Charles Higham (biographer)

Charles Higham (pronounced HYE-um; 18 February 1931 – 21 April 2012)^[1]^[2] was an English author, editor and poet.

After moving to Australia in 1954, Higham began a career in journalism, before moving to the United States in 1969. In the United States, he became known as a celebrity biographer, mainly of film stars, such as Katharine Hepburn and Errol Flynn. The latter book, among several during Higham's career, was criticized for fabrications.^[3] Close friends of another of his subjects, Orson Welles, in particular Peter Bogdanovich, were critical of Higham's interpretation of his career.

^ Elaine Woo "Charles Higham dies at 81; controversial celebrity biographer", Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2012
^ Fox, Margalit "Charles Higham, Celebrity Biographer, Dies at 81", The New York Times, 3 May 2012; "A cloying vulgarity and coarseness suffuse this book", Carolyn See wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1986, reviewing his Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball. "But the author is either so cunning – or so closely allied in emotional terms with the subject of this biography – that the reader can’t tell if the vulgarity comes from Charles Higham or from Lucille Ball herself."
^ "Charles Higham obituary". The Telegraph. London. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2021. Higham claimed she (Duchess of Windsor) was the mistress not only of Count Ciano, but also of Ribbentrop. He maintained that the Duchess's attractions included exotic sexual techniques that she had picked up on visits to the brothels of Peking, which allowed the Prince of Wales to make the best of his supposedly modest endowments. He set a tone for vilification later explored by other biographers.

[Woo-1] Elaine Woo "Charles Higham dies at 81; controversial celebrity biographer", Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2012

[NYT20120503-2] Fox, Margalit "Charles Higham, Celebrity Biographer, Dies at 81", The New York Times, 3 May 2012; "A cloying vulgarity and coarseness suffuse this book", Carolyn See wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 1986, reviewing his Lucy: The Life of Lucille Ball. "But the author is either so cunning – or so closely allied in emotional terms with the subject of this biography – that the reader can’t tell if the vulgarity comes from Charles Higham or from Lucille Ball herself."

[Telegraphobit-3] "Charles Higham obituary". The Telegraph. London. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2021. Higham claimed she (Duchess of Windsor) was the mistress not only of Count Ciano, but also of Ribbentrop. He maintained that the Duchess's attractions included exotic sexual techniques that she had picked up on visits to the brothels of Peking, which allowed the Prince of Wales to make the best of his supposedly modest endowments. He set a tone for vilification later explored by other biographers.

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