Dirk Bogarde

Tortured queen. Fine actor.

Loved him in DARLING with Miss Julie Christie.

"I don't take whores in taxis".

He was a big star in Britain , starring in a lot of sex farces (the Carry On, Doctor series), so it took a LOT of guts to star in what must have been the first movie about homosexuality ever...Victim. Anybody who hasn't seen this film should do so at their first convenience. It's excellent.

It also took a lot of guts to appear in Death in Venice.

doctor at sea

His longtime lover was Anthony Forwood, who was briefly married to Glynis Johns in the late '40s.

[quote]His longtime lover was Anthony Forwood, who was briefly married to Glynis Johns in the late '40s.

you mean my manager, R6.

Didn't he write an autobio? If so, it should be posted next here on DL, by the resident bio reader.

I always think he was overrated.

He had good taste and chose his films well.

But as an actor. Not as great as people say.

[quote]Didn't he write an autobio? If so, it should be posted next here on DL, by the resident bio reader.

Yes, he wrote many. They're boring. Written for fraus.

R10 I wouldn't say that. Certainly he never came out or talked about his real personal life but some of his books are quite interesting in terms of his stories about the filming of his movies and his bitchy take on other actors.

However, he did lie quite a bit in his autobios.

Natural actor, very understated. Gorgeous too. The Night Porter is a favorite.

One of the experts on the original British Antiques Roadshow is his niece, Bunny something with terrible frosted pink lipstick and five strand pearls.

[quote]One of the experts on the original British Antiques Roadshow is his niece, Bunny something with terrible frosted pink lipstick and five strand pearls.

Funnily enough I used to know her WELL.

She's NOT his niece.

She's Stewart Granger's niece.

I didn't think he was overrated and he wasn't boring. How odd to hear such pissiness about Dirk. Compared to most of the British performers in his generation, he wasn't even disgustingly smug.

[quote] How odd to hear such pissiness about Dirk.

You just want to hear everyone say how fabulous he was?

Most will, don't worry.

Can't believe he was never nominated for an Oscar!

And how DARE people suggest dear Mr. Bogarde was not fond of pussy.

And I am unanimous about THAT.

I can.

[quote]Yes, he wrote many. They're boring. Written for fraus.

Well, that's a shame.

In A Bridge Too Far (1977), Bogarde was the only cast member who actually participated in the WWII Battle of Arnhem, the subject of the film.

Thanks r13. I wonder why I got that confused? Tell me, does she ever take those pearls off? They look kind of heirloom.

[quote]Tell me, does she ever take those pearls off? They look kind of heirloom.

I'd bet on them being so, yes - but I don't know.

Do people often confuse Dirk Bogarde and Stewart Granger?

She comes across as a very nice, friendly type, is she really as nice as she seems? And yes, I doubt she'd ever have anything cheap'n'cheerful in the way of jewelry.

[quote]She comes across as a very nice, friendly type, is she really as nice as she seems?

Yes, she's sweet. Just like on TV.

Trying to look tough in leather pants

Do people often confuse Dirk Bogarde and Stewart Granger?

—Anonymous

no, not if they're compos mentis

death in venice

thanks, R28.

fuck off all of you:

Bogarde was one of the first Allied officers in April 1945 to reach the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, an experience that had the most profound effect on him and about which he found it difficult to speak for many years afterward.[6] Women survivors in Bergen-Belsen collecting their bread ration after their liberation, April 1945

