Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver! He also wrote the famous songs Living Doll (Cliff Richard) and From Russia With Love (Matt Munroe). He was unable to read music. He was a millionaire aged thirty in the Sixties, bankrupt in the Seventies and died in 1999. The authors gained exclusive access to Bart's personal archives – his unfinished autobiography, his letters and scrapbooks. The Lionel Bart Story details how Bart signed away the rights to Oliver! to finance his new musical Twang – based on Robin Hood - which flopped badly in the theatre. It reveals how his heavy drinking led to diabetes and how he died in 1999 aged 69 from liver cancer. The authors have interviewed his personal secretaries, friends, family, counsellors and many of the performers, musicians and producers who worked with him, including Rocky Horror's Richard O’Brien and actors Dudley Sutton and Nigel Planer. ABOUT THE AUTHORS David and Caroline Stafford have written countless dramas, documentaries and comedies for radio and television. Recent credits include Hazelbeach, Birkett and The Year They Invented Sex for BBC Radio 4. David also worked extensively with the comedian Alexei Sayle on stand-up and TV shows.
