Hugo Vickers comes to the Cinema Museum to deliver his lecture on the life and work of Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980). He is well qualified to do so, having been chosen by Cecil Beaton to write his authorised biography in 1980. He also edited some of Beaton’s unexpurgated diaries and has been his literary executor since 1988.

Cecil Beaton was foremost a photographer but he was also a designer of sets and costumes for stage, screen and opera, an arbiter of taste and fashion, a failed playwright, traveller, war photographer, painter and caricaturist – in essence a man who moved easily and elegantly through many worlds of the Twentieth Century.

This talk traces his early career from an unpromising beginning, through his school days, to his involvement with the Bright Young Things, his rise to fame and his work with Conde Nast, and then moves into his war work and the photography of the Royal Family.

It looks at his strange love affair with Greta Garbo, and his work on films such as Gigi and My Fair Lady.

It is a visual treat, brought to life by an author who is acknowledged as the ultimate expert on Beaton.

Doors open at 18.30 for a 19.30 start. Refreshments will be available in our licenced cafe/bar.

Tickets & Pricing

Spring Season 2013 ticketing applies. Advance tickets may be purchased from WeGotTickets, or direct from the Museum.