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Dorothea Bennett (novelist)

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Dorothea Alice Bennett
Born28 January 1914
Died1 May 1985(1985-05-01) (aged 71)
Occupationnovelist and screenwriter
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1935)​

Erik Martin Rüzt-Nissen
​
​
(m. 1935; div. 1942)​

​
(m. 1942)​
RelativesDiana Warwick (daughter-in-law)

Dorothea "Dosia" Alice Bennett[1] ((1914-01-28)28 January 1914 – May 1985)[2] was a novelist and screenwriter married to Terence Young.

Early life

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Bennett was daughter of Colonel William Bennett, DSO, OBE, MBChM, of Belbins, Romsey, Hampshire, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and his wife Kate Eileen, dau. of Rev. James Johnston Stoney, of Tipperary, from a minor landed gentry family of Oakley Park, County Offaly, a branch of the Stoney family of Borrisokane from which also came Andrew Robinson Stoney.[3] The Bennetts were from Clonakilty, County Cork, where her grandfather had been a doctor.[4][5][6] Her brother, William Johnstone Stoney, was an Army Major.[7]

Career

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She is largely known for her 1977 novel The Jigsaw Man on which the 1983 film of the same name, directed by her husband, Terence Young,[8] was based,[9][10] as well as for other film work.

Personal life

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She was married to the artist Francis Cook from 1933 to their divorce in 1935,[4] in which year she married playwright and author Erik Martin Rüzt-Nissen, brother of the film and stage actress Greta Nissen.[11] Bennett and Nissen had a daughter, Juliet, together before separating in 1937. Bennett had also had a relationship with Sam Spiegel whilst married to Cook, with Spiegel making off with her signed first editions of works by George Bernard Shaw and a new car during their relationship.[12]

In June 1942 the Norwegian government-in-exile issued a dissolution of Bennett's marriage to Nissen. Five days later,[13] she married the director Terence Young.[10] Nissen, however, sued for a divorce from Bennett 12 years after the dissolution alleging that it had been invalid, and listing Young as the correspondent. The first-instance court found in Nissen's favour before the decision was overturned on appeal and Bennett's original divorce from Nissen was found valid.[14][15][16]

Their son, Sean Terence Bowes Young (1943-2021), married the politician Diana Warwick, Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe.[17][18]

Bibliography

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  • The Dry Taste of Fear (1960)
  • Under the Skin (1961)
  • The Jigsaw Man (1977)
  • The Maynard Hayes Affair (1979)
  • Greek Girl (1984)

References

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  1. ^ Pursuit: The Memoirs of John Calder, John Calder, Alma Books, 2018, p. 636
  2. ^ See 1939 Civilian Register for DOB - nb. other sources give a 1924 date of birth but this is unlikely given her 1933 and 1935 marriages, death was recorded in Westminster in May 1985
  3. ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland, new edition, Sir Bernard Burke, Harrison & Sons, 1912, p. 666
  4. ^ a b Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 881
  5. ^ Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, 1931, p. 1394
  6. ^ The Medical Register, General Medical Council, 1943, p. 115
  7. ^ Supplement to the London Gazette, no. 41463, 5 August 1958, p. 4881
  8. ^ Gelder, Lawrence Van (24 August 1984). "Screen: 'Jigsaw Man,' British Spy Thriller". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Criminals At Large (Published 1976)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b Alan Burton (4 April 2016). Historical Dictionary of British Spy Fiction. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-4422-5587-6.
  11. ^ "A Dancer Must Be Perfect All over": Greta Nissen on Stage and Screen", Pat M. Ryan, in Dance Chronicle, vol. 12, no, 3, 1989, pp. 285-322
  12. ^ Fraser-Cavassoni, Natasha (2003). Sam Spiegel : the incredible life and times of Hollywood's most iconoclastic producer. Simon & Schuster. pp. 48–49. ISBN 068483619X. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  13. ^ Il Cinema di Terence Young, Mario Gerosa, 2009, p. 52
  14. ^ "At Last She Knows Who Her Husband Is". Daily Mirror. 5 November 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Decree Judgement Reserved". Bradford Observer. 24 March 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Court Holds Woman's Second Marriage Lawful". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 5 November 1955. p. 7. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Births, marriages and deaths: September 28, 2021".
  18. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 4084
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