Christopher Bradshaw-Isherwood was born on August 26, 1904 to Kathleen and Frank Bradshaw-Isherwood. Though born into an upper-middle-class family and descended from minor nobility, Isherwood took no pride in his lineage. He dropped his first surname, Bradshaw, later in life to become Christopher Isherwood; an act of rebellion against his family heritage (Fryer 10). He spent his early life moving between England and Ireland due to his father’s work as an officer in the military. Following his father’s disappearance and presumed death in the Battle of Ypres in Belgium during World War I, Isherwood permanently moved to England with his mother and brother, Richard (Sawyers 72). Soon after their return to England, Isherwood’s mother sent him to boarding school, thereby beginning a life-long rift between them. At school he met his lifelong friend and occasional romantic partner, Wystan Auden, better known as the poet W. H. Auden (Fryer 33). Isherwood then attended Cambridge University, but quickly grew critical of the institution and purposely failed his final examinations in his second year. As a result, the university expelled him and erased his two years at Cambridge from the record (Fryer 76). Following this failed attempt at a college education, Isherwood experienced an existential crisis and longed for a different life than he had in England. Isherwood published his first novel All the Conspirators, in 1928 while working as a tutor. The book, while fictional, drew on Isherwood’s antagonistic relationship with his mother, who he perceived as overcontrolling and unsupportive. Though All the Conspirators began Isherwood’s career as an author, he only sold 300 copies (Sawyer 72). The book was unpopular and heavily criticized, further sending Isherwood into a depression (Fryer 94).

The road to Cabaretbegan when Isherwood visited Berlin for the first time on March 14, 1929 (Isherwood 1). Isherwood was twenty-four years old at the time of this ten-day trip and was excited to explore the city. While Auden pushed him to visit him in Berlin, Isherwood ultimately went because “To Christopher, Berlin meant Boys” (Isherwood 2). Isherwood was not openly gay at this point in his life, but was fully aware and accepting of his sexuality. His interest in men, which he only referred to as “boys” in his third-person memoir, fueled his desire to visit Berlin. Isherwood, having grown bored with the upper-class Englishmen, went to Berlin to find a “working-class foreigner” (Isherwood 3). Isherwood found this “foreigner” in Bubi, a boy working at a gay bar named the Cosy Corner. He became instantly infatuated with Bubi, “a pretty-faced, blue-eyed, blond beauty with a hard, almost hairless, muscular body” (Garebian 3). The Cosy Corner was a favorite destination for Isherwood, which Fryer describes as “an unpretentious, almost homely place, often overheated by a big stove, and lacking in distinctive decorations…” (107). The Cosy Corner was populated by not only gay men, but also male prostitutes as well, Bubi among them. Bubi was not concerned with romance, but rather preoccupied with money and was not faithful to Isherwood. Regardless, Isherwood was enamored with him. When Isherwood returned to England after his ten-day trip, he practiced German by writing letters to Bubi, who only responded with requests for money (Isherwood 7). Isherwood was eager to return to Berlin after his first taste of the city. In July of 1929, Isherwood returned to stay in the German countryside with Auden (Isherwood 8). Though he sought out Bubi again, his attempts were unsuccessful. Bubi had fled to Amsterdam after getting in trouble with German authorities. Though Isherwood visited him in Amsterdam, Bubi ultimately fled to South America, thereby ending their affair (Isherwood 10)

Isherwood traveled between England and Berlin often following Bubi’s departure. He had his first and only sexual encounter with a woman in London. A brief crisis of sexual identity followed this experience, but Isherwood reaffirmed his attraction to men, stating “…boys can be romantic… Girls can be absolutely beautiful but never romantic. In fact, their utter lack of romance is what I find most likable about them. They’re so sensible” (Isherwood 11). Despite his apparent capability of sexual desire for women, Isherwood maintained his attraction to men and identified as gay for the rest of his life.

Isherwood returned to Berlin on November 29, 1929 and put no limitations on his stay (Isherwood 13). As Auden was no longer located in Germany, Isherwood only knew one man in Berlin: Francis Turville-Petre. Isherwood rented a flat next to Turville-Petre in a building located next to the Hirschfeld Institute of Sexology. Isherwood found the Hirschfeld Institute disturbing and embarrassing at first, as it displayed exhibits on homosexuality, transgenderism, bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism (BDSM), and other taboo sexual topics. However, he grew to appreciate it over time (Isherwood 16). He even became acquainted with its founder, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, who later fled Germany due to Nazi persecution (Fryer 137).

