Coral Browne: 'This Effing Lady'
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Review
'Miss Collis...recognises and recounts, with cutting clarity, the less savoury side of the aging, fading star.' -- The Spectator, October 3, 2007
'Rose Collis' biography is hugely entertaining and awesomely well researched...Rose Collis' witty book goes beyond fag-hagiography to show Coral's fault as well as the generous spirit which made her "Darling Coral" to so many.'
Jonathan Cecil -- Daily Mail, October 12, 2007
'Her book is elegant and moving, a hoot...' -- Daily Telegraph, December 1, 2007
'Miss Collis...recognises and recounts, with cutting clarity, the less savoury side of the aging, fading star.'
-- The Spectator, October 3, 2007
'Rose Collis interviewed scores of Coral Browne's surviving friends and travelled more than forty thousand miles to gather the material that makes "This Effing Lady" such a delight.' -- 360 Magazine, October issue, 2007
'Rose Collis's admirable biography perfectly captures the wicked wit and the sheer fun of the woman.' -- one80, December 7, 2007
'The fruitiest Browne anecdotes are contained within this poisonously enjoyable book...Collis tells you when she detects the musty smell of theatrical apocrypha, and names her sources for material that has, over the years, been transformed by greenroom whispers.' -- Independent on Sunday, October 28, 2007
'Witty and well-researched in the capable hands of Rose Collis.'
-- Diva, February 2008
TNT's Top 10 Books Of The Year: No.3, Coral Browne: 'This Effing Lady'
'Her extraordinary life, loves and career are captured in this thoroughly researched and absorbing biography.'
-- TNT, December 28, 2007
`Elegant and moving, hoot.' -- Daily Telegraph, December 1, 2007
'Rose Collis' biography is hugely entertaining and awesomely well researched...Rose Collis' witty book goes beyond fag-hagiography to show Coral's fault as well as the generous spirit which made her "Darling Coral" to so many.'
Jonathan Cecil -- Daily Mail, October 12, 2007
'Her book is elegant and moving, a hoot...' -- Daily Telegraph, December 1, 2007
'Miss Collis...recognises and recounts, with cutting clarity, the less savoury side of the aging, fading star.'
-- The Spectator, October 3, 2007
'Rose Collis interviewed scores of Coral Browne's surviving friends and travelled more than forty thousand miles to gather the material that makes "This Effing Lady" such a delight.' -- 360 Magazine, October issue, 2007
'Rose Collis's admirable biography perfectly captures the wicked wit and the sheer fun of the woman.' -- one80, December 7, 2007
'The fruitiest Browne anecdotes are contained within this poisonously enjoyable book...Collis tells you when she detects the musty smell of theatrical apocrypha, and names her sources for material that has, over the years, been transformed by greenroom whispers.' -- Independent on Sunday, October 28, 2007
'Witty and well-researched in the capable hands of Rose Collis.'
-- Diva, February 2008
TNT's Top 10 Books Of The Year: No.3, Coral Browne: 'This Effing Lady'
'Her extraordinary life, loves and career are captured in this thoroughly researched and absorbing biography.'
-- TNT, December 28, 2007
`Elegant and moving, hoot.' -- Daily Telegraph, December 1, 2007
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By zygoville
Born, raised and trained, at least in her early years, in Australia, Coral Browne was a woman of sides, opposite and in competition. She looked like an aristocrat, but she had the mouth of a sailor. Her acid wit could reduce her victims to tears, yet she was horrified at being the cause of their pain. She was a lover of men, and of women, yet her apparent worldliness hid insecurities that damaged her relationships.
Rose Collis's book is a treat. Meaty, sparky, littered with theatrical stories and witty asides, she writes with heart and a solid appreciation of her subject's impact on her profession. The sadness of no longer being able to experience the great stage performances of one of the most glamorous and affecting actresses of the twentieth century, is tempered by the litany of witness statements from those who acted with Coral, and clips from contemporary reviews. It seems there were few who had a bad word to say about her skill and talent. She was sometimes the only bright thing in a sea of gloom, and could make up for a production's multitude of disappointments just by being there.
Her idiosyncrasies are beautifully described: the athletic eyebrow, arching at a moment's notice to make camp comment; the litany of filthy phrases that would give her free entry to the most earthy haunts; the insistence on only the best couture, and hang the expense. Brittle sometimes, but big-hearted, an absolute professional, and uncommonly kind when it really mattered.
Read many biographies, and they leave you with a feeling that you might just as well have gone to Wikipedia, since some writers think a list of performances and bald facts make a biography. This is a red-blooded telling of a white-hot life, and stands a Cecil-Beaton-hat taller than the rest.
Rose Collis's book is a treat. Meaty, sparky, littered with theatrical stories and witty asides, she writes with heart and a solid appreciation of her subject's impact on her profession. The sadness of no longer being able to experience the great stage performances of one of the most glamorous and affecting actresses of the twentieth century, is tempered by the litany of witness statements from those who acted with Coral, and clips from contemporary reviews. It seems there were few who had a bad word to say about her skill and talent. She was sometimes the only bright thing in a sea of gloom, and could make up for a production's multitude of disappointments just by being there.
Her idiosyncrasies are beautifully described: the athletic eyebrow, arching at a moment's notice to make camp comment; the litany of filthy phrases that would give her free entry to the most earthy haunts; the insistence on only the best couture, and hang the expense. Brittle sometimes, but big-hearted, an absolute professional, and uncommonly kind when it really mattered.
Read many biographies, and they leave you with a feeling that you might just as well have gone to Wikipedia, since some writers think a list of performances and bald facts make a biography. This is a red-blooded telling of a white-hot life, and stands a Cecil-Beaton-hat taller than the rest.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Tony Heyes
VINE™ VOICE
Amazon Verified Purchase
Having admired Coral Browne in many films I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately it is not a sympathetic biography. Miss Browne, one gathers, could be a tiresome person yet very many people cared for her. This phenomenon is not satisfactorily explained and one ends up thoroughly disliking her. A rather more sympathetic biographer would have sought to explain her behaviour rather than confining herself to saying she was frightened and insecure. Did people always let her get away with murder, and if so, why? The author condemns the terms of her will which seemed eminently fair to me -their joint property to her husband and the interest on the rest for his lifetime. One's enjoyment was further marred by poor proof-reading that let not a few mistakes through.
By Ian Mac
Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well written and well researched biography of a wonderful and fascinating actress and woman. Coral Browne was a true pro as well as quick-witted, larger then life, woman who really lived her life to the full - and one who definitely did not suffer fools gladly. The author pulls no punches but then neither did Coral Browne! The book gives a fascinating insight into the, sometimes bitchy, lives of not just Coral but her coterie of famous friends. I didn't always agree with the interpretations or conclusions of the author but she set out such facts as she had uncovered in a way that one was able to make up ones own mind about some of Coral's more dubious actions. The only real criticism of the book is that it is marred by numerous typos - which at least shows that I was taking everything in!
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