Great Lives

When actress Sally Phillips first saw Myrna Loy, she burst into tears. It was in a film called The Best Years of Our Lives, about three veterans returning to their wives after the Second World War. Myrna Loy was most famous for the Thin Man series, and she also played voluptuous baddies in flicks like The Mask of Fun Manchu. But it's not just her screen career that inspires Sally, a star herself for work in Smack the Pony and Bridget Jones. Myrna Loy was a hardworking and often fearless person, heavily involved with The Red Cross and UNESCO after the war. The author of Fast Talking Dames, Maria di Battista, joins the discussion from Princeton.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2020.

Actor and comedian Daniel Rigby chooses the creator of Acorn Antiques, As Seen on TV and Dinnerladies, Victoria Wood.Victoria grew up in a bungalow high up on the moors in Lancashire. The rooms were partitioned off with plywood, and she loved to play the piano on her own. She became the biggest comedy star in the UK, writing, directing, acting, and winning BAFTAS for being funny, and being serious too. Nominating the star of Wood and Walters, Dinnerladies and Housewife, 49 is Daniel Rigby. Daniel won a BAFTA playing Eric Morecambe in 2011, with Victoria Wood as his mum. She also became his landlady. Joining the often joyful discussion is Jasper Rees - author of the authorised biography of Victoria Wood.Presenter: Matthew ParrisProducer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2020.

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. She was a mother, writer, dancer, director, performer, friend of presidents, and author of seven volumes of memoir. The very first - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - returned to the top of the best-seller lists when she died in 2014. So why were people fascinated by her life? Nominating her is Bristol University's recently appointed professor of slavery, Olivette Otele. "I l love her, I really do." She's joined by Patricia Cumper who has adapted many of Maya Angelou's books for radio. The presenter is Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Ursula le Guin was born in California in 1929. Her books - including A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness - have been described as masterpieces but she battled prejudice all her life from the literary elite. Choosing her because she loves both Ursula's books and who she was is the British musician Kate Stables. She's speaking to Matthew Parris from Paris. On the line from San Francisco is Arwen Curry - she knew the author and made the film The Worlds of Ursula K Le Guin with the strapline, A Wizard's Work is Never Done.The producers in Bristol are Toby Field and Miles Warde

"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will get you through life" Frank Cottrell-Boyce Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. An artist, illustrator and writer she became best known as the creator of The Moomins, the little white trolls who lived in Moominvalley with other fantastical creatures such as the Hattifatteners, Mymbles and Whompers. Acclaimed screenwriter and children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce has described Tove Jansson as his 'Guardian Angel' having first discovered Moominvalley one Saturday morning in his local library in Liverpool. He encountered Comets, Great Floods and a little Midsummer Madness all of which were met with the warmth and wisdom of Moomin-Mamma, the gentle observance of Snufkin and the inventiveness of Little My. Fantastical in their adventures but rooted in reality and humanity, Frank Cottrell-Boyce champions the creator of Mooninvalley who poured her fascinating

Chef , writer and presenter Rick Stein chooses the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison.As a 21 year old man travelling the world, a young Rick Stein discovered The Doors and became fascinated by the band's lead singer, Jim Morrison. Over the subsequent 50 years, the life and legend of one of rock and roll's brightest stars had a lasting impact on the restauranteur. Joining Matthew Parris and Rick Stein to uncover the mysteries of Jim's life is the broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, who found The Doors when he was a student radio disc jockey at university. With contributions from Frank Lisciandro, filmmaker and friend of Jim, and Kirsten Norrie, poet and singer. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2020.

When Andi Oliver first read Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' she felt as though someone climbed inside her head. Morrison's books saved the chef and broadcaster's life - both emotionally and cerebrally. The author, editor and college professor Toni Morrison chronicled the lives of African-Americans in novels such as 'Beloved', 'Sula' and 'Song of Solomon'. She once said that what drove her to write was "the silence of so many stories untold and unexamined". Born in Ohio, she was granddaughter to a slave, and her work often drew on the legacies of slavery, how it's carried down the generations. Awarded both the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature, her work was internationally acclaimed. Joining Matthew Parris and Andi Oliver is Morrison's close friend Fran Lebowitz, and Howard University professor Dana Williams.Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2020.

"I am a German American, a pure one, dating back to when German Americans were still marrying each other." Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922, but the most important event in his life happened in Dresden in 1945. He was a POW and underground in a meat locker during the firebombing. When he emerged he found the city totally destroyed. It took him another two decades to work out how to write his book, Slaughterhouse-Five.Nominating Vonnegut is the comedian Josie Long, who says that finding a writer you love is like finding a friend. Because no expert was available for this recording, Kurt Vonnegut will be taking on this role himself. Kurt died in April 2007.The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

From Kansas City to New York, young Charlie Parker conquered the world of jazz.. He was famous during his life, and even more famous after he died aged 34. He's nominated here by former health minister, home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke. Together with Richard Williams and Val Wilmer, Ken recounts what made Bird great, and why he died so very young. "If you look at the street scenes of Harlem in 1940, it was a squalid place. Club life in New York was probably a smart escape." Ken ClarkeThe programme also includes clips by Dizzy Gillespie and Annie Ross. and music such as Koko and Now's the Time. The presenter is Matthew Parris, and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is best known for what used to be known as the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. When he died in 1913, the New York Times called him the last of the 'giants belonging to that wonderful group of intellectuals ... whose daring investigations revolutionised and evolutionised the thought of the century." Born in 1823, Wallace was a collector, a writer, a keen conservationist, and Bill has been to Borneo to see Wallace's famous flying frog. With Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, and presented by Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Janice Turner recently wrote a sweet, sensitive article about packing up the contents of her parent’s house. “The experience was almost unbearable,” she began. Among the items passed down from the attic, “my entire childhood,” were a heavy sledge, Twinkle and Jackie annuals, “and a heavy trunk of 60 Enid Blytons.”60 Enid Blytons - imagine that! Janice Turner aka @victoriapeckham and winner of press interviewer of the year, is nominating Enid Blyton in a programme filled scandal, racism and lovely archive. Blyton was rejected in 2019 from a commemorative coin because of the controversy that continues to swirl around her work .... which include The Famous Five, the Secret Seven, and 24 books about Noddy. The programme includes the biographer Nadia Cohen, the presenter Matthew Parris, and the producer Miles Warde.

