Rupert Hart-Davis: Man of Letters

Rupert Hart-Davis (1907-1999) not only founded a prestigious publishing company; he also involved himself vigorously in literary politics. His story is the story of literary life in the 20th century. He worked for William Heinemann and Jonathan Cape (who sacked him), and numbered among his close friends Duff and Diana Cooper, Peter and Ian Fleming, Arthur Ransome, John Betjeman, Eric Linklater and Joyce Grenfell. His mother - to whom he was obsessively devoted - died when he was at Oxford. Desolated, he left without a degree, to try his hand at acting. He played alongside Richardson, Gielgud and Olivier - and found himself having to choose between two attractive young actresses: Celia Johnson and Peggy Ashcroft. When he told Celia he was marrying Peggy, she broke down in tears. The marriage didn't last, and Rupert went on to marry three more times. Before marrying his colleague, Ruth Simon, he lived for some years with his wife, Comfort, in the country at weekends, and with Ruth in London during the working week. After Ruth's death, he married his secretary June, with whom he lived in retirement in his beloved Yorkshire dales.