After returning to Berlin, Isherwood became a regular at the Cosy Corner again and enjoyed affairs with many of the boys there. Turville-Petre ultimately left Berlin, leaving Isherwood alone in the city (Isherwood 38). He kept a diary throughout his visit which he used as inspiration for both Mr. Norris Changes Trainsand Goodbye to Berlin, but ultimately burned it after finishing the two novels. He regretted doing so later as the diary detailed his many Berlin affairs (Isherwood 40). However, he worried that homophobes or Nazis would find and read it, causing embarrassment and possible legal troubles for him and his friends (Garebian 4).

Isherwood met Otto Nowak, a pseudonym for one of his lovers and inspiration for the character of the same name, in May 1930. Otto was sixteen at the time, and like Bubi, he preferred money to romance. In fact, he also preferred women to men. However, he was attracted to Isherwood’s infatuation for him, and the pair entered into an unhealthy, largely one-sided relationship (Isherwood 42). Otto understood his power over Isherwood and manipulated him for money and attention (Fryer 126). Despite Otto constantly flirting with his friends, Isherwood moved in with Otto and his family in October 1930 and looked forward to taste of working-class life (Isherwood 50). While Isherwood enjoyed these living arrangements at first, he soon became tired of living in the slums and left after only a month (Isherwood 53). Otto later ended their relationship in order to pursue a girl, fueling Isherwood’s distrust and hatred toward bisexual people (Fryer 129). Following his departure from Otto’s family, Isherwood moved to the Nollendorfstrasse, a region just south of the famously rowdy Nollendorfplatz (Isherwood 57). Here he found his inspiration for Goodbye to Berlin.

Isherwood’s third novel, Goodbye to Berlin, was published in 1939 when he lived in the United States; however, he began writing the book while still in Berlin. Isherwood divided the book into six distinct stories: A Berlin Diary (Autumn 1930), Sally Bowles, On Reugen Island (Summer 1931), The Nowaks, The Landauers,and A Berlin Diary (Winter 1932-3). As a collection, the stories detail the lives of various Berlin residents during the end of the Weimar era. Garebian describes the novel as “a seriocomic and chilling sense of unreality” due to the contrast between larger than life characters and horrifically real events (4). Isherwood drew upon his personal experiences when writing and frequently featured the people he encountered while in Berlin, disguised only by pseudonyms. He did not bother to disguise himself, however, as the narrator of the novel and kept the name of Christopher Isherwood (Fryer 165).

His landlady in the Nollendorfstrasse, Fräulein Meta Thurau, became his inspiration for the character of Fräulein Schroeder, who later became Fräulein Schneider in both John Van Druten’s play, I Am a Camera, and the musical, Cabaret. Isherwood and Fräulein Thurau liked each other from the beginning and remained close throughout Isherwood’s time in Berlin. Even when Isherwood returned to visit Berlin in 1952, Fräulein Thurau screamed with joy when she saw him. Isherwood described Fräulein Thurau as “fond of exclaiming against the depraved state of Berlin’s moral life, but in practice she was nearly unshockable” (Isherwood 60). Despite her unshockable nature, Fräulein Thurau did not like or approve of Isherwood’s lover Otto, seeing him as a parasite feeding off of Isherwood. Despite her feelings toward Otto and later toward his friend Jean Ross, Isherwood still described her as “the world’s best landlady” (Isherwood 86).

Isherwood met nineteen-year-old Jean Ross in 1931 just before she moved into the same flat. Ross soon became the inspiration for one of Isherwood’s most recognizable characters: Sally Bowles. Like Sally, Ross had a tendency to discuss her numerous lovers in casual conversation, though Isherwood was never certain if she was telling the truth (Isherwood 60). Isherwood found it difficult to distinguish the truth from fantasy because Ross was shy and frequently used these wild stories to compensate for her nerves while speaking to strangers (Sawyers 89). She, like Sally, earned a living by singing in a rundown bar, despite her distinct lack of talent (Fryer 140). Unlike the Sally Bowles of Cabaret, Ross was politically active against fascism and was a fervent Communist for her entire life. Following her time in Berlin, she became a political journalist and wrote articles about the Spanish Civil War in newspapers including the Daily Expressand the Daily Workerunder the pseudonym “Peter Porcupine” (Sawyers 93). Furthermore, Ross and Isherwood never had a romantic relationship. Instead, they acted almost like siblings, as they “amused each other greatly and enjoyed being together, but both of them were selfish and they often quarreled” (Isherwood 63). Despite the fact that Ross’s shared many similarities with Bowles, the two women were far from identical. Isherwood affirmed that “Jean was more essentially British than Sally . . . and she was tougher, she never struck Christopher as being sentimental or the least bit sorry for herself” (Isherwood 61). Most importantly, unlike Sally Bowles and Isherwood’s many stand-in characters, the pair remained friends until Ross’s death in 1973 (Isherwood 67).