What makes a brilliant politician? What should motivate them? Does having a faith help? Broadcaster and writer Jeremy Paxman chooses the seventh earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper. a Victorian politician whose numerous and wide-ranging social reforms transformed working and living conditions for impoverished children, miners and chimney-sweeps alike. Joining Matthew Parris and Jeremy Paxman is Lord Shaftesbury's great-great-grandson, the twelfth earl, Nick Ashley-Cooper. The three discover more about the Ashley-Cooper dynasty, ponder what makes a good earl and explore how aristocratic life has changed between then and now. Producer: Camellia Sinclair

In the early summer of 1945, Lee Miller sent a telegram back to London about what she had seen in the Nazi death camps. “I implore you to believe this is true,” she wrote. Her employers were Vogue magazine. How did a famous beauty like Miller end up covering the war?Her extraordinary life and the images she left, most famously posing in Hitler's bath, are explored here by Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News. She is joined by Miller's son, Antony Penrose. Lee Miller was American, born in 1907, but lived in Paris and Cairo and then London during the blitz. Her lovers included Man Ray, she knew Cocteau and Picasso, and was an important surrealist. But it was her work in world war two that leads Lindsey Hilsum to claim her as Marie Colvin's spiritual ancestor. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.Photo copyright www.leemiller.co.uk

"It's absolutely joyous, one of the highlights of my career!" Peter Oborne on being joined by Martin Jarvis, the man who brings Just William to life.Journalist Oborne is nominating both William Brown and his creator, Richmal Crompton. She wrote 39 multi-million selling books, and her delight in William is clear to hear in the archive. Other contributors include her biographer, Mary Cadogan, and her niece, Richmal Ashbee. But it's the brilliance of Martin Jarvis's impersonations of William, Ginger and the gang that brings this programme to life. Plus the interplay between Peter Oborne and Matthew Parris."Do you think William would have been Brexit?" "I don't think there's any evidence." Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

The author Chibundu Onuzo nominates the first elected female in Africa, Constance Agatha Cummings-John.Chibundu discovered the remarkable story of Constance while studying for her PhD. Born into the Sierra Leonean Krios elite in 1918, Constance was brought up in colonial Freetown, with a lifestyle which most resembled English gentility. But everything changed for her when she travelled to England and America as a teenager. She experienced racism and segregation for the first time, and returned to Sierra Leone determined to fight the colonial rule of the British. At just 20 years old she became the first female elected councillor in Africa, and later the mayor of Freetown. But following independence, she would find herself in exile in London. Matthew Parris is joined by Chibundu and Constance's grandson, Dennis Cummings-John, to discuss prejudice, class and colonialism, through the inspirational story of a woman ahead of her time.Producer: Polly WestonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Comedian Sindhu Vee has loved Prince ever since she was a young girl in India - when her sister gave her illicit cassettes recorded from US radio. A pop polymath and global superstar, Prince was also a man of extreme contradictions and multiple personas. Hearing his music changed Sindhu's life forever, and seeing him perform influenced her career as a comedian. Sindhu is joined by BAFTA-winning investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar (who saw Prince live 54 times) and presenter Matthew Parris, to discuss the life of Prince Rogers Nelson.Produced at BBC Bristol by Eliza Lomas.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Fiona Shaw - BAFTA award-winning star of BBC TV's Killing Eve - explores the life of one of history's most remarkable and forgotten actresses, Eleonora Duse. The 19th-century performer inspired Stanislavski's 'method', changed Chekhov's mind about acting, and took Chaplin's breath away,Kirsten Shepherd-Barr - professor of English and Theatre Studies at St Catherine's College, Oxford - helps Fiona and presenter Matthew Parris to uncover the drama of Duse's life, both on and off the stage. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry nominates the Italian educator and doctor Maria Montessori, who revolutionised children's education. Montessori schools exist today in over 170 countries. They are defined by a child-centred approach to learning, nurturing independence and individuality in children as young as three years old. In Philippa Perry’s work as a psychotherapist, she finds deep connections with Montessori’s philosophy, which is about believing the person has the power to develop within them. Philippa is joined by the executive director of Association Montessori International Lynne Lawrence. Matthew Parris is the presenter. Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, is chosen by Shaun Ley.In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V persuaded him to stay, and a story of party betrayal began. Broadcaster Shaun Ley and journalist Anne Perkins pick through events that have a contemporary ring as the political class of the thirties struggled to cope with fast moving events. MacDonald's own story and background is remarkable too - illegitimate son, born in Lossiemouth in Scotland, he is remembered as one of the early founding fathers of the Labour party, and a man who bravely spoke out against the First World War.Presenter: Mathew ParrisProducer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

From acting in TV's Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek to restoring dozens of period properties and touring India for TV, Caroline Quentin loves variety. When she discovered the life of the playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh, she had found a kindred spirit. Caroline appeared in an RSC production of The Provoked Wife by Vanbrugh - who also designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. Architectural critic and broadcaster, Jonathan Glancey, joins Caroline and presenter Matthew Parris, to explore the full and meandering life of this flamboyant figure, born over 350 years ago.Producer Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.