SEND IN THE CLOWNS - THE YO YO LIFE OF IAN HENDRY
BY GABRIEL HERSHMAN
Screen legend Ian Hendry (1931-1984) was the star of six major television series and around 30 films. The original star of The Avengers and, later, series such as The Informer and The Lotus Eaters and For Maddie with Love, Hendry also made outstanding contributions to big movies like Repulsion, The Hill, Theatre of Blood and Get Carter for which he was nominated for a Bafta.
In this, the first ever biography of this outstanding but underrated star, Gabriel Hershman highlights the versatility and hidden subtlety of an artist once hailed as "Britain’s greatest actor" by Brian Clemens. A songwriter as well as a successful actor, whose sentimental ballads revealed a sensitive, vulnerable figure at odds with his tough-guy screen persona and hell-raising image, Hendry's final years were dogged by ill-health.
The biography reveals a multi-talented, charismatic, entertaining and inspirational figure who never recovered from the death of his second wife, actress Janet Munro. It is a touching story of "a ruined genius" (in the words of John Nettles) ultimately destroyed by his own demons. The biography concludes that Ian Hendry was truly Britain's greatest television actor, a man who had everything going for him – except good luck.
Send in the Clowns – the Yo Yo Life of Ian Hendry, by Gabriel Hershman, is available from Lulu.
Order the Paperback or eBook via this link
David Barnes, who runs the Retrosellers site, reviewed the book and wrote: "I have read hundreds of music, TV and film-related biographies in my time and this splendid one stands up there as one of the best."
Gabriel Hershman is a journalist and freelance writer who has written extensively on film. He currently lives in Sofia, Bulgaria. Recent interviews include those with Eric Roberts, Stephen Lang and Leslie Grantham.
Send in the Clowns - the Yo Yo Life of Ian Hendry is his first book.
