Hermione Eyre (born 1980) is a British journalist, novelist, and former child actor.

Early life

Hermione Eyre was born in 1980. Her parents were Sir Reginald Eyre, a British Conservative party politician, and Anne Clements.^[1][2] Her godmother was the actress Hermione Gingold, who was a friend of her mother and her namesake.^[3]

Eyre studied at Rugby School, joining at the age of 13 in the first year that the school admitted girls.^[4]

Eyre read English at Hertford College, Oxford.^[5][6]

After university, Eyre trained as a croupier at the Bermondsey Casino Training Centre,^[7] and worked for a year at a London casino, dealing roulette and blackjack.^[8]

Career

Acting

At the age of 7, Eyre acted in About Face, a sitcom with Maureen Lipman. She also acted as a young Agatha Christie in a BBC production. In 1990, Eyre obtained a role as Zinnie in the film The Children with Kim Novak and Ben Kingsley.^[9]

Aged 12, Eyre acted in her final role – as the Kid Clementina in an episode of the television series Jeeves and Wooster.^[10]

Journalism

Eyre worked at The Independent as a staff writer for seven years. She was also a television critic for that newspaper.^[11]

Eyre is known for her long-form interviews with celebrities, publishing her works in the London Evening Standard Magazine, where she is a contributing editor.^[12] She has also written for the New Statesman,^[13] and The Spectator.^[14]

Books

Eyre co-wrote The Dictionary of National Celebrity in 2005.^[15]

In 2014, she published a work of historical fiction Viper Wine, featuring Venetia Stanley and Kenelm Digby,^[16] which was nominated for the Folio Prize,^[17] and short-listed for the Walter Scott Prize.^[18]

Eyre cites Borges, Dorothy Parker and Charles Dickens as influences.^[8]

Personal life

Eyre lives in Archway, London. In 2012, she married Alex Burghart, now a Conservative MP.^[19] Their daughter, Sybilla, was born in 2013.^[2]