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Charles William Donaldson (4 January 1935 – 22 June 2005) was an English satirist, writer, playboy and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of ''The Henry Root Letters''. ==Life and career== Donaldson enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Sunningdale, Berkshire, as the son of a shipping magnate. He was educated at Winchester College, where he met Julian Mitchell. He spent some money supporting young writers such as his contemporaries Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.〔 He completed his National Service in the Royal Navy in the late 1950s, reaching the rank of Sub-Lieutenant. On his return to civilian life, Donaldson became associated with the set surrounding Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and worked as a theatrical producer. He established himself as a central player in the British satire boom of the early 1960s, as co-producer, with Donald Albery, of ''Beyond the Fringe'' (1960), and of dramatisations of J. P. Donleavy's ''The Ginger Man'' (1959) and Spike Milligan's ''The Bed-Sitting Room'' (1963). The pair earned a weekly £2,000 from ''Beyond the Fringe'' while the performers Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller were earning only £75. In 1968, Donaldson received a substantial inheritance, and in 1971 he left Britain for Ibiza, where he imprudently spent his last £2,000 on a glass-bottomed boat. Before long he was scavenging for food on the beach. Returning to London, he found refuge with a former girlfriend who was running a brothel on the Fulham Road.〔 His experiences there formed the basis of his first novel, ''Both the Ladies and the Gentlemen'' (1975). However, it was to be Donaldson's fictional letter-writer Henry Root who made him a final fortune. Root's satirical lampooning of the rich, famous, and influential was published in the books: *''The Henry Root Letters'' (1980) – with letters to, among others, famous football clubs, publishers, chief constables, Margaret Thatcher, politicians, newspaper editors, and, on 17 April 1979, to the First Sea Lord (volunteering his services owing to the "imminent outbreak of hostilities with the Soviets" and concluding "I'm on red alert here and can leave for my ship at the drop of a bollard") *''The Further Letters of Henry Root'' (1980) *''Henry Root's World of Knowledge'' (1982) *''Henry Root's A-Z of Women: "The Definitive Guide"'' (1985) *''The Soap Letters'' (1988) *''Root into Europe'' (1992) *''Root about Britain'' (1994) Donaldson lived at 139 Elm Park Mansions on Park Walk, Chelsea, London SW10, from which address all the Root letters were sent. Nearby, The Henry Root restaurant has been established in his memory.〔(www.thehenryroot.com )〕 Donaldson's biographical survey of roguish Britons through the ages, ''Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics'' (2002), has been described as "a breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship". The phenomenal success of the Henry Root books, especially the first, enabled Donaldson to resume his earlier chaotic lifestyle, and in the mid-1980s he began using crack cocaine.〔Terence Blacker, 'Donaldson, (Charles) William (Root ) (1935–2005)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Jan 2009; online edn, Jan 2011〕 He continued its use for more than a decade, but insisted he was not addicted.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Donaldson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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