Andrew Morton (writer)

Andrew David Morton (born 1953 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire) is a former British Fleet Street tabloid journalist, and a biographer.

Before moving into a career in journalism, he attended grammar school, then studied history at the University of Sussex.

Biography of Diana, Princess of Wales

It has been said Andrew Morton was approached by one of Princess Diana's most trusted friends, James Colthurst, with her permission, about writing a book in which she would give her side of the story, as opposed to the stance the Windsors and specifically Charles took. Morton's articles had been mostly sympathetic to Diana, however, it was vital that Diana not be linked to him or the book. Upon her request, he wrote pages of questions, which Colthurst then smuggled in his bicycle basket to her home, where the two tape recorded their conversations answering all the questions. Along with the interviews Morton culled among her friends, and combined the two to create the well-known book Diana: Her True Story. The biography was a number one best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic and shattered many myths about the British royals, though many found the book self-serving and suspected that Diana had authorized her friends to talk or had talked to Morton herself, given the wealth of personal information and even pictures the book included. Many critics trashed Morton's melodramatic writing style which was likened to that of cheap romance novels.

Apparently unchastened, or motivated by the outpouring of support for her side of the story that came with the book's publication, Diana later talked to Morton again when his publisher Michael O'Mara decided to release a sequel to the publishing blockbuster, titled Diana: Her New Life. This also topped the best-seller lists in the UK and US and was largely viewed, given the separation of the Princess of Wales, as the authorized version of Diana's story. Morton's conversations with Diana later became the basis for an American television movie, The Biographer.

Biography of Monica Lewinsky

Morton received public attention after Diana's death, when he revealed the extent of her collaborations with him. He achieved even greater prominence in the United States after the publication of Monica's Story, a book detailing Monica Lewinsky's version of the events and aftermath of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

The pairing of author and subject occurred only after a British tabloid printed a fabricated story, suggesting that Morton was planning on writing a book about the "portly pepperpot" (as the New York Post called Lewinsky). On hearing this, Lewinsky had her lawyers approach Morton, and the book proposal was bought by St. Martin's Press for $5 million. It topped best-seller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, despite dismal reviews taking Morton to task for his purple prose and sentimental approach.

Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography

Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, published in January 2008, received a critical review in the New York Times, with Janet Maslin writing "..Mr. Morton has found a number of former Scientologists who are willing to speak freely, and in some cases vengefully, about the group’s purported inner workings. Mr. Morton’s eagerness to include their voices leads him to push the limits of responsible reporting," stating also that Morton "provides a credible portrait extrapolated from the actor’s on-the-record remarks and highly visible public behavior. Writing in Entertainment Weekly, Mark Harris gave the book a grade of "C-", and said "Cruise emerges from Morton's takedown moderately scratched but as uncracked as ever.

Teresa Budasi of the Chicago Tribune described the book as "fascinating" - though Budasi also brought up a "question as to what’s true and what isn’t." Budasi summed up her impression of the work, writing "Morton’s book is as much an indictment on Cruise’s chosen faith as it is the life story of one of the world’s biggest movie stars. And by the end you realize that “Scientologist” is what will end up being the role of his lifetime." In a review in The Buffalo News, Jeff Simon wrote of the author: "To give Morton the credit he’s clearly due: He is one of the best around at constructing a 250-page gossip column."

Upon its publication, Cruise's lawyer and the Church of Scientology released statements which question the truthfulness assertions made by Morton in the book. In a 15-page statement released to the press, the Church of Scientology called the book "a bigoted, defamatory assault replete with lies." The book was not published in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand due to strict libel laws in those countries.

Other publications

After Monica's Story, he investigated a mining disaster, which became his first non-royal journalistic account, Nine for Nine: The Pennsylvania Mine Rescue Miracle. It did not sell well and received tepid reviews. He wrote an authorized biography of Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi, with slightly better reviews.

Then Morton moved on to "king and queen of pop culture," as he termed them, David Beckham and his wife Victoria. Posh and Becks, became a No. 1 best-seller in the United Kingdom, but received little attention in the United States.

Soon after, Morton announced that he would be taking on the "queen of pop", Madonna. She asked all her friends not to cooperate, but Morton assured the press that he would get them to talk anyway. Despite a seven figure advance by St. Martin's Press and a 500,000-copy first printing, Madonna failed to make waves in America, where it spent only two weeks on the New York Times best-seller list (peaking at No. 8). By contrast, J. Randy Taraborrelli's Madonna: An Intimate Biography, released at the same time, became a massive best-seller. Morton subsequently wrote another Diana book entitled In Pursuit of Love, with information that he had left unaddressed. The book made the New York Times best-seller list.

Books

• Morton, Andrew R. Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Morton, Andrew R. Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words. New York: Pocket.
• Morton, Andrew R. Monica's Story. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Morton, Andrew R. Posh & Becks. Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

References

External links

• BBC News, UK , Curriculum vitae: Andrew Morton. Retrieved on 2008-01-19..