William Donaldson

For other people named William Donaldson, see William Donaldson (disambiguation).
William Donaldson
Born (1935-01-04)4 January 1935
Died 22 June 2005(2005-06-22) (aged 70)
Pen name Henry Root
Occupation Writer and satirist
Notable works The Henry Root Letters
Spouse Sonia Avory
Claire Gordon
Cherry Hatrick

Charles William Donaldson (4 January 1935 – 22 June 2005[1]) was an English satirist, writer, playboy and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of The Henry Root Letters.

Life and career

Donaldson enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Sunningdale, Berkshire, as the son of a shipping magnate. He was educated at Winchester College, where he met Julian Mitchell. He spent some money supporting young writers such as his contemporaries Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.[2] He completed his National Service in the Royal Navy in the late 1950s, reaching the rank of Sub-Lieutenant.

On his return to civilian life, Donaldson became associated with the set surrounding Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and worked as a theatrical producer. He established himself as a central player in the British satire boom of the early 1960s, as co-producer, with Donald Albery, of Beyond the Fringe (1960), and of dramatisations of J. P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man (1959) and Spike Milligan's The Bed-Sitting Room (1963). The pair earned a weekly £2,000 from Beyond the Fringe while the performers Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller were earning only £75.

In 1968, Donaldson received a substantial inheritance, and in 1971 he left Britain for Ibiza, where he imprudently spent his last £2,000 on a glass-bottomed boat. Before long he was scavenging for food on the beach. Returning to London, he found refuge with a former girlfriend who was running a brothel on the Fulham Road.[1] His experiences there formed the basis of his first novel, Both the Ladies and the Gentlemen (1975).

However, it was to be Donaldson's fictional letter-writer Henry Root who made him a final fortune. Root's satirical lampooning of the rich, famous, and influential was published in the books:

Donaldson lived at 139 Elm Park Mansions on Park Walk, Chelsea, London SW10, from which address all the Root letters were sent. Nearby, The Henry Root restaurant has been established in his memory.[3]

Donaldson's biographical survey of roguish Britons through the ages, Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics (2002), has been described as "a breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship".[2]

The phenomenal success of the Henry Root books, especially the first, enabled Donaldson to resume his earlier chaotic lifestyle, and in the mid-1980s he began using crack cocaine.[4] He continued its use for more than a decade, but insisted he was not addicted.[2]

Personal life

Donaldson married Sonia Avory in 1957 and she bore him his only child, Charlie. However, he left her for Jacki Ellis, then the wife of Jeffrey Bernard, but in due course she left him. A sequence of affairs followed, including liaisons with Sarah Miles and Carly Simon.[1] He left Miles for Simon, whom he described as "the answer to any sane man's prayers; funny, quick, erotic, extravagantly talented", but this did not prevent him from jilting her while they were engaged and returning to Miles.[5] In 1968, Donaldson inherited another fortune and married Claire Gordon. The couple epitomised 1960s Swinging London. He later remembered that "sex, whether in company or not, has been the only department in life in which I have demanded from anyone taking part the very highest standards of seriousness."[2]

He was survived by his third wife, Cherry Hatrick.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "William Donaldson – Womanising satirist and novelist who squandered several fortunes on wild living". The Times. London. 27 June 2005.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hawtree, Christopher (25 June 2005). "Guardian Obituary". The Guardian. London.
  3. ↑ www.thehenryroot.com
  4. ↑ Terence Blacker, 'Donaldson, (Charles) William [Henry Root] (1935–2005)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, Jan 2011
  5. ↑ O'Hagan, Sean (13 April 2008). "When rock chicks ruled". The Guardian. London.

Further reading

External links

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