Michael Freedland

Who is Michael Freedland?

Michael Rodney Freedland is a British biographer, journalist and broadcaster.

Beginning as a journalist on local papers in 1951, he was on the staff of the Daily Sketch for a year before turning freelance in 1961. His broadcasting career began in the following year, and he has written for The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator, The Guardian, The Observer and The Economist.

As a biographer, he has specialised in Hollywood and its entertainers, plus some prominent British subjects. His book on Al Jolson, originally published in 1971, reached its eighth edition in 2007. Freedland has written forty books, mainly biographies. He has written and presented programmes for Radio 2 in the UK on his subjects, including Elvis Presley, Bob Hope and Judy Garland. Asked about what to include in an individual's life history, the immediate concern was the Garland book, he said in 2010: "I am a great believer in telling it as it was. I am very certain of the need for warts and all. How else can you tell a full rounded story?"

Freedland's books have included more general histories. Witch Hunt in Hollywood: McCarthyism's War On Tinseltown is an account of the activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy and House Un-American Activities Committee. In Freedland's view: "For Communist read Jew. The hearings ... were as much antisemitic as anti-Communist. Hollywood was chosen for the attack because of the great publicity value the movie capital offered. It was also a great opportunity to get at the Jews of Hollywood."