A Marvellous Party: The Life of Bernard King

"I'm often seen about - a glimpse of true sparkle - a harbinger of hedonism, a truly unnecessary accessory on the sideboard of swank..." - Bernard King

Australia's first true celebrity chef and infamous talent-quest judge, Bernard King, led an extraordinary life. Along with his goldmine of gastronomic knowledge he had lashings of entertainment experience as everything from fashion-parade compere to drag-show producer.

From his early years on a Queensland dairy farm to a long and sucessful stage, cabaret and television career, King was the personality who divided the nation. Politically incorrect, outrageous and always razor-witted, it was impossible to feel ambivalent about him.

Drawing on exclusive final interviews just weeks before his tragic death, Stephanie Clifford-Smith uncovers Bernard's life and loves, and tracks his career from its dizzying highs to its heartbreaking lows. Bernard was notorious for being brutally frank throughout his life - about himself as well as others - and he remained so until the end. Witty, acerbic and unblushingly honest, A Marvellous Party reveals the shocking, entertaining and colourful life of one of television's most charismatic and best-loved characters.

Read Stephanie's obituary for Bernard King in The Sydney Morning Herald here.

Reviews

"It is rare that a family-orientated 'old queen' (Bernard King’s description of himself) decides to talk about his life with absolute honesty. Not for one moment in this book does King try to hide his sexual preference. Actually, he seems to rejoice in recounting his gay escapades at school in Brisbane, during national service and with casual and long-term partners. This frank confessional certainly makes this bright and breezy account of King’s life (complete with recipes, of course) much more interesting than the usual chronological hagiography of a 'media celebrity'. And, as it dances brightly through King’s full life, it offers a fascinating peep into the wonderful world of a gay man who believed that his role was to party, party and then party again. This is a fond memento of a witty Queensland queen who, for decades, was part of Australia’s television and radio landscape."

- Bruce Elder, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald 2 May 2004

" …the Bernard King that emerges fascinates the reader in the same way that a car crash attracts onlookers."

- Lorien Kay, The Age, 2 May 2004

"An extraordinary biography."

- New Idea, May 2004