More, Julian 1928-

views updated

MORE, Julian 1928-

PERSONAL: Born June 15, 1928, in Llanelli, Wales; son of Frank Hugh (a land agent) and Guinevere (a painter; maiden name, Lyne) More; married Sheila Christine Hull (an artist's agent), August 9, 1951; children: Camilla and Carey (twins). Education: Trinity College, Cambridge, B.A., 1951. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, walking, cooking, wine.

ADDRESSES: Home—Provence, France. Agent—(-theater) Sebastian Born, Curtis Brown, Ltd., 162-168 Regent St., London W1R, England; (literary) Abner Stein, 10 Roland Gardens, London SW7 3PH, England.

CAREER: Playwright, lyricist, screenwriter, journalist, and author.

MEMBER: Writers Guild of Great Britain, Society of Authors, Performing Right Society, Songwriters' Guild (United States and England), Dramatists Guild (United States), Groucho Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Evening Standard Award and Society of West End Theater Award, both best musical, 1979, for Songbook; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best book to a musical, American Theater Wing, 1981, for The Moony Shapiro Songbook; Prix Litteraire Alexandre Dumaine, 1989, for A Taste of Provence.

WRITINGS:

Don't Go Away, I Might Fall Down, J. Cape (London, England), 1963.

Views from a French Farmhouse, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1985.

Views from the Hollywood Hills, photographs by daughter, Carey More, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1986.

Views from a Tuscan Vineyard, photographs by Carey More, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1987.

A Taste of Provence: The Food and People of SouthernFrance, with Forty Delicious Recipes, photographs by Carey More, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1988.

Impressions of the Seine, photographs by Carey More, Rizzoli (New York, NY), 1991.

More about France: A Sentimental Journey, J. Cape (London, England), 1992.

A Taste of Burgundy, photographs by Carey More, Abbeville (New York, NY), 1993.

Pagnol's Provence, photographs by Carey More, Pavilion Books (London, England), 1996.

Impressionist Paris: The Essential Guide to the City ofLight, Pavilion Books (London, England), 1998.

Tour de Provence, photographs by John Miller, Pavilion Books (London, England), 2001.

STAGE PLAYS:

(Contributor) Airs on a Shoestring (revue), produced in London, England, on West End, 1953.

(With James Gilbert) The World's the Limit, produced by Windsor Theater, 1955.

(Book, with James Gilbert) Grab Me a Gondola (musical), produced in London, England, at Lyric Theater, 1956.

(Book) Expresso Bongo (musical), produced in London, England, at Saville Theater, 1958.

(Book with Wolf Mankowitz; lyrics with David Heneker and Monty Norman) Irma La Douce (musical; based on a short story by Wolf Mankowitz), produced in London, England, at Lyric Theater, 1958, then in New York, NY, at Plymouth Theater, 1961.

(Book, with David Heneker and Monty Norman) TheArt of Living (musical revue), produced in London, England, at Criterion Theater, 1960.

(Book, with David Heneker and Monty Norman) Songbook (musical), based on columns by Art Buchwald), produced in London, England, at Globe Theater, 1978, retitled The Moony Shapiro Songbook, produced in New York, NY, at Morosco Theater, 1981.

(Book, with Gilbert Becarol) Roza (musical; based on a novel by Romain Gary), produced in New York, NY, at Royale Theater, 1987.

(Adaptor of book) Can-Can (musical; based on original book by Abe Burrows), produced in London, England, 1988.

Other stage writings include (with composer James Gilbert) The Golden Touch, (with Monty Norman) The Perils of Scobie Prilt, (with David Russell) The Man from the West, (with Monty Norman) Quick, Quick, Slow, (with James Gilbert) Good Time Johnny, (with Alexander Ferris) Bordello, and (with Al Frisch and Bernard Spiro) Bordello. Also contributor to productions of Watergate Theater.

SCREENPLAYS:

Red and Blue, United Artists, 1966.

(With William E. Bast) The Valley of Gwangi, Warner Bros., 1969.

Incense for the Damned (also known as Doctors Wear Scarlet and The Bloodsuckers), Lucinda, 1970.

(With Sheila More) The Catamount Killing, Hallmark, 1975.

Chanel Solitaire, United Film Distribution, 1981.

Contributor of travel articles to various periodicals, including the Daily Mail, New York Times, London Times, European Travel and Life, and Los Angeles Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Julian More has penned the book and lyrics to a number of popular stage musicals, including Irma La Douce, Songbook, and Roza. Enid Nemy described the plot of Roza in the New York Times as "the story of an over-the-hill Jewish prostitute who makes her living raising her colleagues' children." More has also written screenplays, including director Tony Richardson's Red and Blue as well as collaborating with William E. Bast on The Valley of Gwangi, a science fiction film in which cowboys encounter dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in a hidden Mexican valley.

A native of Wales, More has since relocated to a farmhouse in the south of France. His experiences there have inspired a number of books, such as Viewsfrom a French Farmhouse and A Taste of Provence: The Food and People of Southern France, with Forty Delicious Recipes. In Views from a French Farmhouse More delivers the prose while his daughter, Carey, provides photographs of Provence. A critic in the Washington Post Book World noted that this partnership permitted Julian and Carey More "to share the insights they've gained into the rhythms of the people and the land." Their gastronomic book, A Taste of Provence, once again combines More's "warm, wry text" with Carey More's "charming, quirky" pictures, according to a reviewer in Booklist. Included in A Taste of Provence are forty recipes for Provencal dishes. More's memories of France, which extend back to his boyhood, are also the subject of More about France: A Sentimental Journey. "Each of his fourteen chapters gives us his first impressions of a particular part of France, gathered between 1937 and 1979, interwoven with experiences drawn from recent visits," pointed out Jacquey Visick in the Times Literary Supplement.

More once told CA: "My multifaceted writing is an escape from one self to another. And some of these selves—by no means all—have been among my best collaborators."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1988, review of A Taste ofProvence: The Food and People of Southern France, with Forty Delicious Recipes, p. 527.

Library Journal, July, 1998, George M. Jenks, review of Impressionist Paris: The Essential Guide to the City of Light, p. 119; May 15, 2002, Olga B. Wise, review of Tour de Provence, p. 116.

New York Times, December 19, 1986; February 20, 1987; May 15, 1987; October 2, 1987, Enid Nemy, review of Roza.

Publishers Weekly, December 30, 1996, review of Pagnol's Provence, p. 51.

Times Literary Supplement, June 5, 1992, Jacquey Visick, review of More about France: A Sentimental Journey, p. 26.

Washington Post Book World, December 8, 1985, review of Views from a French Farmhouse, p. 11.