Eileen Ascroft
Encyclopedia
Eileen Ascroft was a journalist and writer. Her first husband was celebrated film-maker, Alexander Mackendrick
, who produced Whisky Galore
, The Ladykillers
and A High Wind in Jamaica
among other projects. Ascroft worked as a journalist at the Daily Mirror where she met her second husband, Hugh Cudlipp
. In her book about Cudlipp, Newspapermen, Ruth Dudley Edwards describes Eileen as ‘blonde, talented and ambitious’. Ascroft was sacked from the Mirror by the Editorial Director, Harry Guy Bartholomew for using his oak office door as a dartboard . She was responsible for starting the Woman’s page at the Evening Standard
. She and Hugh went on to become the most powerful couple on Fleet Street: ‘The combined power of Mr and Mrs Cudlipp over the livelihoods of hundreds, maybe thousands, of newspaper men and woman, even benevolently exercised as they have always been, are going to be immense and terrifying’. As well as a lifetime spent in journalism she also navigated her husband's motor-cruiser in cross-Channel expeditions, and could also pilot an aeroplane, having learnt to do so in an idle spell in Australia .
Interestingly, for a successful journalist carving out a glittering career for herself in a traditionally masculine industry Eileen’s book, The Magic Key to Charm, is a tutorial in all the traditional feminine virtues. It was published in 1938 and was made up of a collection of her immensely popular column in the Mirror, "Charm School". In 1962, Eileen Ascroft died of an overdose of sleeping pills.
Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick was a Scottish American director and teacher. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to Scotland...
, who produced Whisky Galore
Whisky Galore! (film)
Whisky Galore! was a 1949 Ealing comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Compton MacKenzie. Both the movie and the novel are based on the real-life 1941 shipwreck of the S.S. Politician near the island of Eriskay and the unauthorized taking of its cargo of whisky...
, The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
and A High Wind in Jamaica
A High Wind in Jamaica (film)
A High Wind in Jamaica is a 1965 film, based on the novel of the same name, and directed by Alexander Mackendrick for the 20th Century-Fox studio. It starred Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as the pirates who capture the children....
among other projects. Ascroft worked as a journalist at the Daily Mirror where she met her second husband, Hugh Cudlipp
Hugh Cudlipp
Hubert "Hugh" Kinsman Cudlipp, Baron Cudlipp, OBE , was a Welsh journalist and newspaper editor noted for his work on the Daily Mirror in the 1950s and 60s.- Life and career :...
. In her book about Cudlipp, Newspapermen, Ruth Dudley Edwards describes Eileen as ‘blonde, talented and ambitious’. Ascroft was sacked from the Mirror by the Editorial Director, Harry Guy Bartholomew for using his oak office door as a dartboard . She was responsible for starting the Woman’s page at the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
. She and Hugh went on to become the most powerful couple on Fleet Street: ‘The combined power of Mr and Mrs Cudlipp over the livelihoods of hundreds, maybe thousands, of newspaper men and woman, even benevolently exercised as they have always been, are going to be immense and terrifying’. As well as a lifetime spent in journalism she also navigated her husband's motor-cruiser in cross-Channel expeditions, and could also pilot an aeroplane, having learnt to do so in an idle spell in Australia .
Interestingly, for a successful journalist carving out a glittering career for herself in a traditionally masculine industry Eileen’s book, The Magic Key to Charm, is a tutorial in all the traditional feminine virtues. It was published in 1938 and was made up of a collection of her immensely popular column in the Mirror, "Charm School". In 1962, Eileen Ascroft died of an overdose of sleeping pills.