Don Bachardy: An Artist's Life

Complete with never-before-seen photos and a selection of iconic artworks, an unfiltered and intimate chronicle of the storied Hollywood life of Don Bachardy, the acclaimed portrait artist who, as famed author Christopher Isherwood's life partner, was half of America's most famous gay couple for over three decades, and whose subjects and friends include an astounding array of Hollywood and literary celebrities.

"Believe me baby, this is not just a book, sugar, it's a marvelous dance with words, enchanting, heady and daring!" --Liza Minnelli

A figure as fascinating as any of his celebrated subjects, Don Bachardy has lived an extraordinary life at the heart of Hollywood, literary, and artistic circles. His drawings and paintings reside in museums throughout Europe and the United States, and include portraits of movie stars, writers, artists, and public and private figures of every background--from Bette Davis and Joan Crawford to Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote--all rendered in a candid, expressive style unmistakably the artist's own.

In this unique oral biography, Bachardy recounts his astonishing story, providing illuminating recollections of celebrity portrait sittings and revelations about his 30-year relationship with Christopher Isherwood. From their meeting in the 1950s until Isherwood's death in 1986, theirs was a legendary love story, courageous and uncompromising for its time, and remarkable in any era for the creative collaborations and art it continues to inspire.

Drawn from one-on-one interviews and conversations conducted at the Santa Monica home Bachardy shared with Isherwood, Michael Schreiber has crafted a biography unlike any other, filled with tantalizing celebrity tales set against the backdrop of Bachardy's artistic and personal journey. Wise, warm, and thoroughly unflinching, this is a fresh and revealing portrait of a life lived with boundless bravery, curiosity, and love.

Author: Michael Schreiber
Publisher: Citadel Press
Published: 10/28/2025
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 8.54h x 5.81w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780806543796


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2025

About the Author
Michael Schreiber is a writer, teacher, and art and film historian based in Chicago. He is the author of One-Man Show: The Life and Art of Bernard Perlin, a Stonewall Honor and Lambda Literary Award Finalist, This American House, written in collaboration with his husband Jason Loper, and Don Bachardy. A native of Fargo, North Dakota, Schreiber holds degrees from Minnesota State University-Moorhead and New York University. He was a 2021 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California in support of his work on Don Bachardy: An Artist's Life.