"I think it was on the 13th of April - I'm not quite sure what the date was" [it was the 15th] "- in '44" [sic, the camp was liberated on the 15th April 1945, and it was the 20th April 1945 when Bogarde made his visit] "when we opened up Belsen Camp, which was the first concentration camp any of us had seen, we didn't even know what they were, we'd heard vague rumours that they were. I mean nothing could be worse than that. The gates were opened and then I realised that I was looking at Dante's Inferno, I mean ... I ... I still haven't seen anything as dreadful. And never will. And a girl came up who spoke English, because she recognised one of the badges, and she ... her breasts were like, sort of, empty purses, she had no top on, and a pair of man's pyjamas, you know, the prison pyjamas, and no hair. But I knew she was girl because of her breasts, which were empty. She was I suppose, oh I don't know, twenty four, twenty five, and we talked, and she was, you know, so excited and thrilled, and all around us there were mountains of dead people, I mean mountains of them, and they were slushy, and they were slimy, so when you walked through them ... or walked - you tried not to, but it was like .... well you just walked through them, and she ... there was a very nice British MP, and he said 'Don't have any more, come away, come away sir, if you don't mind, because they've all got typhoid and you'll get it, you shouldn't be here swanning-around' and she saw in the back of the jeep, the unexpired portion of the daily ration, wrapped in a piece of the Daily Mirror, and she said could she have it, and he" [the MP] "said 'Don't give her food, because they eat it immediately and they die, within ten minutes', but she didn't want the food, she wanted the piece of Daily Mirror - she hadn't seen newsprint for about eight years or five years, whatever it was she had been in the camp for. ... she was Estonian. ... that's all she wanted. She gave me a big kiss, which was very moving.

Dirk Bogarde, a gay actor who had to stay in the closet way back in the day. He made an excellent, groundbreaking movie about homosexuality called "The Victim" back in the early 1960's. And pretty good as an actor, period.

He published a number of memoirs but they were too quaint in an English way and not very compelling.

With beautiful Tadzio in "Death in Venice":

Oh please. Others who were actually there said DB was delusional.- he was not there. Watch him make up stories as he goes along.o need.

He lied about many things in his books. Lied when there was n

[quote]He lied about many things in his books.

That's why they're so boring.

"And yes, I doubt she'd ever have anything cheap'n'cheerful in the way of jewelry."

I'm guessing this was posted in the wrong thread, but I'm laughing at the thought of Miss Dirk and her cheap jewelry

[quote]I'm guessing this was posted in the wrong thread, but I'm laughing at the thought of Miss Dirk and her cheap jewelry

He was referring to DL fave, Bunny Campione.

My favorite little anecdote involving Dirk Bogarde: Noël Coward was walking down Leicester Square with a friend when they came upon the marquee up at the Odeon proclaiming: "Michael Redgrave and Dirk Bogarde in 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them.'" Coward turned to his friend and quipped, "I don't see why not. Everyone else has."

Did Redgrave and Bogarde ever get it on?

He was particularly appealing in The Spanish Gardener probably because I wished I was the boy he takes under his wing...

Coincidentally, "Death In Venice" is on TCM tonight at 2:15 AM.

A bigger queen than the one in Buckingham Palace.

'Victim' was acknowledged to be a significant contributor to the mood which led to homosexual decriminalisation in 1967.

Such a pity many lies in his books were so fantastical because his life was in fact quite interesting. If he had told the truth about his decades long relationship with Tony Forwood his books would have become historically relevant through time. Instead they're discounted as the ramblings of a silly queen.

I read in another gay actor's book - can't recall which now - that as he drove up to Dirk and Tony's home outside London one lazy Sunday afternoon he saw Tony out front in an apron vacuuming the lawn.

Dirk and "Forwood" (that's how DB refers to him throughout his autobiography).

there was an excellent two part documentary "The Private Life Of Dirk Bogarde" - it's been taken off YT unfortunately.

All they have in there now is his old 8MM films from it.

Worth a look.

Handsome face, but a bit underfed!

Dirk with Capucine, with whom he was "so smitten" that he "proposed marriage." Hahahaha!

Star couple

But alas, cruel fate kept them apart.

R48 is the perfect example of a studio constructed 'romance'. And for the most part eh public believed it!

[quote][R48] is the perfect example of a studio constructed 'romance'. And for the most part eh public believed it!

In fact, public still believe in showmances....

Dirk and "Forwood" were a handsome couple!

"I never believed more than one sentence of what Dirk wrote." -- Glynis Johns, commenting on Dirk Bogarde's memoirs

Dirk stole "Forwood" away from Glynis Johns! He was a brazen, man-stealing hussy!

See The Servant

I've seen it.

goes on too long and loses its way.

Love The Servant.

I never got his appeal - he wasn't THAT good looking (with that piglet nose of his), an average actor and apparently a huge narcissist in real life.

I watched "Our Mother's House" recently and I thought Bogarde's hammy, over-the-top perforance ruined what could have been a great and haunting movie.

