Obituary : Barbara Skelton; Wrote Passionate Memoirs

Barbara Skelton, 79, British author best known for her books about her colorful life and loves. Her two volumes of memoirs--”Tears Before Bedtime” published in 1987, and “Weep No More” in 1989--offered malicious descriptions of her three husbands and numerous lovers ranging from King Farouk of Egypt to New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams to a police officer who investigated a burglary at her home. Her husbands were literary critic Cyril Connolly, publisher Lord George Weidenfeld and newspaper heir Derek Jackson. The recent film “A Business Affair” was said to be based loosely on Skelton and her relationship with Connolly and Weidenfeld. Skelton’s novels included “A Young Girl’s Touch” in 1956 and “A Love Match” in 1969. On Jan. 27 in Worcestershire, England, of a brain tumor.