New Dirk Bogarde website

Today the Dirk Bogarde estate launched an official website devoted to his life and acting career.

The background to it is explained in an article from this morning's Independent:

When Sir Dirk Bogarde, the matinée idol, star of European art-house cinema and author, died eight years ago, he left more material than most for any would-be biographer.

On top of over 60 films and 14 books, including several bestselling volumes of autobiography, there were cupboards packed with letters, photographs and film scripts left at the flat in Chelsea, west London, where Bogarde spent his final years.

It was left to his nephew, Brock Van den Bogaerde, to deal with them. He decided that before despatching any material of note to institutions for study by future generations, he should put together a website that would serve researchers and fans alike. The plan was to include everything "from magazine covers to his views on acting, his role in British cinema, in European cinema, in theatre and every book he ever wrote. It was such an enormous life, it really needed a website to put it all in perspective," he says.

The resulting 600-page site, www.dirkbogarde.co.uk, is launched today on what would have been Bogarde's 86th birthday. It offers a reminder of the literary as well as the acting output of the star of films including The Blue Lamp, Darling and Death in Venice, but also a glimpse into the private world of one of the 20th century's more complex leading men.