https://noumenapedia.net/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Charles_WebbCharles Webb - Revision history2026-10-28T20:33:59ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.0https://noumenapedia.net/index.php?title=Charles_Webb&diff=3883&oldid=prevDeleatur yhe: Created page2026-09-06T07:06:54Z<p>Created page</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|American writer (1939–2020)}}<br />
{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Charles Webb<br />
| image = Charles Webb (1963).jpg<br />
| caption = Charles Webb in 1963.<br />
| birth_name = Charles Richard Webb<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|6|9}}<br />
| birth_place = [[San Francisco]], [[California]], U.S.<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|6|16|1939|6|9}}<br />
| death_place = [[Eastbourne]], [[East Sussex]], England<br />
| occupation = [[Novelist]]<br />
| spouse = {{plainlist|<br />
* {{marriage|Eve Rudd|1962|1981|reason=divorced}}<br />
* {{marriage||2001|2019|reason=died}}<br />
}}<br />
| children =<br />
| notable_works = ''[[The Graduate (novel)|The Graduate]]''<br />
| education = [[Williams College]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Charles Richard Webb''' (June 9, 1939 – June 16, 2020) was an American novelist. His most famous work is the 1963 novel ''[[The Graduate (novel)|The Graduate]]'', which was made into a 1967 film [[The Graduate|of the same name]].<br />
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==Life and career==<br />
Webb was born in [[San Francisco]] and grew up in [[Pasadena, California]]. He attended [[Chandler School]], [[Midland School, Los Olivos, California|Midland School]] in [[Los Olivos, California|Los Olivos]], California, and graduated from [[Williams College]] in 1961.<ref name="Webb2006">{{cite news |url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-2160200.html |archivedate=June 4, 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604000414/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article711893.ece |date=May 2, 2006 |title=Mrs Robinson returns |first=Charles |last=Webb |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |location=London}}</ref> Webb lived for several years in [[Hastings-on-Hudson, New York]].<br />
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Webb married Eve Rudd in 1962; they divorced in 1981 in protest at the institution of marriage, but remained a couple. They remarried in 2001 because of immigration rules, and remained together until her death in 2019. Eve shaved her head and called herself "Fred" in solidarity with a Californian support group called Fred, for men who have [[self-esteem|low self-esteem]].<ref name="Smith2005A"/> Fred was an artist and her work included illustrations for Webb's 2002 novel ''New Cardiff''. The couple had two sons, John and David; the latter is now a performance artist who once cooked and ate a copy of ''The Graduate'' with cranberry sauce, reportedly to his father's delight.<ref name="Smith2005A">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/feb/06/features.davidsmith |title=Who are you, Mrs Robinson? |first=David |last=Smith |work=The Observer |date=February 5, 2005 |publisher=The Guardian |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><br />
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The Webbs removed their children from school so that they could tutor them at home. This was illegal in California and to evade the authorities they fled the state; at one point they managed a [[Naturist resort|nudist camp]] in [[New Jersey]]. They also [[divorce]]d – accounts vary as to why (it was not due to personal differences), either in protest against the institution of [[marriage]], or against the United States' lack of [[gay marriage|marriage rights for gay people]].<ref name="Malvern2006">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2138646,00.html |archivedate=June 4, 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604034317/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article706502.ece |date=April 18, 2006 |title=The Graduate's not-so-happy sequel |first=Jack |last=Malvern |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|accessdate=February 11, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Smith2005A"/> They sold their wedding presents back to their guests, and having given away four houses in succession lived on the breadline, taking menial jobs as cleaners, cooks and fruit-pickers, working at [[Kmart (United States)|K-Mart]] and living in a shack.<ref name="Smith2005A"/> They lived in [[Eastbourne]], East Sussex, England.<ref name="Preston2007">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3665441/Post-Graduate.html |title=Post Graduate |first=John |last=Preston |work=The Telegraph |date=May 27, 2007 |publisher=The Telegraph |accessdate=July 5, 2013 |location=London}}</ref><br />
