Anthony Curtis, who has died aged 88 while on holiday in France was a member of our Drama section since 1978. Born in London he was arts and literary editor of the Financial Times from 1970-74, joining the paper after a spell as deputy editor of the Times Literary Supplement and a decade as the first books editor of the Sunday Telegraph. His plays included Mr Maugham at Home and he also wrote several books about Somerset Maugham, including his biography in 1977. His other books included The Rise and Fall of the Matinee Idol in 1977 and a biography of Virgionia Woolf in 2006. A play about the events at the Villa Mauresque during the abdication of Edward V111 may yet be produced. Born in London he was reading history at Merton College, Oxford, when the war intervened and he served in the RAF. After the war he returned to Oxford to read English, graduating with a Fiirst and embarking on a career as a freelance journalist. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009.
Born 12Â March 1926 died Toulon 29 June 2014