 Nicholas Kenyon called him a "cultural omnivore" who was "genuinely popular with people".Sheridan Morley was born in Ascot, Berkshire, in a nursing home opposite Ascot Racecourse, the eldest son of actor Robert Morley and grandson via his mother Joan, of the actress Dame Gladys Cooper.He was named after Sheridan Whiteside, the title role his father was playing in a long-running production of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the Savoy Theatre in London.