Richard Stirling

{{short description|British writer and actor}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

Richard Stirling is an English writer and actor, who has appeared on film, television and the West End theatre and Off-Broadway stage. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He has written arts features for newspapers and magazines. His 2009 play Seven Other Children was written as a response to Caryl Churchill's controversial play Seven Jewish Children.{{cite news|title=New play responds to Caryl Churchill's Seven Jewish Children|date=30 April 2009|author= Francine Wolfisz|newspaper= Haringey Independent|url= http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/freetime/freetimefeatures/4333992.New_play_responds_to_Caryl_Churchill_s_Seven_Jewish_Children/}}

He adapted the diaries of Cecil Beaton for performance, and played the title role. Following performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2022, to favourable reviews,{{cite web|url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/cecil-beatons-diaries-review-greenside-nicolson-square-edinburgh-richard-stirling |title=Ceil Beaton's Diaries review|first=Paul|last=Vale|work=The Stage |date=2022-08-09}} Cecil Beaton's Diaries was selected to be part of the 2023 Brits Off Broadway season, playing at New York's 59E59 Theaters in May, before touring the UK.

Works

=Books=

  • Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography (Sunday Times Top Ten best seller,{{cn|date=April 2024}} UK Piatkus/Little Brown 2007; US St Martin's Press 2008; reprinted UK Little Brown 2013)

=Plays=

  • Seven Other Children
  • Over My Shoulder: The Jessie Matthews Story (starring Anne Rogers){{cite news |title="Over My Shoulder" by Richard Stirling at Wyndham's from 27 Oct to 8 Nov 03 |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/over-my-shoulder-by-richard-stirling-at-wyndhams-from-27-oct-to-8-nov-03 |accessdate=10 May 2019 |date=9 October 2003}}{{cite news |title=Over My Shoulder, review |url=https://www.newburytheatre.co.uk/archive/200304a.htm|first=Jeremy|last=Kingston|date=10 May 2003|work=The Times}}
  • Gay's the Word (revised version of the Ivor Novello/Alan Melville musical, starring Sophie-Louise Dann)
  • A Princess Undone (starring Stephanie Beacham and subsequently Felicity Dean as Princess Margaret){{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/stephanie-beacham-we-need-more-difficult-women-like-princess-mar/|title=Stephanie Beacham: 'We need more difficult women like Princess Margaret'|first=Richard|last=Barber|date=11 September 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cite news |last=Cavendish |first=Dominic |title=Witty, bittersweet, tentative attempt to dramatise Princess Margaret's life, review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/witty-bittersweet-tentative-attempt-dramatise-princess-margarets/|date=26 February 2018|work=The Daily Telegraph}}
  • Extraordinary Women (musical adaptation of the Compton Mackenzie novel, with score by Tony Award winner Sarah Travis)
  • Cecil Beaton's Diaries

Selected roles

=Film and television=

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References

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