Robin Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham
Robert Cecil Romer Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham (17 May 1916 – 13 March 1981), known as Robin Maugham, was a British novelist, playwright and travel writer.
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[edit] Early life
Robin Maugham was the son of Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham, and Helen Romer. He was born into a legal dynasty and was expected to follow his father and grandfather and devote himself to the law. Although he qualified as a barrister he realised that his real calling was to follow his uncle William Somerset Maugham as a writer.
[edit] Personal and family life
Described as "defiantly homosexual", but in fact bisexual, Lord Maugham never married, and the viscountcy became extinct upon his death. He died from an embolism, though an official cause of death was difficult to obtain as his body was apparently lost for forty-eight hours after his death. He had three sisters: Kate, Honor, and the novelist Diana Marr-Johnson (1908–2007). He is buried in Hartfield, Sussex, next to his parents.
Maugham bought the merchant ship MV Joyita as a hulk in the early 1960s, writing about the mystery of the incident in his book The Joyita Mystery (1962). The ship had been lost at sea only to reappear five weeks later after a massive search found nothing, without crew or passengers, and with four tons of cargo missing.
He wrote an autobiography, Escape from the Shadows (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972), and then a sequel Search for Nirvana (1975) and books about his uncle, as well as many other novels and plays.
[edit] Films
His first three novels were filmed: The Servant by Joseph Losey in 1963, Line on Ginger by Guy Hamilton in 1953, and The Rough and the Smooth by Robert Siodmak in 1959.
[edit] Works
[edit] Novels
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[edit] Biography and travel
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[edit] Plays, speeches, television and radio
- 1955: The Leopard (play) set in Tanganyika. Connaught Theatre, Worthing
- 1956: Mister Lear (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing
- 1957: Rise Above It (Television) Produced by ABC. BBC Productions
- 1957: Odd Man In (play) Adaptation of Claude Magnier’s comedy Monsieur Masure. St Martin’s Theatre
- 1957: The Last Hero (play) Repertory Players, Strand Theatre. The subject was the life of General Gordon
- 1957: The Lonesome Road (Play) by Robin Maugham and Philip King. Arts Theatre, London, (1957)
- 1957: Winter in Ischia (Play) (not yet performed), see also 1965
- 1958: The Servant (play) Adaptation by Robin Maugham. Connaught Theatre, Worthing
- 1960: Slavery in Africa and Arabia (The House of Lords publication of his maiden speech; Hansard)
- 1960: The Two Wise Virgins of Hove (ITV Television)
- 1961: The Claimant (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing
- 1962: Azouk (play) Adaptation of Alexandre Rivermale’s play by Robin Maugham and Willis Hall. The Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- 1962: The Last Hero (radio play) based on the life of General Gordon. Produced for BBC Radio, Saturday Night Theatre
- 1965: Winter in Ischia (television ITV), see also 1957
- 1966: Gordon of Khartoum (television BBC1)
- 1966: The Servant (play) The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
- 1969: Enemy (play) Premiere, The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford
- 1969: Enemy (play) Saville Theatre, London
- 1981: A Question of Retreat (play) Nightingale Theatre, Brighton; also adapted for a Radio 4, BBC production
[edit] References
- ^ John Betjeman, Daily Telegraph: ‘Robin Maugham can write ... the sincerity of the author and his gift of narrative and brief[ly], certain powers of describing a scene, character make him a fiction addict's delight.’
- "Robin Maugham: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". The University of Texas at Austin. http://research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080/hrcxtf/view?docId=ead/00088.xml. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- Connon, Bryan (1997) Somerset Maugham and the Maugham Dynasty. London: Sinclair-Stevenson ISBN 1856192741
- da Silva, Stephen (12 July 2005). "Maugham, Robin (1916-1981)". glbtq. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/maugham_r.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- Trustees of the Robin Maugham Estate: contact Eric Glass Agency
- Gay for Today
[edit] External links
| Peerage of England | ||
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| Preceded by Frederic Maugham |
Viscount Maugham 1958–1981 |
Extinct |
