Helene Hanff (April 15, 1916 – April 9, 1997) was an American writer born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. She is best known as the author of the book 84, Charing Cross Road , which became the basis for a stage play, television play, and film of the same name.
21-533: Cambridge Circus may refer to: Cambridge Circus, London , a traffic junction (formerly a roundabout) in London, England Cambridge Circus (economics) , a group of economists who worked with the famous economist John Maynard Keynes Cambridge Circus (comedy) , a comedy revue that played in London in the 1960s Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
42-589: A book called Q's Legacy (1985). The book serves as background to 84 and also recounts the aftermath of Duchess . Other books include Apple of My Eye (1977 and updated in 1988), an idiosyncratic guide to New York City; Letter from New York (1992), which reprinted the five-minute talks that she gave each month on the BBC 's Woman's Hour radio broadcasts between 1978 and 1984; and Underfoot in Show Business (1961, reissued 1989). Underfoot in Show Business
63-508: A memoir in 1961 called Underfoot in Show Business that chronicled her struggles as an ambitious young playwright trying to make it in the world of New York theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. She worked in publicists' offices and spent summers on the " straw hat circuit " along the East Coast , all the while writing one play after another. Her plays were admired by some of Broadway 's leading producers, but somehow none of them ever made it to
84-401: A stage play, a television play, and a 1987 movie starting Anne Bancroft , Anthony Hopkins , and Judi Dench . Hanff's book, as well as her other work The Duchess of Bloomsbury (1973), detail her several-decades-long correspondence by mail with Frank Doel, a bookseller at Marks & Co. In the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire , the protagonist, Jamal, is asked to locate Cambridge Circus in
105-580: Is from this that Le Carré's nickname for the agency, "The Circus", derives. The BBC 's Gordon Corera notes that the entrance described by Le Carré most closely resembles that of 90 Charing Cross Road , just north of Cambridge Circus. The actual MI6 has never occupied premises in or near Cambridge Circus. The Circus hosted Marks & Co , booksellers, who operated from 84 Charing Cross Road, which featured in Helene Hanff 's 1970 book 84, Charing Cross Road , which has subsequently been adapted into
126-625: Is fronted by listed Georgian and Victorian buildings. Of these, the Palace Theatre has the widest façade; three bars and three fast food outlets occupy the ground floors of the others. Earlham Street specialises in fashion; Moor Street in cafés, leading to the Prince Edward Theatre . West Street has St Martin's Theatre and leading restaurant: The Ivy (popular with celebrities and successful artists) and until 2019 L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (London) . The Palace Theatre
147-693: Is mentioned in her autobiographical Underfoot , and none of her writings suggests that she ever had any lasting or even short-term romantic relationship with any person. However, writer Al Senter claimed that she mentioned a long affair with an unnamed 'prominent American' during a conversation with one of the co-founders of Marks and Co, and one obituary of her asserted that 'there were romances'. Hanff died from diabetes six days before her 81st birthday in 1997 in New York City. The apartment building where she lived at 305 E. 72nd Street has been named "Charing Cross House" in her honor. A bronze plaque next to
168-483: Is on the west side of the junction, while The Ivy restaurant and a number of private clubs are accessible from the south of Cambridge Circus. The listed Georgian and Victorian buildings which make up the junction have featured in a number of espionage and spy films and books. In his espionage novels, author John le Carré placed the headquarters of the fictionalised British intelligence service based on MI6 in buildings on Shaftesbury Avenue and Cambridge Circus; it
189-435: Is the partly pedestrianised intersection where Shaftesbury Avenue crosses Charing Cross Road on the eastern edge of Soho , central London . Side-streets Earlham, West, Romilly and Moor streets also converge at this point. It is halfway between Tottenham Court Road station , Oxford Street (at St Giles Circus ) and the centre of Leicester Square , which is southwest of Charing Cross Road via Cranborne Street. The Circus
210-626: The 999 out of 1,000 who didn't become Moss Hart ." (In later editions of Underfoot , this reference was changed to Noël Coward .) The bulk of television production eventually moved to California, but Hanff chose to remain in New York. As her TV work dried up, she turned to writing for magazines and, eventually, to the books that made her reputation. In 1981, Hanff also appeared on the BBC's Desert Island Discs radio programme, in which she discussed her life and career along with her top choice of music which
