Born: May 18, 1934 (age 82), Los Angeles, California, United States
Education: Chouinard Art Institute
Lived: 145 Adelaide Dr, Santa Monica, CA 90402, USA (34.02865, -118.51404)
Artwork: Mary Lansbury, Tom Wudl, Richard Sassin, John Sonsini, more
Movies: Frankenstein: The True Story
Nominations: Nebula Award for Best Script, Lambda Literary Award for Visual Arts
Anniversary: February 14, 1953
Christopher Isherwood was an Anglo-American novelist. Donald Jess "Don" Bachardy is an American portrait artist. On Valentine's Day 1953, at the age of 48, Isherwood met teenaged Don Bachardy among a group of friends on the beach at Santa Monica. Reports of Bachardy's age at the time vary, but Bachardy later said, "At the time I was, probably, 16." In fact, Bachardy was 18. Despite the age difference, this meeting began a partnership that, though interrupted by affairs and separations, continued until the end of Isherwood's life. The two became a well-known and well-established couple in Southern Californian society with many Hollywood friends. Isherwood's finest achievement was his 1964 novel A Single Man that depicted a day in the life of George, a middle-aged, gay Englishman who is a professor at a Los Angeles university, and probably inspired by a temporary split between Isherwood and Bachardy. The 2008 film Chris & Don: A Love Story chronicled Isherwood and Bachardy's lifelong relationship.
Together from 1953 to 1986: 33 years.
Christopher Isherwood (August 26, 1904 - January 4, 1986)
Don Bachardy (born May 18, 1934)
Anniversary: February 14, 1953
Days of Love edited by Elisa Rolle
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
ISBN-10: 1500563323
Release Date: September 21, 2014
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
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The residence at 145 Adelaide Drive was home to acclaimed author Christopher Isherwood and his partner, artist Don Bachardy, for thirty years.
Address: 145 Adelaide Dr, Santa Monica, CA 90402, USA (34.02865, -118.51404)
Type: Private Property
Place
As Christopher Isherwood's home for three decades, the house on Adelaide Drive was the backdrop to the creation of seminal works within the fields of literature, theater, television, and fine art. In 1963, the residence played a key role in events that would later inspire Isherwood's most famous novel, “A Single Man.” Following an incident with Don Bachardy that nearly ended their relationship, Isherwood temporarily moved out of the home that they had shared for seven years. It was this event, as well as Isherwood's jealousy around Bachardy's affairs and the emotional turmoil that followed, that served as creative material for “A Single Man.”
Life
Who: Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (August 26, 1904 – January 4, 1986)
Born near Manchester, England in 1904, Isherwood became a U.S. citizen in 1946 and lived in Southern California until his death in 1986. Professionally, Isherwood was a well-known novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. He identified as gay and often explored this identity as a central theme in his literary work. One of his most celebrated accomplishments was his classic American novel, “A Single Man,” which was published in 1964. Isherwood was good friends with Dr. Evelyn Hooker and lived with her at 400 South Saltair Avenue from 1952 to 1953. In 1953, Isherwood met and fell in love with Don Bachardy, considered by many as Los Angeles' most celebrated portrait painter. Despite their thirty-year age difference, the couple lived together in this hillside residence from 1956 until Isherwood's death. Isherwood died at age 81 in 1986 in Santa Monica, California, from prostate cancer. His body was donated to the UCLA Medical School. Over the course of their relationship, Isherwood and Bachardy collaborated on many artistic projects, including the television film “Frankenstein: The True Story” and their diary-portrait series “October.”
Queer Places, Vol. 1 edited by Elisa Rolle
ISBN-13: 978-1532901904
ISBN-10: 1532901909
Release Date: July 24, 2016
Store: https://www.createspace.com/6228297
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