Dame Beryl Bainbridge
(1932-2010), Novelist and actressSitter in 6 portraits
A prolific novelist characterised by black humour in her concise works and her unconventional image. Born in Liverpool, where she took up acting before turning to writing; Bainbridge's first novel Harriet Said was taken up in 1972 by Duckworth, her publisher for twenty five years. The Dressmaker (1973) was the first of many to reach the Booker shortlist. Other works include The Bottle Factory Outing (1974), Watson's Apology (1983), Master Georgie (1998) and The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
by Dmitri Kasterine
digital print, 2009, based on a work of 1972
NPG P1322
Dame Beryl Bainbridge; Bernice Rubens
by Gordon Stuart
oil on card, 1995
NPG 6409
by Mayotte Magnus
modern bromide print from original negative, 1981
NPG x138808
by Stuart Redler
bromide fibre print, June 1984
NPG x25296
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