Audrey Williamson

Audrey May Williamson (29 May 1913, Thornton Heath – 14 March 1986) was a British historical writer and "one of the most prolific theatre journalists of her time". In 1978, Williamson received the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction for The Mystery of the Princes.

Life Williamson started out as an actress, but according to her Times obituarist "her career in the theatre was restricted by a diminutive physique". As a journalist, she wrote on art and medieval history for Opera News, Theatre Arts Monthly and Drama. In the 1960s she lived in the United States, and was New York opera and ballet correspondent for the Times and the Sunday Times. After publishing a book on Thomas Paine in 1973, she served as vice president of the Thomas Paine Society.

Works Non-Fiction Contemporary Ballet. London: Rockliff, 1946 Ballet Renaissance. 1947. London: Golden Galley Press Old Vic Drama: A Twelve Years' Study of Plays and Players. London: Rockliff, 1948 The Art of Ballet, London: Elek, 1950 Theatre of Two Decades. London: Rockliff, 1951 Gilbert and Sullivan Opera: A New Assessment. London: Rockliff 1953 Contemporary Theatre, 1953–1956. London: Rockliff, 1956 Paul Rogers. London: Rockliff, 1956 (With Charles Landstone) The Bristol Old Vic: The First Ten Years, London: J. Garnet Miller, 1957 Old Vic Drama 2, 1947 –1957, London: Rockliff, 1957 Ballet of 3 Decades. London: Rockliff, 1958 Wagner Opera. London: J. Calder, 1962 Bernard Shaw: Man and Writer. London: Collier-Macmillan, 1963 Thomas Paine: His Life, Work, and Times. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973 Wilkes: A Friend to Liberty . London: George Allen & Unwin, 1974 Artists and Writers in Revolt: The Pre-Raphaelites. Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1976 The Mystery of the Princes: An Investigation into a Supposed Murder. Dursley: Alan Sutton, 1978

Fiction Funeral March for Siegfried: A Richard York Detective Novel. London: Elek, 1979 Death of a Theatre Filly: A Richard York Detective Novel. London: Elek, 1980