231-503: The Indian version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? . He answers the 5 million rupee question correctly, based on his experience working in an outsourced call centre . Cambridge Circus has featured in: [REDACTED] Media related to Cambridge Circus, London at Wikimedia Commons 51°30′48″N 0°07′45″W / 51.513295°N 0.129164°W / 51.513295; -0.129164 Helene Hanff She
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#1732772597617252-680: The book for British television. Ellen Burstyn recreated the role on Broadway in 1982 at the Nederlander Theater in New York City. Elaine Stritch also played Helene Hanff in a television adaptation of 84, Charing Cross Road . A memorial plaque stands at the McDonald's now in its location, reading "84 / CHARING CROSS ROAD / THE BOOKSELLERS / MARKS & CO. / WERE ON THIS SITE WHICH / BECAME WORLD RENOWNED / THROUGH THE BOOK BY / HELEN HANFF". Hanff later put to good use her obsession with British scholar Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch in
273-415: The empty but still-standing shop in the summer of 1971, a trip recorded in her 1973 book The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. In Duchess , Hanff describes her visits with friends and fans to various locations and places of literary and historical interest in London and Southern England. This trip was a highlight of her life – her modesty and sense of humor are evident as she talks about her love of London and
294-412: The friends who were so devoted to her because of 84, Charing Cross Road , including Frank Doel's wife Nora and his daughter Sheila, by his first wife Mary Price. In the 1987 film adaptation 84 Charing Cross Road , Hanff was played by Anne Bancroft , while Anthony Hopkins took the part of Frank Doel. Anne Jackson had earlier played Hanff and Frank Finlay had played Doel in a 1975 adaptation of
315-533: The lives of the shop's staff, sending them food parcels during Britain's postwar shortages and sharing with them details of her life in Manhattan. Due to financial difficulties and an aversion to travel, she put off visiting her English friends until too late; Doel died in December 1968 from peritonitis from a burst appendix , and the bookshop eventually closed. Hanff did finally visit Charing Cross Road and
336-418: The money was used up. She decided to teach herself, and she established a daily schedule of study. She had to abandon this when she realized that her family needed her to be a wage earner. Helene Hanff's literary career saw her move from unproduced playwright to writer of some of the earliest television dramas to becoming a noted writer and personality in her own right, as a quintessential New Yorker. She wrote
357-502: The stage, Hanff herself saying her plays specialized in "plotless charm." When network television production geared up in New York City in the early 1950s, Hanff found a new career writing and editing scripts for many early television dramas. Chief among these was the Dumont Network series The Adventures of Ellery Queen . At the same time, she continued to try to get one of her plays produced on Broadway and not just be "one of
378-492: The title Cambridge Circus . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cambridge_Circus&oldid=837697338 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Cambridge Circus, London Cambridge Circus
399-431: Was Bach and her choice of luxury was Scrabble . The epistolary work 84, Charing Cross Road was first published in 1970. It chronicles Hanff's 20 years of correspondence with Frank Doel , the chief buyer for Marks & Co , a London bookshop. She depended on the bookshop—and on Doel—for the obscure classics and British literature titles that fueled her passion for self-education. She became intimately involved in
420-556: Was adapted as a stage play by Charles Leipart and premiered in 2008 at the Devonshire Theatre in Eastbourne, UK, directed by David Giles . Hanff never married. In the 1987 84 Charing Cross Road movie, a photo of a US serviceman is shown in her apartment during World War II, a portrait at which she smiles fondly, suggesting to the viewer that Hanff remained unmarried owing to this naval officer's death. No such person
441-407: Was born in 1916 to Miriam (born Levy) and Arthur Hanff. Her father had been a performer, but he settled down to sell shirts. However, it was said that he still liked the theatre, and he would swap shirts for a chance to get into a theater. Her family could not fund an expensive education, but Hanff won a scholarship to attend Temple University. She said that she was resigned to leaving after a year when
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