 1, 2
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da 1, 2
Carey, Richenda 1
Carl Rosa Opera Company 1
Carné, Marcel 1
Caroline of Ansbach 1
Carpaccio collection, Scuola San Giorgio, Venice 1
Carpenter, Humphrey 1, 2
‘Carry On’ films 1
Carte d’Or ice cream: inspired commercial for 1
Cartland, Barbara 1
Casablanca (film) 1, 2, 3
Cashdisia gents’ outfitters, Leeds 1
Castleford, Yorkshire 1
Catalogue of British Paintings (Egerton) 1, 2
Catchpole, Mrs: bed-bound cantankerous mother-in-law of Alan Bates 1
Catholic Herald 1
Caton, Lancaster 1
Catterick, north Yorkshire 1
Causley, Charles 1
Celebrity Big Brother (television programme) 1
Chalk Farm Tyres 1
Chamberlain, Neville 1
Changing Room, The (Storey) 1
Changing Stages (Eyre) 1
Channel 4 1, 2
Chapel Allerton Ministry of Pensions hospital, Leeds 1
Chapman, Guy 1
Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de 1
Chariots of Fire (film) 1
Charles, HRH The Prince of Wales 1, 2
Charles I, King 1
Charleston, East Sussex 1
Charteris, Lord 1
Chastleton, near Chipping Norton 1
Chatsworth 1
Chatterbox annual 1
Chatto, Rosalind (AB’s agent) 1, 2, 3
cheeky chappies 1
Cheever, John 1
Chekhov, Anton 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Cherry Orchard, The (Chekhov) 1
Chicago 1
Chicago Art Institute 1
Chichester 1, 2, 3
Children’s Hour (radio programme) 1
Chip in the Sugar, A (Bennett) 1, 2
Chippendale, Thomas 1
Christ Church, Leeds 1
Christie’s auctioneers 1, 2
Christ’s Hospital, Horsham, West Sussex 1
‘Church Going’ (Larkin) 1, 2
Churchill, Randolph 1, 2