Leslie Howard: About this blog
Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard (1893-1943) was a great stage and film actor, director and producer.
New generations know him mainly as Ashley Wilkes, his character in Gone with the Wind. But Leslie played a number of more interesting and challenging screen parts and was also a Broadway star. Unfortunately, his career was too short: he was only 50 when the aircraft he was on board was shot down by the Germans over the Bay of Biscay on the 1st of June 1943.
Though there are still many Leslie Howard fans all over the world, this blog is not intended just for them. Rather, its purpose is to help keep alive the memory of this clever, sophisticated and sensitive man and to introduce his life and personality, so complex and interesting, to a new generation.
Leslie Howard did not write an autobiography. For many years, the only sources of information about his life and career were the biographical books written after his death by his daughter Leslie Ruth and son Ronald. More recently, Estel Eforgan’s 2010 biography, by seeing beyond the public image so carefully crafted by film studio publicity departments, and by debunking some of the many myths surrounding him, has started to unveil the real Leslie Howard. But still a thick curtain of gossip and rumour, of dubious anecdotes and word-of-mouth history, stands in the way of a full understanding of his true personality.
Much serious research work remains to be done. Unfortunately, the Howard family did not establish a foundation to preserve Leslie’s legacy and no cultural institution, in England or elsewhere, has taken the initiative to protect his memory and reputation from often ill-informed speculation. Sadly, a good deal of the documentation pertaining to his life has fallen into the hands of private collectors, making it unavailable to researchers, other than through their goodwill. Some may never become available again. Despite this, I hope for better times – for a new, more generous, open-hearted awareness to arise. So great a man deserves no less.
Italian is my native language. I’m doing my best to write these pages in English, but I’m well aware of the poor quality of my writing.
Ginevra Di Verduno
I’m so happy to find this. I’ve had a crush on Leslie Howard for… about 40 years!
Me too….
Very impressive website, with great companion weblogs. I’m glad to see there is an Howard revival, it’s about time !
Thank you for your kind comments. I agree, it’s time to re-descover what a great actor (and director, and writer…) Leslie Howard was, absolutely ahead of his time.
Dear Ginerva,
Hello from Tom Hamilton.
I hope this finds you well.
I have all sorts of exciting news about “TMWGAD” and I’d like to have a chat about the wonderful stills of Leslie you have on this blog.
Please can you drop me an email at thomas.hamilton65@btinternet.com when you have a moment.
BEst wishes
Tom
What an amazing website! So few people know about this actor, so it is fantastic to find this site. He is one of my favourites, but I may be slightly biased as I currently live in Forest Hill, London.
Ginevera! Would you be willing to do an interview for my Bogie site about Leslie Howard? 🙂
Of course!!!! I’ll be very honored 🙂
Sweet! Do you have an email address I can use? You can send me a message at bogiefiilmblog@gmail.com.
And please, accept my apologies for just misspelling your name, Ginevra! 😦
Ciao ! Prima di tutto – grandissima ! 🙂
Avrei una domanda… Dove hai visto Captured! ? Non e’ per caso che c’e’ l’hai da qualche parte in formato digitale ? Io lo sto cercando da molto tempo, ma non sono ancora riuscito a trovarlo… Mi manca solo Captured! e Bookworms per avere tutti i film con Leslie…
Puoi rispondermi a questo indirizzo mail : harveypdowd@aol.com
Saluti !
Grazie. Pleased to have found your fascinating blog. Looking forward to more reading here. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox (give it a spin).
Oh my gosh! I just discovered this website and it is terrific! I am totally obsessed with Leslie Howard! I have already learned so much about him just from a few glances. Thank you for this incredible resource!
great stuff did leslie have a brother barney living in islington london and a sister matilder 44st pauls rd islington ? howard mortimer murphy
Thank you for your comment.
Leslie had two brothers, Alfred Charles (1899-1931) and Arthur John (1910-1995), and two sisters, Doris (or Dorice, 1996-1979) and Irene Mary (1903-1981)
I subscribe to many classic movie/actor pages on Facebook but couldn’t find one devoted to Leslie Howard. The only page I could find was LH: TMWGAD but it seems inactive (no posts since August 2015 and no response to my inquiry. So I started a page of my own titled simply “Leslie Howard.” Your blog provides me a wealth of information. The page is only a week old but I already have 45 “likes.” I try to confirm all my posts with at least two sources and do my best to research the history/dates of the pictures I use. I just wanted you to know that your sites are incredible and can never be recreated; I wouldn’t or couldn’t even attempt it. You have done so much work. Your adoration for Leslie Howard is apparent. I hope my Facebook page reaches fans who wouldn’t normally do a search on the internet resulting in finding your pages. My little attempt at keeping the memory of this wonderful man alive.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I feel I must apologise with you and with all my followers for the lack of updates since my latest post. I can only say that I have been coping with serious family problems.
I am so glad you found my blog useful. Of course, I’m planning new additions in the next future. Meanwhile, I’d be happy to give you any help you might need with your Leslie Howard page. Would you please give me the link? I am no longer active on Facebook, but I am very willing to back any initiative to keep Leslie’s memory alive.
Wow! Thank you. My FB page is https://www.facebook.com/LeslieHowardSteiner/. I realized after I started it that I needed a way to keep track of my FB posts as they disappear after a couple of weeks so I started a matching blog as well just so I could remember what I posted on FB. That site is: http://lesliehowardsteiner.blogspot.com. Please let me know if you ever see me make any errors. Thank you so much. I hope your life gets easier.