| Birth Name: | Sarah Rowbotham |
| Birth Date: | 27 May 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, US |
| Other Names: | Sally Bedell, Sally Smith |
| Education: | B.A. Wheaton College M.S. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism |
| Occupation: | Biographer |
| Employer: | Vanity Fair (contributing editor) |
| Notable Works: | Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch (January 2012) |
| Boards: | Deerfield Academy The Buckley School 826DC Columbia Journalism Review |
| Spouse: | Stephen G. Smith |
| Children: | 3 |
| Awards: | 1982 Sigma Delta Chi Award for magazine reporting |
| Signature: | Sally Bedell Smith signature (cropped).jpg |
| Footnotes: | [1] [2] [3] |
Sarah Bedell Smith (born May 27, 1948) is an American journalist and biographer. She was a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a reporter for The New York Times and Time. She focuses on biographies of members of the British royal family.[4]
Sarah Rowbotham was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Ruth (Kirk) and James Howard Rowbotham, a brigadier general and businessman.[5] [6] [7] She grew up in the nearby town of St. Davids. She graduated from Radnor High School in 1966 and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in November 2008.[8] She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College and Master of Science from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she won the Robert Sherwood Memorial Travel-Study Scholarship and the Women's Press Club of New York Award.
Smith spent her early career as a cultural news reporter for Time, TV Guide, and The New York Times. In 1996, she joined Vanity Fair as contributing editor.
Smith has written biographies of several notable persons, including television executives, socialites, politicians, and the British royal family.
As a result of her 2012 biography of Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, Smith served as playwright Peter Morgan's consultant on the London and New York productions of The Audience, his award-winning drama about Queen Elizabeth II and her prime ministers, starring Helen Mirren.[9] The book won the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence, and the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for best book in history and biography.
She was awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award in 1982.
| Title | Year | ISBN | Publisher | Subject matter | Interviews, presentations, and reviews | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up the Tube: Prime-Time TV and the Silverman Years | 1981 | Viking Press | Fred Silverman | ||||
| In All His Glory: The Life of William S. Paley -- The Legendary Tycoon and His Brilliant Circle | 1990 | Simon & Schuster | William S. Paley | Booknotes interview with Smith on In All His Glory, December 9, 1990, C-SPAN | |||
| Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman | 1996 | Simon & Schuster | Pamela Churchill Harriman | Presentation by Smith on Reflected Glory, December 12, 1996, C-SPAN | |||
| 1999 | Times Books | Diana, Princess of Wales | |||||
| Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House | 2004 | Random House | John and Jackie Kennedy | ||||
| For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton in the White House | 2007 | Random House | Bill and Hillary Clinton | Presentation by Smith on The Love of Politics, December 12, 2007, C-SPAN | |||
| Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch | 2012 | Random House | Elizabeth II | Presentation by Smith on Elizabeth the Queen, January 16, 2012, C-SPAN Presentation by Smith on Elizabeth the Queen, September 23, 2012, C-SPAN Interview with Smith on Elizabeth the Queen, September 23, 2012, C-SPAN | |||
| Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life | 2017 | Random House | Charles, Prince of Wales | ||||
| George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy | 2023 | Random House | George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother |