- Hardcover: 280 pages
- Publisher: BBC Books; illustrated edition edition (7 Oct 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0563522119
- ISBN-13: 978-0563522119
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 414,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
Ronnie Barker is one of the best-loved and most celebrated entertainers in British television history. As well as starring in the ever popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms Porridge and "Open All Hours", he was, of course, one of the bespectacled Two Ronnies, who topped the TV Charts for more than 15 years and are returning to our screens in spring 2005. A celebration of Ronnie's life and career, published to coincide with Ronnie's 75th birthday, this book contains original contributions from people who have worked with and know him best including John Cleese, David Jason (who provides the foreword), David Frost, Eric Idle, Michael Palin. Written with the full consent and collaboration of Ronnie himself, this biography is full of interviews and unseen personal illustrations from his own collection. Bob McCabe is a respected author and journalist and contributes regularly to film magazines and BBC radio arts programmes. He is the author of several books.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A great comedy actor...a poor read,
By Mr S Glover (Leicester) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Authorised Biography of Ronnie Barker (Hardcover)
Having bought this book a little while ago, I started to read it about 1 week before the legendary Ronnie Barker died. I have always been a fan of his and was keen to know more about his career. The book certainly does explain about Ronnie's upbringing and career, but the writer (Bob McCabe) has a thankfully unique writing style. He repeats lines over and over again (I lost count of the number of times he told us that Clarence was the last sit com Ronnie wrote) and his general style is quite painful at times, especially when describing dialogue. If you want to remember Ronnie - watch some of his old TV programmes or films...don't rely on this biography.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hark at Barker,
By
This review is from: The Authorised Biography of Ronnie Barker (Hardcover)
This biography of one of Britain's best loved comic institutions is actually a revised repeat of a glossy, larger-print "coffee table" style book published in 1998, extended to include the various attempts to coax Ronnie out of retirement, his belated success on film, in more serious roles, and the preparations to resurrect The Two Ronnies, after nearly 18 years.The traditional book format this time means that there are fewer photographs, but apart from that nothing has been left out. Anyone expecting lots of Barker wit and colleagues' anecdotes will be disappointed; this is a fairly straightforward account of his career, from backstage hand in rep in the 50s to retirement in '87 and beyond. It does include words of wisdom, technique and experience from the man himself, and does have a sprinkling of excerpts from songs and sketches that he wrote (including the complete "Fork Handles"). It does also include quotes from his partners from time to time, all generally complimentary. So there are no revelations of a deprived childhood, or guerilla warfare with landladies, or life-threatening illnesses or accidents, or salacious love affairs to excite a public used to tabloid journalism. Ronnie Barker was and still is a consumate professional with a natural gift to make people laugh and a disinclination to seek unnecessary publicity. This biography reflects all that, and it is the more refreshing for it.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not recommended,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ronnie Barker Authorised Biography (Paperback)
Badly written and badly edited. The book teaches us nothing about Ronnie Barker except that he's a gifted actor and a lovely fellow; but these things we already knew or we wouldn't be buying the book. There are no interviews with his family so as to protect his private life and most of the lauded contributors comment only on his career, not the man. Indeed, the book as a whole is merely a chronology of his career and more of a biography of each project than of Ronnie himself. The author contradicts himself (his ambition was to be in movies/he was never bothered with movies, he didn't really learn from other actors, just enjoyed being entertained/he watched them and learned from them); the content is jumbled and out of sequence; and many (albeit amusing) anecdotes are squashed in with no point to them. At one point the author lifted a whole block of text from one chapter and repeated it a couple of chapters later (when telling us that the Ronnies upped and offed to Australia for a year). I can, at a stretch, forgive the writer for repeating himself, but this, and many other flaws, should have been picked up and resolved in the editing process.I've given it an extra star because it included the text of the "Four Candles/Fork Handles sketch" otherwise it's only worthy of one star.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
