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Cleared for Take-Off
The sixth and final volume of the actor and writer's autobiography, which relates episodes from his war experiences, and years in films.
8 pages, Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Dirk Bogarde
36 books28 followersDirk Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde was born of mixed Flemish, Dutch and Scottish ancestry, and baptised on 30 October 1921 at St. Mary's Church, Kilburn. His father, Ulric van den Bogaerde (born in Perry Barr, Birmingham; 1892–1972), was the art editor of The Times and his mother, Margaret Niven (1898–1980), was a former actress. He attended University College School, the former Allan Glen's School in Glasgow (a time he described in his autobiography as unhappy, although others have disputed his account) and later studied at the Chelsea College of Art and Design. He began his acting career on stage in 1939, shortly before the start of World War II.
Bogarde served in World War II, being commissioned into the Queen's Royal Regiment in 1943. He reached the rank of captain and served in both the European and Pacific theatres, principally as an intelligence officer. Taylor Downing's book "Spies in the Sky" tells of his work with a specialist unit interpreting aerial photo-reconnaissance information, before moving to Normandy with Canadian forces. Bogarde claimed to have been one of the first Allied officers in April 1945 to reach the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, an experience that had the most profound effect on him and about which he found it difficult to speak for many years afterward. As John Carey has summed up with regard to John Coldstream's authorised biography however, "it is virtually impossible that he (Bogarde) saw Belsen or any other camp. Things he overheard or read seem to have entered his imagination and been mistaken for lived experience." Coldstream's analysis seems to conclude that this was indeed the case. Nonetheless, the horror and revulsion at the cruelty and inhumanity that he claimed to have witnessed still left him with a deep-seated hostility towards Germany; in the late-1980s he wrote that he would disembark from a lift rather than ride with a German of his generation. Nevertheless, three of his more memorable film roles were as Germans, one of them as a former SS officer in 'The Night Porter'.
Bogarde's London West End theatre-acting debut was in 1939, with the stage name 'Derek Bogaerde', in J. B. Priestley's play Cornelius. After the war his agent renamed him 'Dirk Bogarde' and his good looks helped him begin a career as a film actor, contracted to The Rank Organisation under the wing of the prolific independent film producer Betty Box, who produced most of his early films and was instrumental in creating his matinée idol image.
During the 1950s, Bogarde came to prominence playing a hoodlum who shoots and kills a police constable in The Blue Lamp (1950) co-starring Jack Warner and Bernard Lee; a handsome artist who comes to rescue of Jean Simmons during the World's Fair in Paris in So Long at the Fair, a film noir thriller; an accidental murderer who befriends a young boy played by Jon Whiteley in Hunted (aka The Stranger in Between) (1952); in Appointment in London (1953) as a young wing commander in Bomber Command who, against orders, opts to fly his 90th mission with his men in a major air offensive against the Germans; an unjustly imprisoned man who regains hope in clearing his name when he learns his sweetheart, Mai Zetterling, is still alive in Desperate Moment (1953); Doctor in the House (1954), as a medical student, in a film that made Bogarde one of the most popular British stars of the 1950s, and co-starring Kenneth More, Donald Sinden and James Robertson Justice as their crabby mentor; The Sleeping Tiger (1954), playing a neurotic criminal with co-star Alexis Smith, and Bogarde's first film for American expatriate director Joseph Losey; Doctor at Sea (1955), co-starring Brigitte Bardot in one of her first film roles.
Bogarde continued acting until 1990. 'Daddy Nostalgie' was his final film.
Bogarde served in World War II, being commissioned into the Queen's Royal Regiment in 1943. He reached the rank of captain and served in both the European and Pacific theatres, principally as an intelligence officer. Taylor Downing's book "Spies in the Sky" tells of his work with a specialist unit interpreting aerial photo-reconnaissance information, before moving to Normandy with Canadian forces. Bogarde claimed to have been one of the first Allied officers in April 1945 to reach the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, an experience that had the most profound effect on him and about which he found it difficult to speak for many years afterward. As John Carey has summed up with regard to John Coldstream's authorised biography however, "it is virtually impossible that he (Bogarde) saw Belsen or any other camp. Things he overheard or read seem to have entered his imagination and been mistaken for lived experience." Coldstream's analysis seems to conclude that this was indeed the case. Nonetheless, the horror and revulsion at the cruelty and inhumanity that he claimed to have witnessed still left him with a deep-seated hostility towards Germany; in the late-1980s he wrote that he would disembark from a lift rather than ride with a German of his generation. Nevertheless, three of his more memorable film roles were as Germans, one of them as a former SS officer in 'The Night Porter'.
Bogarde's London West End theatre-acting debut was in 1939, with the stage name 'Derek Bogaerde', in J. B. Priestley's play Cornelius. After the war his agent renamed him 'Dirk Bogarde' and his good looks helped him begin a career as a film actor, contracted to The Rank Organisation under the wing of the prolific independent film producer Betty Box, who produced most of his early films and was instrumental in creating his matinée idol image.
During the 1950s, Bogarde came to prominence playing a hoodlum who shoots and kills a police constable in The Blue Lamp (1950) co-starring Jack Warner and Bernard Lee; a handsome artist who comes to rescue of Jean Simmons during the World's Fair in Paris in So Long at the Fair, a film noir thriller; an accidental murderer who befriends a young boy played by Jon Whiteley in Hunted (aka The Stranger in Between) (1952); in Appointment in London (1953) as a young wing commander in Bomber Command who, against orders, opts to fly his 90th mission with his men in a major air offensive against the Germans; an unjustly imprisoned man who regains hope in clearing his name when he learns his sweetheart, Mai Zetterling, is still alive in Desperate Moment (1953); Doctor in the House (1954), as a medical student, in a film that made Bogarde one of the most popular British stars of the 1950s, and co-starring Kenneth More, Donald Sinden and James Robertson Justice as their crabby mentor; The Sleeping Tiger (1954), playing a neurotic criminal with co-star Alexis Smith, and Bogarde's first film for American expatriate director Joseph Losey; Doctor at Sea (1955), co-starring Brigitte Bardot in one of her first film roles.
