Sheridan Morley at the Bafta Film Awards in 1999. Photograph: Peter Jordan/PA
I first met Sheridan Morley when he was a Merton undergraduate in 1961. And, although he was a couple of years younger than me, I was slightly in awe of his energy, charm and air of theatrical glamour. Over the years we became good friends, attended the same first nights and even alternated the Friday-night slot on Radio Four's Kaleidoscope for a decade. But, amid all Sheridan's public achievements, there are two private qualities I would single out.
One was his immense generosity. One day in 1965, when after brief forays into journalism and theatre, I was jobless and without any prospect of employment, Sheridan and his sister came to tea in my Bayswater flat. After I'd poured out my troubles, Sheridan immediately suggested I write to the then arts editor of the Times, John Lawrence. I did as he suggested and the result changed my life. John Peter, who went on to a long career on the Sunday Times, tells an exactly similar story of his youthful debt to Sheridan.
In later years, I was struck by Sheridan's heroic courage in overcoming a debilitating stroke. He continued to host Radio Two's excellent arts show, Green Room, do overnight reviews for the Daily Express and write a first-rate Gielgud biography and fascinating volume of memoirs. He was proof of Blake's dictum that "energy is eternal delight". Even in his difficult later years, there was a drive and determination about Sheridan that made him a life-enhancing figure and that never imperilled the bonds of true friendship. Like everyone in journalism and theatre, I shall miss him enormously.
Sheridan Robert Morley, drama critic, biographer and broadcaster, born December 5 1941; died February 16 2007.
