Nickname:	The Idol of the Odeon / The British Rock Hudson / Pip/Pippin (during his war service years)
Known for:	A Bridge Too Far, Death in Venice, The Servant
Birth name:	Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde
Birthday:	28 March 1921, Hampstead, London, England, UK
Height:	5' 10" (1.78 m)

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Free Image Hosting - Upload your favorite celebrity pictures. 1995: Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#78). Made only one Hollywood film: Song Without End (1960). 2/13/92: Knighted by the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He was the only cast member of A Bridge Too Far (1977) to have actually served at the actual battles depicted in the film. A British soldier during WW II, he was present when the Allies rescued the prisoners from the Nazi death camp at Belsen. Director Joseph Losey originally offered the part of Leon Trotsky in his film The Assassination of Trotsky (1972) to Bogarde. Losey admitted that the script was terrible, but told Bogarde that it would be revised. Bogarde turned the role down, embittering Losey, who felt that Bogarde didn't trust him. Richard Burton, who had worked with Losey on Boom (1968), did trust Losey enough to take the part, even though he was shown the same script. Bogarde was wise to turn down the part as the finished film was a critical and box office failure, and along with the earlier Losey-Burton collaboration Boom (1968) made the list of the "Fifty Worst Films of All Time", by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell. 1984: President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. According to his friend Charlotte Rampling, Bogarde was approached in 1990 by Madonna to appear in her video for "Justify My Love", citing Il portiere di notte (1974) as an inspiration. Bogarde turned the offer down. Longtime companion of actor manager Anthony Forwood. Won a British Academy Award (BAFTA) for his performance in The Servant (1963). Was considered for the role of Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966). Resisted attempts to make him Hollywood's new "Spanish" star, and to be married off to some starlet. Turned down The Egyptian (1954) after Marlon Brando had turned it down. Considered retiring after Il portiere di notte (1974), which had left him emotionally drained. Beginning in 1977, Bogarde was also a prolific writer with seven volumes of autobiography and seven novels all becoming best-sellers. He made his stage debut in 1939, but his acting career was interrupted for seven years by World War II until he was demobbed in September 1946. Was considered for Louis Jordan's role in Gigi (1958). In "Dirk Bogarde: The Authorized Biography" (2004), John Coldstream offers four major reasons for Bogarde's failure to become a Hollywood star in 1960. Firstly, the vehicle for his potential breakthrough, Song Without End (1960), was a flop. Secondly, his talents at that time were not seen as being particularly different from those of, in particular, Montgomery Clift, John Cassavetes and Anthony Perkins - nor could he possibly compete as a light comedy lead in the manner of Cary Grant and Rock Hudson. Thirdly, he had had enough of making formulaic films and was determined to prove himself as a serious actor. But fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, his refusal to enter into an arranged marriage to a starlet in the style of Rock Hudson's marriage to Phyllis Gates, did not go down well among producers in Hollywood. Befriended Rock Hudson while filming Campbell's Kingdom (1957), while Hudson was filming A Farewell to Arms (1957). Following the death of his partner Anthony Forwood in 1988, he moved into an apartment at 2 Cadogan Gardens in London, where he remained until his death. Turned down the role of the British padre in The Longest Day (1962). He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

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