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Webb died in Eastbourne from a blood condition on June 16, 2020, a week after his 81st birthday.<ref name = Telegraph>{{cite news|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/06/22/charles-webb-novelist-found-fame-not-fortune-novel-graduate/|title = Charles Webb, novelist who found fame, if not fortune, with his novel The Graduate – obituary|work = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|date = June 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://apnews.com/ba2ac7e0b369835b8bae1ae0701c822e|title= Charles Webb, author of 'The Graduate,' dies in England|work = [[Associated Press]]|last = Italie|first = Hillel|date = June 27, 2020|accessdate = June 27, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/books/charles-webb-dead.html|title=Charles Webb, Elusive Author of 'The Graduate,' Dies at 81|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 June 2020|last1=Leland|first1=John}}</ref><br />
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==Non-materialist lifestyle==<br />
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Webb lived a non-materialist life in what amounted to poverty for much of his life.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/charles-webb-whose-novel-the-graduate-inspired-a-hollywood-classic-dies-at-81/2020/06/25/301d657a-b62b-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html |title=Charles Webb, whose novel 'The Graduate' inspired a Hollywood classic, dies at 81 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |author=Harrison Smith |date=June 25, 2020 |accessdate=June 27, 2020}}</ref> He declined an inheritance from his father, a wealthy doctor.<ref name="Webb2006"/> He sold the film rights to ''The Graduate'' for a token one-time payment of $20,000 and made nothing further, including from stage adaptions.<ref name="Smith"/> Webb sold the movie rights to the screen adaptation for ''[[The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker]]'' and bought an 11-room mansion in [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]], donating it to the Audubon Society after a few weeks and moving away from the college town where he began ''The Graduate''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lithub.com/how-the-author-of-the-graduate-walked-away-from-middle-class-mores/ |title=How the Author of The Graduate Walked Away From Middle-Class Mores |first=Beverly |last=Gray |website=[[Literary Hub]] |date=July 2, 2020}}</ref> Webb donated the copyright of 'The Graduate' to the [[Anti-Defamation League]]. He and his wife donated most of their possessions including art by [[Robert Rauschenberg]] and [[Andy Warhol]]. They lived out of a VW Bus in campgrounds, trailer parks and nudist colonies working odd jobs while home-schooling their children.<ref name="Smith"/><br />
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==''The Graduate''==<br />
Webb's [[The Graduate (novel)|first and most famous novel]] was published in 1963, foreshadowing many of the social tensions of the 1960s which the book would come to represent. Through this novel, the character of "archetypal seductive older woman" [[Mrs. Robinson]] has found a permanent niche in American cultural history. The novel was made into the hugely successful film by [[Mike Nichols]]. Webb has stated that he never felt comfortable with the attention the film brought him because he felt it distracted from his status as a serious artist.<br />
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Webb sold the film rights for a payment reported to be $20,000.<ref name="Malvern2006"/> He was rarely associated with the film's publicity and not particularly with the growth of its reputation. [[Buck Henry]] and [[Calder Willingham]], the screenwriters, assumed much of the credit for the work despite taking most of the dialogue directly from the book.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sarcasmalley.com/gradsarr.htm |title=Graduate Review |first=Andrew |last=Sarris |author-link=Andrew Sarris |date=1970 |access-date=2025-09-01}}</ref> During the film's enormous success, the producer, [[Joseph E. Levine]], offered Webb token recognition by an additional compensation of $10,000.<br />
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In April 2006, it was reported that Webb had written a sequel to ''The Graduate'', titled ''[[Home School (novel)|Home School]]'' but refused to publish it in its entirety because of a copyright loophole. When he sold the film rights to ''The Graduate'' in the 1960s, Webb also surrendered the film rights to any sequels. If he were to publish ''Home School'', [[Groupe Canal+|Canal+]], the French media company that owns the rights to ''The Graduate'', would be able to adapt it for the screen without his permission.<ref name="Smith2005B">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/27/books.world |title=What happened next? (the author will let you know after he dies) |first=David |last=Smith |work=The Observer |date=March 26, 2005 |publisher=The Guardian |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><br />