Dearest [13], did Granger's niece have anything to say about Jean Simmons (who was in "Too Long at the Fair" with Bogarde)?

He was not in the Carry On series, he played Dr Simon Sparrow in the Doctor (in the House etc) series. The Singer Not The Song is hilariously camp, well worth a giggle. But I found The Night Porter a truly repellent film.

[quote]I watched "Our Mother's House" recently and I thought Bogarde's hammy, over-the-top perforance ruined what could have been a great and haunting movie.

The children were so good.

Shame he ruined it.

The Servant is homoerotic as hell

[quote]The Servant is homoerotic as hell

Yes, if you're gay.

Didn't he claim to have been in love with Judy Garland? LOL

He was a big fan before "Singing" but not after.

he said she drove him nuts.

Actor John Fraser wrote in his own autobiography that Bogarde had a huge motorcycle on a treadmill in the attic of his home and liked to put on full leather gear and ride........

He was wonderful (and subdued!) in Victim.

Marvelous in Death in Venice.

less so in the night porter

I think he was a superb film actor, which is quite evident from VICTIM, THE SERVANT, ACCIDENT, KING AND COUNTRY, and THE FIXER.

He also did some really awful films like MODESTY BLAISE, THE DAMNED, and THE NIGHT PORTER.

I watched DEATH IN VENICE recently and find it very overrated, especially if you're familiar with Mann's novel. In the late 60's/early 70's, Visconti put out a lot of bad films.

The Singer Not The Song.

More Singer....

did someone say first movie about homosexuality?

he looks so campy at r73!

I enjoy Modesty Blaise as one of the zany films that emerged from Italy in the 60s. Monica V was quite delicious IMO and perfectly kooky and Bogarde very handsome.

He was in "Trial" with our Livvie.

A gorgeous twentysomething Dirk in Quartet

r78 as a gayling I was shown one of Bogarde's films - I think it might have been this one - and I recall getting an immediate boner. Typically I like beefy guys, but something about DB is still exciting on screen. He had a wonderful voice as well.

BUMP

In case nobody else posted this... odd how many full movies are showing up on youtube.

r81, thanks for posting that!

Victim is a good film, but kind of waffles on whether the Bogarde character is gay or not.

I thought it was made pretty clear that he's gay

VERY clear.

"I WANTED him".

Couldn't get clearer than that.

Thanks, R81!

How could anyone watch that film and not understand the character is gay?

.....

^ Was that his "rough trade" pose?

Did Dirk and Rock ever exchange recipes?

Dirk apparently favours a ragout of veal.

Death in Venice is NOT about a middle aged gay man in lust with an adolescent boy. He is obsessed simply with beauty.

-Luchino and Dirk

Hilarious upbeat page of Outing @ R91. (Richard Anderson seemed rather to fall away from his peers. Even then his billing was low.)

He's shown leafing through a "male physique" magazine in CAST A DARK SHADOW (55). He plays a killer of older wives, whome he marries for money, not for sex.

VICTIM is probably the most important film in the history of gay rights. It had a direct influence on the move to decriminalise homosexuality in the UK several years later. What's extraordinary is that Bogarde was at the height of his matinee idol fame in the UK when he chose to do it. It was incredibly brave. He never came out publicly and actually denied he was gay right to the end, but his courage in making that film when he did means it doesn't really matter.

He actually told all his friends and family to never read his autobiographies because it would just annoy them. Those who did read them said they were full of outright lies. There are two great books on Bogarde by John Coldstream: a massive biography and a slim book on the making of VICTIM. Both well worth reading. Given that you can't trust anything Bogarde said, we should take this with a pinch of salt, but one thing I find interesting is his comments on the film he did with Fassbinder, which he says was a brilliant masterpiece until Fassbinder kept tinkering with it in the editing room and then a year later it came out and Bogarde said he couldn't understand the film and couldn't believe what Fassbinder had done to it. If that is true I would love to see the original cut.

Yes, I recall DB saying that he'd done some of his very best work on 'Despair', and was so dismayed by the final cut that it pretty much put him off making any such effort again.

However much of a shambles it is, I'd still like to see it.

