Milton Shulman (September 1, 1913 – May 24, 2004) was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic.
Early life
He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents were born in the Ukraine and were driven out of Russia by poverty and the pogroms against the Jews. His father was only 26 when he died of the ‘flu epidemic but had already acquired three millinery shops as well as a men’s haberdashery.
Shulman was educated at Harbord Collegiate, then spent four years at Toronto University. Although he wished to pursue a writing career, he was articled to a law firm, attending lectures at
Osgoode Hall Law SchoolOsgoode Hall Law School of York University is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law school in Ontario...
for a further three years before being called to the Ontario bar just before war broke out in 1939.
War service
After the ‘phoney war’ period Shulman signed up for the Canadian army, was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Canadian Armoured Corps and posted to England in June 1943. Stationed in London as a captain he was assigned to the secret operational intelligence unit MI 14b, dealing with the order of battle of the
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
’s formations.
He joined Canadian Army HQ three month’s before
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
as a major and by the war's end he was an intelligence officer with the First Canadian Army. While still in uniform, he interviewed many of the captured German generals in the following months and years including
Gerd von RundstedtKarl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war...
and
Kurt MeyerKurt Meyer is the name of:*Kurt Heinrich Meyer , chemist*Kurt Meyer , officer of Waffen-SS*Kurt Meyer , German soccer player...
. As a result of these interviews he wrote the classic Second World War military history
Defeat in the West, published in London by Secker & Warburg in April 1947, and by Dutton in New York in January 1948. The book remains in print in paperback.
London career
Shulman joined the staff of the
Evening StandardThe London Evening Standard is a free local daily newspaper, published in tabloid format in London, England. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the southeast of England, with coverage of national and international news and a strong emphasis on City of London finance...
in London in 1947 and for five decades wrote about theatre, film, television and politics with sharp humour and irreverence. He also became film critic for the Sunday Express and
VogueVogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 16 countries + Latin America by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design.-Style and influence:...
, and for 18 years his distinctive voice was a regular feature of
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
’s witty talk show
Stop The WeekStop the Week was a long running BBC Radio 4 discussion programme chaired by Robert Robinson which ran from 1974-1992-Origins:The BBC Radio's Current Affairs Department decided that it wanted a programme that would act as a bookend to Monday morning's Start the Week with Richard Baker, which had...
.
During this time he also wrote two novels,
The Victors (Dell 1963) and
Kill Three (Collins 1967); the
Preep series of children’s books; and two serious books on the impact of television,
The Ravenous Eye (Cassel 1973) and
The Least Worst Television in the World (Barrie and Jenkins 1973), as well as a 90-minute play for BBC 2.
He and his fellow critic
Herbert KretzmerHerbert Kretzmer, Fleet Street journalist and lyricist , was born on October 5, 1925 in South Africa, where he began his professional career writing documentary films and the commentary for a weekly cinema newsreel. However, he soon moved on to print journalism, initially as a reporter and feature...
co-wrote the screenplay for the film comedy
Every Home Should Have One (1970) and a paperback, successfully published by Hodder & Stoughton, to coincide with the film’s release.
Shulman received the
IPAThe International Publishers Association is a non-governmental organization founded in 1896 to promote and protect the rights of publishers. It was founded in Paris, France, and is now based in Geneva, Switzerland....
Award as Critic of the Year 1966.
In 1994, three years after Milton Shulman had retired from theatre reviewing, the then Observer critic
Michael CoveneyMichael Coveney is a British theatre critic. He was educated at St Ignatius' College, Stamford Hill and Worcester College, Oxford....
published
The Aisle is Full of Noises, a spirited 'vivisection of the live theatre' which he arranged in the form of a diary, including some witty if not entirely flattering references to Shulman, while bracketing him with 'the kosher butchers —
Herbert KretzmerHerbert Kretzmer, Fleet Street journalist and lyricist , was born on October 5, 1925 in South Africa, where he began his professional career writing documentary films and the commentary for a weekly cinema newsreel. However, he soon moved on to print journalism, initially as a reporter and feature...
,
Bernard LevinHenry Bernard Levin CBE was an English journalist, author and broadcaster.-Early life:He was educated at the independent school Christ's Hospital in the countryside near Horsham, West Sussex , and at the London School of Economics, where he contributed to the student...
and
David NathanDavid Nathan is a British-born soul music historian, journalist, author, founder of Soul Music.com singer and record producer, based in the U.K. and U.S.-Early life:...
.'
Shulman took offence in a big way, as reported in The Times newspaper diary of 21 September 1994: "Solicitors are trying to hammer out a deal to prevent court action against
Nick HernNick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of plays, theatre books and screenplays founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nick Hern in 1988. He was 'Small Publisher of the Year' in 1994....
, the small publisher of the offending work. "I thought the comments were in the spirit of the book,' pleads Coveney. 'I rather regret that Milton, of whom I am actually rather fond, didn't take them in that spirit.' Shulman is tight-lipped, 'There are negotiations going on at the moment. I have not issued a writ for libel.'" The final outcome was that the book was withdrawn from circulation but, according to Coveney speaking in October 2007, by then most of the copies had been sold.
Family
Shulman married his first wife Joyce in Toronto in 1943, two months before he embarked on a troopship for England, and never saw her again. They were divorced in 1948.
He first met journalist Drusilla Beyfus in 1951: “I had for months been meeting Drusilla in cocktail bars and restaurants. She was the most decorative aspect of the Daily Express, where her elegant figure, piquant face and ever-smiling personality were in constant demand by feature writers and columnists.” After a long courtship, interrupted by her sojourn in America as an author and freelance writer, they married at Caxton Hall on 6 June 1956. There are three children of the marriage:
Alexandra ShulmanAlexandra Shulman OBE is the editor of the British edition of Vogue. She is one of the country's most oft-quoted voices on fashion trends. She took the helm of Vogue in 1992, presiding over a circulation increase to 200,000 and a higher profile for the publication...
, Nicola Shulman and Jason Shulman.
He died in London, aged 90.
Publications
- Defeat in the West, (1947)
- How to be a celebrity with caractures by Vicky
Victor Weisz was a German-British political cartoonist, drawing under the name of Vicky.- Biography :...
, (1950)
External links