Inside Barbara Taylor Bradford's life - rejecting Peter O'Toole to 'grand dame of blockbusters'

After rejecting Peter O'Toole at her desk when her mother warned her "not to flirt at work", Barbara Taylor Bradford transformed from a local newspaper reporter into a global literary powerhouse.

The author, whose saga A Woman of Substance saw her nicknamed "the grande dame of blockbusters", died at 91 at her home in New York on Sunday after a short illness.

Confirming her passing, Lynne Drew, the author's long-term publisher and editor at HarperCollins, said working with the writer "was a huge privilege but also a huge amount of fun".

She said of Taylor Bradford: "Perennially curious, interested in everyone and extraordinarily driven, she loved writing, and the conversations we had about her characters were unfailingly the best hours of my week.

"She was an inspiration for millions of readers and countless writers. I'm so proud to have been her publisher for over 20 years – working with her has been one of the great thrills of my career, and I and everyone at HarperCollins will miss her greatly."

The writer's most famous leading lady, actress Jenny Seagrove, tweeted: "A wonderful writer, human being and friend has gone. I adored her. RIP Barbara Taylor Bradford."

During her career, the author wrote 32 novels over four decades, selling over 90 million copies worldwide in 40 languages.
Known for her meticulously crafted stories about ambitious and resilient women navigating a man's world, she amassed a devoted readership.

The West Yorkshire-born writer became one of the world's wealthiest authors, with an estimated net worth of £160 million.
Her legacy was further recognised in 1999 when she was commemorated with a postage stamp and in 2007 when Queen Elizabeth II honoured her with an OBE.

Her books, which included titles like Breaking the Rules and Act of Will, often featured heroines who, like herself, had worked their way up from humble beginnings to positions of influence and power.

Her favourite novel, The Women In His Life, was inspired by her late husband Robert Bradford's experiences escaping the Nazis. The couple enjoyed 56 years of marriage until he died in 2019.

Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Taylor Bradford was an only child from a working-class background who discovered a love for reading at an early age.

By age 10, she had her first story published in a local magazine, sparking an ambition that led her to the Yorkshire Evening Post's newsroom. Leaving school at 16, she joined the paper as a typist despite her parents' misgivings.

Driven by a fierce determination, she quickly moved from the typing pool to the newsroom, secretly submitting stories to the editors.

"I was the only woman in the newsroom," she later recalled. "My mother told me: 'Keep your head down and don't flirt at work. Your attitude towards men will dictate their attitude towards you.' The best advice I ever had."

She put the guidance to good use as O'Toole pestered her for a date. "He was a fellow reporter, had a real thing for me," she once said.

"He was lanky and dishevelled with acne. I refused to go to the movies with him, but he still edged up to me whenever the newsroom went to the pub.

"Years later, Keith (fellow reporter Keith Waterhouse) and I were at an event where the producer Sam Spiegel introduced the star of his new movie.

"Out walked the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, dressed as Lawrence of Arabia. Keith said: 'Don't you wish you'd gone to the pictures with him now?' "I never got over Peter's transformation."

Over the next 30 years, Taylor Bradford worked for various publications, including Woman's Own, where she served as fashion editor, and London Evening News, where she covered a wide array of topics.

After relocating to the US, she became a syndicated columnist, writing on interior design. Although she had dabbled in writing children's stories and advice books, it was novels that captured Taylor Bradford's imagination.

A Woman of Substance, her debut novel, catapulted her to literary fame. The story of Emma Harte, a tenacious woman who rises from a poor Yorkshire maid to a formidable retail tycoon, struck a chord with readers and critics alike.

Taylor Bradford's portrayal of Emma - a character she described as her alter ego - brought to life the struggles and triumphs of an ambitious woman defying societal limitations.

"If you want to meet the real Emma, meet me," she said 2009. "Emma had to be tough and ruthless at times: but then so am I. I have to be, as a businesswoman. And I'm a bloody good businesswoman."

The book sold more than 30 million copies and was adapted into a television miniseries in 1984. It starred Jenny Seagrove as a young Emma and Deborah Kerr as her older self.

Taylor Bradford and her female character shared more than fierce ambition. Both women's lives held hidden secrets. In her novels, Emma carries the burden of a secret child born out of wedlock.

In a twist of life imitating art, Taylor Bradford discovered through her biographer that her mother was born out of marriage and that her maternal grandfather may have been Frederick Oliver Robinson, the Marquess of Ripon, adding a dramatic footnote to her family history.

Taylor Bradford maintained a disciplined writing schedule, starting her day behind her typewriter at 6am and working for 12 hours day in her Manhattan apartment overlooking the East River.

In her 5,300-square-foot flat adorned with impressionist art, she lived a life of elegance, famously served pink champagne by her Moroccan butler.

Taylor Bradford's life brought her into the orbit of many celebrities including 007 star Sean Connery. She once said of their meeting, "I told him he'd have to lose his Glaswegian accent and take elocution lessons if he wanted to be an actor. "When he became James Bond, I never got a chance to tell him how wrong I'd been."

Her passion for adventure extended beyond the literary world. She became one of the first civilian women to break the sound barrier after accompanying a pilot on a supersonic flight, a thrill that mirrored the high-octane plots of her novels.

"I'd wanted to know what it felt like to go faster than the speed of sound,"Taylor Bradford recalled. "So when I wrote a profile of a jet pilot, I persuaded a US Air Force general to let me fly in one of his planes."

Bradford's adventures also brought her to Texas, where in 2007, she and her husband, Hollywood producer Robert Bradford, were presented with an autographed boot from the Dallas Cowboys, while the team's cheerleaders received signed copies of her novel Heirs of Ravenscar.

Of her husband's passing she said: "His last words were: 'I love you.' I'm so glad I told him: 'I love you too, darling.' A week later, he was gone."

Despite her fame and fortune, she remained close to her roots. "She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good," Seagrove, who later became a close friend, once said.

Recalling their first meeting in 1984, the actress added: "The door opens, and all I can say is that a powerhouse of glamour and warmth heads towards me, grabs me, hugs me, and says … 'You are my Emma Harte'. And that was the start of a long friendship with the force of nature that I am proud to call my friend.

"We saw each other whenever she and her beloved Bob were in London," Seagrove added. "We shared dog stories and talked about everything under the sun. She never changed.

"Success never diluted her warmth and humour or her ability to relate to everyone she met, whether a cleaner or a princess. She never, ever forgot that she was just a girl from Yorkshire that worked hard and made good."

The author's manuscripts and personal papers are preserved at the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds, a fitting legacy to her roots.

When asked what the secret to her love of life was, she said: "There's a lot I don't like about getting older, but I don't look my age because I take care of myself.

"I go to the hairdresser twice a week, don't smoke, never drink alone and have a personal trainer." When asked how she would like to be remembered Taylor Bradford responded: "If at all, as a compassionate woman."

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