James Lord (November 27, 1922 – August 23, 2009) was an American writer. He was the author of several books, including critically acclaimed biographies of Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso. He appeared in the documentary films Balthus Through the Looking Glass (1996) and Picasso: Magic, Sex, Death (2001). Life and career Lord was born in Englewood, New Jersey, and grew up there, the son of Louise and Albert Lord. His father was a stockbroker, and until the Wall Street crash the family lived, as Lord put it, in "the lower echelons of the upper classes". He graduated from Englewood School for Boys (now Dwight-Englewood School) in 1940. Lord attended Wesleyan University, though he never earned a degree. He served in the United States Army during World War II and was part of the Ritchie Boys who specialized in Military Intelligence. He wrote about his experiences in his book, My Queer War which discusses keeping his homosexuality carefully hidden. Lord died of a heart attack in Paris, at the age of 86. In popular culture The 2017 movie Final Portrait retells the story of his friendship with the painter Alberto Giacometti. Lord is played by Armie Hammer. Selected bibliography Biographies and novels Essays References External links James Lord Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. 1922 births 2009 deaths American male non-fiction writers Dwight-Englewood School alumni American gay writers LGBT people from New Jersey People from Englewood, New Jersey Wesleyan University alumni 20th-century American biographers 20th-century male writers 20th-century American male writers Ritchie Boys American expatriates in France 20th-century LGBT people