Secret Dreams: A Biography of Michael Redgrave by Alan Strachan (Weidenfeld& Nicolson, £25).

THIS biography of British actor Sir Michael Redgrave, who died in 1985 aged 77, lifts the lid on a talented but ultimately tragic figure and focuses heavily on his unconventional sex life.

Strachan, who directed some of Redgrave's last appearances on stage, had exclusive access to the actor's papers, recently sold to the Theatre Museum.

The end product is a fascinating, gossipy book and theatre-lovers will not be disappointed, but there are flaws.

It is astonishingly short on dates, there is no clear appendix listing Redgrave's many theatre and screen roles, and the first 90 pages dealing with the star's forebears and early life could have been substantially reduced.

Redgrave was born in Bristol in 1908, to actor parents.

They parted when he was young and his father settled in Australia. Redgrave's mother, who became an alcoholic, was jealous of her son's success and became a serious trial to him in later life.

Though bisexual, Redgrave married young and fathered three children, Vanessa, Corin and Lynn, who all achieved great success in the thespian world. His gayness was kept secret from them until they were adult.

Redgrave's wife, Rachel Kempson, who was also a successful actress, knew about his sexual proclivities before they were married and accepted them.

Despite serious problems caused by his dissonant personality and promiscuity, their marriage survived, based as it was on mutual love and loyalty.

Though essentially a kind, gentlemanly man, apparently without luvvyish conceit and professional jealousy, Redgrave's life was increasingly blighted by his guilts and insecurities, tangled sex life, growing drink problem, and the distress of Parkinson's disease diagnosed in his mid-60s.

Yet he bravely persisted in acting, almost to the end of his life.

Anthony Looch