Isherwood’s second novel, The Memorial, was published in 1932 while he was still living in Berlin. This book continued Isherwood’s tradition of thinly disguised autobiographical writing. Its plot depicts the disintegration of a traditional British family following World War I. Isherwood featured his family and friends under pseudonyms within the novel, despite their personalities and features remaining constant (Fryer 88). While critics considered The Memorial to be an improvement upon All the Conspirators, response to the novel was marked by confusion. Due to the autobiographical nature of the novel, Isherwood excluded necessary details about characters under the assumption that readers would understand them as he did. The book did not sell well, but was still a considerable advancement in Isherwood’s literary career (Fryer 89).

In his later years in Berlin, Isherwood became increasingly aware of the turbulent politics surrounding him. Even when Hitler was elected Chancellor, Isherwood privately compared him to Charlie Chaplin as he assumed that Hitler would be incompetent and prove the Nazi party’s weaknesses (Isherwood 116). He later realized that the Nazis were not comical. While he originally described the politics of Berlin as “dull,” he later witnessed Nazis attack a man in the street in front of police. The incident ended when the Nazis brutally stabbed the man in the eye (Isherwood 120). Due to severe persecution, most of Isherwood’s Jewish and communist friends fled from Germany. Dr. Hirschfeld went on world tour and permanently moved to France, dying before the horrors of the Holocaust began (Isherwood 124). Isherwood witnessed the Nazis raiding and burning Hirschfeld’s institute, but he protested too quietly for anyone to hear. He even saw boys from the Cosy Corner joining the Nazis in their boycotts against businesses owned by Jewish people. Isherwood himself was being monitored by the Nazis due to his status as a foreigner and a homosexual (Isherwood 125). After witnessing these events, Isherwood finally decided to leave Berlin.

After a few years of travel around Europe, Isherwood and Auden moved to the United States together. Goodbye to Berlin was published by the Hogarth press in 1939 while the pair were living in New York City. It became a critical and commercial success, Isherwood’s first book to gain such recognition (Fryer 187). Isherwood then moved to California and became a devoted pacifist and follower of Vedanta, a philosophy based in Hinduism. At forty-eight years old, Isherwood began a relationship with eighteen-year-old Don Bachardy (Fryer 243). Despite the large age gap, the pair remained in a committed relationship until Isherwood’s death in January 1986.

Despite inspiring the creation of I Am a Camera and Cabaret, Isherwood was not happy with the adaptations of his work. Though Isherwood enjoyed Julie Harris’s portrayal of Sally Bowles in the original Broadway production of I Am a Camera, Isherwood found the script flat and boring (Fryer 247). However, he enjoyed the play far more than the movie, which he called “disgusting, ooh-la-la near pornographic trash” (Fryer 252). This reaction was due in part to the portrayal of a romantic relationship between the characters of Sally Bowles and Christopher Isherwood. Unfortunately, this plot point was present in all future adaptations of Goodbye to Berlin (Fryer 253). In regard to the original Broadway production of Cabaret, Isherwood said “It’s an ill bird that fouls the nest where the golden eggs are laid. Especially when the nest is anyhow made entirely of sawdust and shit,” (Fryer 280). While Isherwood was optimistic at the idea of a film adaptation of Cabaret, he was ultimately let down by the relationship created between the characters of Sally and Brian and the complete dismissal of Brian’s sexuality (Fryer 287). Despite the initial promise of the many adaptations of Goodbye to Berlin, Isherwood was never content with the final products due to their inaccuracy.

Fryer, Jonathan. Isherwood: A Biography. Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1978.

Garebian, Keith. The Making of Cabaret.2^nded., Oxford University Press, 2011.

Isherwood, Christopher. Christopher and His Kind: 1929-1939. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976.

Sawyers, June Skinner. Cabaret FAQ: All Thats Left to Know about the Broadway and Cinema Classic.Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, an Imprint of Hal Leonard LLC, 2017.