Robin Maugham

Robert Cecil Romer Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham (17 May 1916 – 13 March 1981), known as Robin Maugham, was a British author.

Trained as a barrister, he served with distinction in the Second World War, and wrote a successful novella, The Servant, later filmed with Dirk Bogarde and James Fox. This was followed by over thirty books including novels, travelogues, plays and biographical works. In the House of Lords, he drew attention to human trafficking as the new slavery.

Family background Maugham was the son of Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham, and Helen Romer. Maugham never married, and the viscountcy became extinct upon his death. He had three sisters: Kate, Honor, and novelist Diana Marr-Johnson (1908–2007).

Maugham bought the merchant ship MV Joyita as a hulk in the early 1960s, writing about the mystery of the incident in his book The Joyita Mystery (1962). The ship had been lost at sea only to reappear five weeks later after a massive search found nothing, without crew or passengers, and with four tons of cargo missing.

He wrote a candid, critically acclaimed, autobiography, Escape from the Shadows (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972), and then a sequel, Search for Nirvana (W. H. Allen London 1975) which he dedicated to his last companion William Lawrence who travelled with him on his search and who assisted him with his work.

Death

In the last five years of his life, with the impact of the new movement of working class realism, his popularity began to diminish and his health deteriorated. Maugham died in Brighton in 1981, aged 64. although an official cause of death was difficult to obtain as his body was apparently lost for forty-eight hours after his death. He is buried in Hartfield, Sussex, next to his parents. The Man with Two Shadows (1958) November Reef (1962) The Green Shade (1966) The Wrong People (1967) The Second Window (1968) The Link: A Victorian Mystery (1969) The Last Encounter (1972) The Barrier (1973) The Sign (1974) Knock on Teak (1976) Lovers in Exile (1977) The Dividing Line (1978) The Corridor (1980) Refuge (1980, unpublished) The Deserters (1981)

Collections The Black Tent and Other Stories (appeared 1972; had been made into a film The Black Tent in 1956) The Boy from Beirut and Other Stories, edited by Peter Burton (1982)

Biography and travel

Come To Dust (1945) Nomad (1947) Approach to Palestine (1947) North African Notebook (1948) Journey to Siwa (1950) The Slaves of Timbuktu (1961) The Joyita Mystery (1962) Somerset and All the Maughams (1966) Escape from the Shadows (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1972): autobiography Search for Nirvana (1975): autobiography, continued Conversations with Willie (1978) Willie (1979)

Plays, speeches, television and radio 1955: The Leopard (play) set in Tanganyika. Connaught Theatre, Worthing 1956: Mister Lear (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing 1957: Rise Above It (Television) Produced by ABC. BBC Productions 1957: Odd Man In (play) Adaptation of Claude Magnier's comedy Monsieur Masure. St Martin's Theatre 1957: The Last Hero (play) Repertory Players, Strand Theatre, London. The subject was the life of General Gordon 1957: The Lonesome Road (Play) by Robin Maugham and Philip King. Arts Theatre, London, (1957) 1957: Winter in Ischia (Play) (not yet performed), see also 1965 1958: The Servant (play) Adaptation by Robin Maugham. Connaught Theatre, Worthing 1960: Slavery in Africa and Arabia (The House of Lords publication of his maiden speech; Hansard) 1960: The Two Wise Virgins of Hove (ITV Television) 1961: The Claimant (play) Connaught Theatre, Worthing 1962: Azouk (play) Adaptation of Alexandre Rivermale's play by Robin Maugham and Willis Hall. The Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne 1962: The Last Hero (radio play) based on the life of General Gordon. Produced for BBC Radio, Saturday Night Theatre 1965: Winter in Ischia (television ITV), see also 1957 1966: Gordon of Khartoum (Play of the Month, BBC1) 1966: The Servant (play) The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford 1969: Enemy (play) Premiere, The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford 1969: Enemy (play) Saville Theatre, London 1981: A Question of Retreat (play) Nightingale Theatre, Brighton; also adapted for a Radio 4, BBC production 1989: The Servant (play) Bayview Theatre, Toronto. Starting Keir Dullea and David Ferry.