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15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024The actor recalls his friend, the Irish writer who was shunned by her country for her progressive work – and whose parties were the stuff of legendRead the Observer’s obituaries of 2024 in fullI first met Edna at the Royal Court theatre in 1973 at the premiere of Brian Friel’s play The Freedom of the City, which was about Bloody Sunday in Derry. I was in the bar afterwards and, to my surprise, there she was. I’d read all her books – The Country Girls, August Is a Wicked Month, Girls in Their Married Bliss – because you could get them in the north of Ireland when they were banned in the south. Like a lot of people I was slightly in awe of her, but she came over and chatted and she was extremely warm and generous.Soon after that, she began to invite me to her famous soirees at her house in Carlyle Square in Chelsea, and we became friends. There were always big stars at her gatherings and she would cook roast lamb for everybody. I remember Jack Nicholson showed up at one. He kept calling her “Ed”, can you imagine? Continue reading...