Bogarde continued acting until 1990. 'Daddy Nostalgie' was his final film.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 26, 2025
"My war, My war,' nobody wanted to listened when Bogarde spoke of his WW II experiences, and so he moved on. Bogarde cleverly reflects his own life by mostly focusing on another person as he tells his own story about his story compiling his journey through life.
February 25, 2016
I'm so enjoying spending some more time with Dirk Bogarde, thanks to a generous discount on Kobo a little while ago! He writes so beautifully, and with such an edge of melancholy. And I did love the portrait he painted for us of the wonderful Ingrid Bergman.
May 22, 2012
One of the pleasures of visiting a new acquaintance's home is the opportunity of inspecting their bookshelves. First off I found an all time and rare treasure in 'The Matchmaker of Perigord' - I book I adore although when I launched my book group several years ago and chose this as a cherished, hilarious read I was disappointed with their underwhelming enthusiasm so it was fantastic to find another lover, and also that my lover loves it too. And to have a chance to read it for, well, probably the fourth time... The lending lover's lover (keeping up?) then lent me a book - by Dirk Bogarde. Well he's an actor isn't he. Not sure if I've seen him in a film... probably must have surely. He's written several memoirs has he - well I'm not surprised, he must have lived a very interesting life, met some other famous people and so on. And some novels. So he can actually write? Well, yes, he can. And what a sentient being he is, moving, intelligent, with a deeply endearing hubris and emotional accessibility. A surprise read, and a very well recommended gift.
April 21, 2025
How men are: rather than a lengthy disquisition on grief and loneliness (although they play a part), the final volume of Bogarde’s memoirs is an apparently random selection of stories - from his war, from his acting career, from his third life as a writer, peppered with memories of his partner and family. The tone - crisp, Home Counties asperity - is familiar, but all the more poignant for the way he describes love and loss, conveying depth without a trace of sentimentality or self-pity.
This can encompass the sheer horror of war (not the sanitised movie version), before switching to anecdotal stuff about a dictatorial film director or the wooden quality of a supermodel trying to act, and then to how one carries on after the death of the partner of forty years - which shows a certain amount of breadth and control to say the least.
“The blubbing was fright and sheer shock,” he says of a wartime roadside horror, “we had no counselling and no one claimed compensation. You expected this to happen in battle.” But, he later concludes, “men do cry. But only when really pushed.” The pushing in this case was seeing the dead body of his lover Anthony Forwood being removed, “the…indignity of a fifty year friendship being bounced awkwardly down the stairs in a black plastic bag.”
The paradox of late 20th century masculinity, identity and fate, wrapped up in cool, unemotional language that steps away from confrontation or hysteria for their own sake. Something to be learned from.
This can encompass the sheer horror of war (not the sanitised movie version), before switching to anecdotal stuff about a dictatorial film director or the wooden quality of a supermodel trying to act, and then to how one carries on after the death of the partner of forty years - which shows a certain amount of breadth and control to say the least.
“The blubbing was fright and sheer shock,” he says of a wartime roadside horror, “we had no counselling and no one claimed compensation. You expected this to happen in battle.” But, he later concludes, “men do cry. But only when really pushed.” The pushing in this case was seeing the dead body of his lover Anthony Forwood being removed, “the…indignity of a fifty year friendship being bounced awkwardly down the stairs in a black plastic bag.”
The paradox of late 20th century masculinity, identity and fate, wrapped up in cool, unemotional language that steps away from confrontation or hysteria for their own sake. Something to be learned from.
July 12, 2024
This was at times, a very raw and seemingly honest memoir that delved into some very personal feelings. There were also elements of humour in a very British, understated way. Patently, there was a constant thread of melancholy, even during the recounting of relatively happy times. Written in a conversational style, the book was engaging and easy to read.
January 5, 2023
Revisiting the Dirk Bogarde memoirs - beautifully written - great insights into a fascinating and frequently vulnerable character.
Looking forward to reading the series.
Looking forward to reading the series.
January 10, 2023
Love this man
September 4, 2023
A strong finish to seven volumes of memoirs. A must-read for avid Bogarde fans.
February 5, 2024
Bogarde is an actor that always fascinated me and reading his words in this book he has proved me right…he was a very fascinating man.
Read in 2013
Read in 2013
May 27, 2015
This is the second memoir of Dirk Bogarde's I've read and which I have also enjoyed very much. His style is easy and immenesly readable, though I've met at least one person who finds his style annoying. His ability to play down (for the most part) significant influences/occurrences in his life is I feel commendable here rather than superficial though lets be fair this is not a deep read but it's a good read and one likes the man more for having read it.
April 7, 2011
I was lucky enough to meet Dirk and he signed this book for me, it's another triumph, a really startling account of his time spent in the army as a young man and his discovery of his love of acting. His way with words is to me, unsurpassable brilliance. The man had a true gift and I preferred his writing to his acting, I have never been moved by books as much as I was by his.
September 7, 2008
The final of seven autobiographical works from Bogarde and possibly the best of all. This has snippets from all parts of his life and is written with his usual easy and conversational style.
November 5, 2009
An Autobiography of a very private man. He doesn't give much away.
March 24, 2014
An honest, humble account of a fascinating but somewhat sad life.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews