Joyce Grenfell

Joyce Grenfell (1910–1979) was a British institution and one of the country’s best-loved entertainers, immortalised in roles such as the gym mistress, Miss Gossage (‘Call me Sausage’), in ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’, and Ruby Gates in the ‘St Trinian’s’ films. She achieved success as a writer and performer of songs and monologues on stage and radio at a time when it was unusual for a woman of her background to work at all. Joyce revealed little about her private life, and after her death her image was fiercely guarded. In this, the first biography, it is at last possible to show her with all her human failings as well as her humour, kindness and generosity.

Read by Eleanor Bron