Biografia

3 maggio 1896 · Whitefield, Lancashire, Inghilterra, Regno Unito

24 novembre 1990 · Uttlesford, Essex, Inghilterra, Regno Unito (imprecisato)

Dorothy Gladys Smith

During their lengthy American sojourn, Smith and her husband were close friends of the novelist Christopher Isherwood, who caused them a great deal of worry, as they felt he didn't look after himself properly, was prone to self-destructive behavior (notably drinking too much) and hypochondria and never seemed to have much money. It was at their house that another guest, the successful playwright John Van Druten, was jokingly challenged by them to make a play out of Isherwood's famous stories of pre-war Berlin. Van Druten took the challenge seriously and called Isherwood the following day to say he'd worked out a method whereby the stories could be made into a play, and could he have permission to continue? Isherwood assented, and the ensuing play, "I Am A Camera", was a huge hit on Broadway and in London, was filmed in 1955 and later was the basis for the even more popular musical "Cabaret" - all of which added greatly to Isherwood's income. He later claimed that Smith and her husband had raised the topic of a play quite deliberately as a covert way of helping him out.

She began her writing career as a teenager in the early days of the First World War. Using a male pseudonym, she wrote an original film script and actually sold it, the film appearing in 1915. Her fee was three pounds and ten shillings.

After several years of living with Alec Macbeth Beesley, she married him at the beginning of 1939, and they immediately left England for America, where they lived for many years. Beesley was committed to being a conscientious objector in the war he felt sure was coming to Europe, and they both felt that a change of country would avoid legal problems as a result of this.