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John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star (Biography and Autobiography)
£13.30£38.00 (-65%)
John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star is the most authoritative and comprehensive account of the finest classical actor of the twentieth century. This entertaining but critical biography charts the ups and downs of Gielgud’s long and glittering career, from his young ground-breaking Hamlet to his later success in plays by Pinter, Storey, Bond and Bennett, and his recognition as a major movie star following his role in Arthur. It also reassesses his complex relationship with his great rival Laurence Olivier and throws fresh light on his personal relationships and the turbulent episodes of his private life that threatened to shatter his career.
For this biography Jonathan Croall’s exhaustive research has included over a hundred new interviews with key people from his life and career, including Peter Brook, Kenneth Branagh, Alec Guinness, Joan Plowright and Eileen Atkins, and it draws on several hundred letters to and from Gielgud that have never been published, including correspondences with Noël Coward, Somerset Maugham, Siegfried Sassoon, Edith Evans and Edward Gordon Craig. What emerges is an intimate, complex and often startling portrait of this great actor and much-loved man.
Gielgud’s interpretations of Shakespeare’s great roles made Shakespeare’s plays a commercial success on London’s West End for the first time. He was also hugely influential as a director and an actor-manager and worked extensively in film and television later in life. Since Jonathan Croall’s first biography of Gielgud was published in 2000 a considerable amount of new material has come to light and the result is a much more rounded, candid and richly textured portrait of this celebrated stage and screen actor.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Methuen Drama (5 May 2011) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 736 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1408131064 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1408131060 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 5.08 x 25.4 cm |
by Iain Macdonald
A compelling and impressive biography which is richly detailed and insightful. Gielgud’ s great contribution to British theatre is made clear, and the man’s temperament and personality well defined. The illustrations are sparse and disappointing considering the detail of his myriad roles. I found myself looking to other sources for illustrative support for Croall’s informative text.
I bought the paper back – too bulky and awkward to read. Kindle is better!
by David Lohrey
all is well, wonderful book
by norman
A man of manifold talent.
by no name
This is one of THE great theatrical biographies. The first version of this was written without the official co-operation of Gielgud, but this later work, while drawing heavily on the first (very good) account, has the full support of \Gielgud’s family and many friends and my goodness it seems to make a difference.
It’s all here: the fully documented career, the personal life, with shrewd personal judgements of him, and the well- rounded picture of the times through which he lived.are beyond adequate praise.
Quite magnificent.
by A. M. Glenville
Although good, this is nothing like as good as the Sheridan Moreley biography. Without picking this apart there are many odd instances of language and the physical order of both the sentences and the use of actors names. Many inconsistencies and too much conjecture” might have been his lover” for example, which weaken the book. It’s good but I suspect in the final analysis Mr Croall is slightly ” doing a job” in this massive tome which I never felt in his biography of Sybil Thorndike. So good but a bit of a slog with a certain lack of warmth/spark/something I definable to make it the book it should be.
by neil moray urquhart phelps
Magnificent !!!
by J. A.
A wonderful book and it makes a fascinating read about one of our greatest actors.
by David
A very enjoyable read. Full of great gossip and stories. Sent me rushing online to look at clips of the great man.