Despair in the version that is out there is not the greatest Fassbinder film, but it is still a pretty good watch. Bogarde's performance is fine, but not great.

r91 Tab Hunter may have been "happy with a hamburger," but I'm pretty sure he was ecstatic with a wiener.

I read the Coldstream biography, it is fantastic.

Dirk also "proposed" to Liliana Cavani and a sarcastic young Helena Bonham Carter.

He and Forwood also hosted Barbra Streisand at their home. She lost a diamond earring outside, and they spent hours looking for it.

Did they find it, R99?

I SO want to know.

Dirk also hosted Natalie Wood and her (his words) 'boring husband.' Can't recall which one.

r91, that's fucking hilarious. Where did you find it?

Those boys sure enjoyed eating meat :-)

R99, Barbara's earring was lost to the manicured grasses of Dirk's lawn. They didn't find it.

Damn Dirk for not writing a memoir about his decades long relationship with his "manager" Tony Forwood. How very interesting it would have been to read about their experiences as a closeted gay couple in the film world during the last years of Old Hollywood.

Instead we get all this horse shit about Capucine, Liliana C and Helena BC.

I agree that an HONEST autobiography from Dirk would have been a great read. Too bad he didn't get the nerve to write one when he was older like Tab Hunter and Richard Chamberlain did.

I once had an argument with DL fave David Ehrenstein about Dirk Bogarde. It must have been during one of his drunken Fri night meltdowns...Ehrenstein lost and went away with his tail between his legs.

BTW, R47 Capucine was gay, or at the very least bi. Perfect for Dirk Bogarde!

Always felt bad for Capucine. To have been so gifted(I find her not only stunningly beautiful but very funny in The Pink Panther) and then to be in such despair to choose such a horrible death.

I recall a three-part interview with Dirk on UK TV in I think the 90s, when he was comparatively unbuttoned. He mentioned how when taken up by Hollywood TPTB, realising his bachelorhood was confirmed, said they'd set him up with a woman so he could make his way. Dirk's dismissive tone showed he wouldn't go that far to play the game.

Discussing 'Victim', he said that 'No one else on the film was gay, so far as I know, apart from Dennis Price…' When the little series was repeated, that bit was cut out, Price's family having objected.

Also recall when Russell Harty went out to France, earlier than the above, to interview Dirk, the latter either referred to or even showed all his diaries being burned. (I think it's in the Coldstream biography.) Quite a Mary! gesture, demonstrating 'No-one will ever know The Truth.' The later interviews though showed he was still keen for attention, and that part of him wanted to share more. Ambivalent to the last.

R108 I hope you don't mean to suggest DB ever let on in any interview even at the very end that he was gay. Because he never did.

Well, in the end, he said everything with his career. It was incredibly brave of him to do Victim. And I don't care he never said "I am gay" on the cover of some magazine.

r110, there's a difference between not saying it in an interview and actively lying, pretending your bf is some kind of assistant or something

He would have made a much better Humbert Humbert than James Mason ... but it would have been just another version of Gustav Aschenbach. Still, it is Borgarde I think of whenever I read that fabulous book by Vlad.

Just watched 'Victim'.

Very powerful film.

I don't care that he stayed in the closet. That was a very brave movie to make in 1961.

Final scene of ‘Death in Venice’:

Death in Venice (both the book and the film) is one of those iconic masterpieces that would be panned and condemned today thanks to manic SJW.

^ Now i’m genuinely confused. Why was the Bogarde character BLEEDING in the final scene at r114? Help erudite DLers.

Montgomery Clift likes fish dishes.

It's not blood R116 it's the hair dye he had applied to try to look younger.

Thanks r118. Phew.

"Death in Venice (both the book and the film) is one of those iconic masterpieces that would be panned and condemned today thanks to manic SJW."

Bitch, stop it with the "SJW" nonsense. The ones protesting it would be your fellow Republicans and Trump voters.

The first Adam and the Ants album title, Dirk Wears White Sox, refers to Bogarde, whom Adam admired.

As a kid I always thought he and Ricky Ricardo were the same person - they have a strong resemblance.

His books are excellent. 3 of them, bout his life. gr8 view into them times....and his life thru the decades. he knew ev one.