Kate Winslet bullied me into silence, says would-be biographer
KATE Winslet likes to say she is plain old ‘Kate from Reading’, the opposite of Hollywood royalty.
Known for her self-deprecating humour, the Oscar-winning actress recently said she is happy to ‘look a bit crap’ in her latest role as a detective in Sky Atlantic’s Mare Of Easttown, and has previously discussed everything from menstruation to her husband’s underwear.
So it seems all the more surprising that the Titanic star, 45, has been accused of trying to silence a respected author who wanted to write her biography.
According to Garry O’Connor, author of a celebrated life of actor Ian McKellen, the actress and her lawyers have destroyed any chance of publication with a ‘tyrannical’ letter warning of legal action before a word has been written – and by demanding that Mr O’Connor present the warning letter to any potential publisher.
His agent, Peter Cox, condemned the letter – marked ‘Not for publication’ – as an attack on free speech and is calling on the organisers of this month’s Hay Literary Festival, which Ms Winslet is due to attend, to remove her from the list of star guests. ‘It’s one of the most extraordinary letters I’ve ever seen,’ Mr Cox said. ‘By ordering Mr O’Connor to send it to any publisher who might show an interest in his book, it is clearly calculated to bring the project to a halt. It is disgraceful.’
Mr O’Connor, 83, has been writing biographies for more than 40 years, and has works on Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson to his name. Although his books have sold more than a million copies, they have attracted little controversy.
The author wrote to Ms Winslet in March explaining that he was researching a book about her life and asking if she might consider helping him.
The reply came not from the actress, but from her firm of solicitors, Schillings. They claimed that Mr O’Connor’s plan had caused ‘distress’. And they demanded the author promise to include no ‘private information’ about the star.
‘I was shocked and indignant,’ said the author. ‘In 40 years, no one has tried to stop me from writing.’
In previous interviews, Ms Winslet has openly discussed the ‘mess’ of her first marriage to director Jim Threapleton. More recently she revealed her third husband, Ned Smith (who recently changed his name back from ‘Ned Rocknroll’), likes wearing Spanx shapewear.
Schillings said that the proposed biography was a cause of ‘distress’ to Ms Winslet, ‘who is protective of the privacy of her family’.