Roll over image to zoom in
The Smallest Giant: An Actor’s Life
£16.80
I was happy enough in the circus appearing as the tallest midget in captivity, but when my employer decided that I should also appear as the smallest giant in captivity, I decided it was time to move on and seek my fortune in a different sphere Thus begins Michael Craig’s fascinating, wittily wicked memoir of his life in film, theatre and television. After spending more than fifty years in the hurly burly of show business, Michael Craig has become an essential part of Australian cultural life. In The Smallest Giant, he shares anecdotes about this life and the people he has loved and worked with, including Julie Andrews, Judi Dench, Harold Pinter and Peter O’Toole. Starting as a journeyman actor in English repertory theatre, Michael went on to have an extraordinary international career as a theatre and film actor and writer. He has appeared in more than fifty films and countless television productions, acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, on Broadway in New York and on London’s West End in major productions like Funny Girl with Barbara Streisand. Coming to Australia in 1972, Michael met actress Sue Walker, the star of such shows as Gypsy, and settled down for good. He most famously starred as Dr William Sharp in the ABC’s long-running television drama GP and has worked with the cream of Australian theatre. With an easy charm, Michael proves himself an exceptional raconteur as he tells the story of a struggling young actor who became the star of film, theatre and television.
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Allen & Unwin (5 Jan. 2005) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 284 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1741145651 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1741145656 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 1.6 x 22.86 cm |
by david robinson
A pretty honest autobiography as the author reveals his indiscretions and places blame onto himself where warranted.
The author is also clearly not a ‘luvvie’ and provides interesting anecdotes about his experiences and the people he met along the way. I liked his opinions on method acting and those famous acting coaches who teach such methods. The salaries he received also surprised me, as like many people I assumed he was/is relatively well off. I was also surprised that he was a fairly prolific and successful writer (e.g. the Angry Silence).
I would have liked more information on the films he made during the 50s and 60s (e.g. Cone of Silence, Sea of Sand) and the studio system then in existence. Also more photographs of his working life as most were of his family. The author also clearly dislikes his earlier films from the 50s and early 60s, which was a tad disappointing as they are my favourites, which is perhaps why he only spoke fleetingly of them. His life in Australia is also well covered, though probably of more interest to Australians as I did not know the ABC TV shows he starred or featured in.
Overall a satisfying book, and one I would recommend.
by Wingate
Michael Craig was one of the last Rank contract actors.he appeared in many we’ll known films of the fifties and sixties before going into the theatre and tv.he spent a lot of his life in Australia.I thus found the first half of the book dealing with his british film career most interesting.I suppose that the second half was more aimed at Australians.we are given full details of his adulterous affairs couched in contrite terms.you can feel the hot breath of his second wife crouched over his neck as he wrote it.an entertaining book.
by Travis
Not bad,but was expecting better.
by cartman
I was a teenager in the 1960’s and glued to my local cinemas that I would visit once or twice a week. I well remember Michael Craig in Payroll and Life for Ruth amongst others and always thought him a likeable actor and so was fascinated to watch a recent interview on television on the Talking Pictures channel, given that he was approaching 90. Several websites give his birth year as 1928 but I noted five times in this book, which my son purchased for me from Amazon, that gives his birth year as 1929 so Wiki, you’ve got it wrong, but I don’t know how to edit that, but I did write to IMDB and they altered it on the evidence of this book that I gave them. I’m sure Mr Craig knows when he was born.
Having got that off my chest, I’ve read dozens of stars biographys and autobiographys over the years and apart from Dirk Bogarde’s mighty tomes, this is easily the best written and most interesting that I have read, growing up as I did in the 1950’s and 60’s. I’ve now seen around 20 films that Michael Craig appeared in, many just recently on the old movie channel and what a fine actor he has been in films like The Silent Enemy and The Iron Maiden, whether it’s drama or comedy. He didn’t quite make the lofty heights that his colleagues like Dirk Bogarde and Stanley Baker did but nevertheless I think he made a difficult job look really easy. I even watched him in an episode of The Professionals a couple of weeks ago and this doesn’t even appear in this book. Throughout the book he quite openly discusses his many affairs which rather surprised me, along with the multitude of acting jobs he did and although the book ends at the age of 75 in Australia, I found an interview just this week on the internet that said he and his wife returned to England to live, somewhere in Monmouth, to be near the family. His comments on various other actors, famous or otherwise are particularly interesting and any young actors looking for tips can find invaluable information between the pages. Lovely book and a very likeable man.
by Amazon Customer
A very interesting and amusing actor’s memoir charting the trials and tribulations of a 1950s male J Arthur Rank ‘sex’ symbol actor’s struggle for decent roles in the British Film Industry of the time.
by John
I have always admired Michael Craig for his wide range of characters throughout his acting career. He has been in some of my favorite movies Sea of Sand, The Silent Enemy and the list goes on.
He has a great feel for Comedy, Shakespeare and the ability to get into the characters that makes hus performances so memorable. The book is written from a witty point of view and goes behind the scenes of his movies and the stars he has worked with, he comes across as the person I always thought he probably would be in real life. He is a bit of a boy with the sense of a gentleman. Buy this book if you want a great read. THANK YOU MICHAEL FOR ALL YOUR YEARS OF HARD WORK, AND THE ENJOYMENT YOU HAVE GIVEN US ALL, Best Wishes to you and your family.
by james henson
Michael Craig was one of the brylcream boys of the rank organisation films of the 1950s . His story was very interesting taking in his early life in India and Canada , and eventual migration to Australia with his second wife . I don’t think he was particularly kind to his first wife carrying oit a series of adulterous affairs ,but then whats to say that given his chances many men would stray . I wish he had written more about his location filming in libya for Sea of Sand and other places but it was interesting to read of the various people he had worked with and some of whom he was less than impressed with but all in all it was a jolly good read of times gone by and a social document on the film industry . I think his best roles were in The Irishman , Sea of Sand ,Campbells Kingdom and the film he made with Richard Attenborough about industrial relations . Well worth a read ,swear words and adultery included ,together with some of the great stars he has worked with such as Bernard Lee , Julie Andrews ,George Sanders ,Alec Guiness .