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Extracts of ''Home School'' were printed in ''[[The Times]]'' on May 2, 2006.<ref name="Webb2006"/> Webb also told the newspaper that there was a possibility he would find a publisher for the full text, provided he could retrieve the film rights using French intellectual property law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://timesnews.typepad.com/news/2006/05/stuck_in_a_lega.html |date=May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512202452/http://timesnews.typepad.com/news/2006/05/stuck_in_a_lega.html |archive-date=May 12, 2006 |title=Times Online News Log: Stuck in a legal limbo - The Graduate II |access-date=February 11, 2012}}</ref><br />
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At the same time as this news broke, Webb and his wife were also widely reported to be in such financial hardship that they were facing [[eviction]] from their home, owing rent of £1,600.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/4919334.stm |title=Graduate novelist faces eviction |date=April 18, 2006 |publisher=BBC |accessdate=February 11, 2012}}</ref> Webb said to ''The Times'' that although his writing had proceeded, "the selling [of his books] hasn't" because he spends most of his time caring for Fred, who has been [[clinical depression|clinically depressed]] since suffering a [[nervous breakdown]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thoughtcat.blogspot.com/2006/07/thoughtcat-exclusive-interview-with.html |title=Thoughtcat exclusive - An interview with Charles Webb |date=July 21, 2006 |accessdate=February 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Malvern2006"/><br />
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In May 2006, ''The Times'' reported that Webb had signed a publishing deal for ''Home School'' with [[Random House]] which would enable him to clear almost all his debts and instruct the French lawyers to attempt to retrieve his rights.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2202109,00.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311010044/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article669582.ece|date=May 30, 2006|title=At last, Mrs Robinson is getting her groove back|first=Jack|last=Malvern|archivedate=March 11, 2007 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |location=London, England}}</ref> On May 27, 2007, ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' published a story that the novel was to be published in June 2007 and reported Webb having moved to Eastbourne.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552782/An-arch-seductress-graduates-to-sequel.html |title=An arch-seductress graduates to sequel |first=Chris |last=Hastings |date=May 27, 2007 |publisher=[[The Sunday Telegraph]] |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |location=London}}</ref> ''Home School'' was published by Hutchinson in June 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-09-179565-8}} and by St. Martin's Press, January 2008, ISBN 978-0-312-37630-7.<br />
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==Other work==<br />
Among Webb's other work, the novel ''The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker'' was made into a feature film with [[Richard Benjamin]] and [[Joanna Shimkus]], and his novel ''New Cardiff'' was made into a film titled ''[[Hope Springs (2003 film)|Hope Springs]]''. It was reported in 1992 by ''The Washington Post'' that Webb was working on a new book titled ''Lies''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lei|first=Richard|date=1992-12-20|title=THE DROPOUT|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/12/20/the-dropout/b90ccd01-4bab-48b7-9801-77092aa1c943/|access-date=2021-09-06|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> As of 2021, the existence of the book has not been confirmed.<br />
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==Novels==<br />
* ''[[The Graduate (novel)|The Graduate]]'' (1963)<br />
* ''Love, Roger'' (1969)<br />
* ''[[The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker]]'' (1970)<br />
* ''Orphans and Other Children'' (1973)<br />
* ''The Abolitionist of Clark Gable Place'' (1976)<br />
* ''Elsinor'' (1977)<br />
* ''Booze'' (1979)<br />
* ''New Cardiff'' (2002)<br />
* ''[[Home School (novel)|Home School]]'' (2007)<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/12/20/the-dropout/b90ccd01-4bab-48b7-9801-77092aa1c943/ Charles Web - The Dropout and the Liberty Corner Nudist Camp Caretaker]<br />
* {{IMDb name|0916047}}<br />
* {{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/06/21/1182019281821.html |title=The post-Graduate lifestyle |date=June 23, 2007 |newspaper=[[The Age]] |location=[[Melbourne]]}}<br />
{{The Graduate (novel)}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Charles}}<br />
[[Category:1939 births]]<br />
[[Category:2020 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century American male novelists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]<br />
[[Category:American expatriates in England]]<br />
[[Category:People from Eastbourne]]<br />
[[Category:People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Pasadena, California]]<br />
[[Category:Williams College alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from San Francisco]]</div>Deleatur yhe