- Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: Applause Theatre Book Publishers; illustrated edition edition (1 Mar 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1557835039
- ISBN-13: 978-1557835031
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 16 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 905,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"The Sunday Times" (London) Morley, who knew Gielgud, writes a generous, sympathetic but never cringing study of the late great theatrical knight...a great biography.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Sir John Gielgud's career as an actor was perhaps the most distinguished of any of his generation, and, in a lifetime that spanned almost a century, he appeared in hundreds of theatrical productions and films, receiving virtually every honor given, including an Academy Award.
Now, in this wonderfully insightful biography, fully authorized and written with first-ever access to Gielgud's personal letters and diaries, bestselling biographer Sheridan Morley not only traces the actor's fascinating career, but provides a fresh and remarkably frank look into John Gielgud the man, showing how his success as an actor in many ways came at the expense of his personal happiness.
Born into a theatrical family, John Gielgud took to the stage as naturally as a duck to water, and almost from the beginning, those who saw him perform knew that they were experiencing something extraordinary. A determined actor, intent on learning and polishing his craft, he worked incessantly, taking on one role after another, the greater the challenge, the better.
During his long and remarkable career, he took on every truly great and demanding role, including all of Shakespeare's major plays as well as many contemporary and experimental productions. At ease in both great drama and light comedy, he was blessed with a great range and a seemingly infinite capacity to inhabit whatever character he attempted.
Basically a somewhat shy man offstage, however, Gielgud for the most part limited his friendships to those with whom he worked, and as a result the theater -- and later, film -- made up just about his entire life. That he was flesh and blood, however, was reflected in the fact that he did enter intotwo long-term relationships, the first with a man who eventually left him for another, but with whom Gielgud maintained a strong tie, and the second with a handsome, mysterious Hungarian who lived with him until he died, just a few months before Sir John.
True scandal came into Gielgud's life only once. In 1953, just weeks after Gielgud had been knighted by the Queen, he was arrested in a public men's room and charged with solicitation. The British press had a field day, but Gielgud's friends and fellow actors rallied to his support, as did his thousands of fans, and the result was the eventual change of law in England regarding sex between consenting adults.
While these and many other aspects of his personal life are discussed for the first time in this distinguished biography, it is Gielgud's career as an actor, of course, that receives the greatest attention. And while British audiences had the pleasure of seeing him perform in the theater for his entire life, Americans came to know him best for his work in the movies, and most especially for his Oscar-winning performance as Hobson the butler in the Dudley Moore film "Arthur."
As dramatic and captivating as one of Sir John's many performances, this authorized biography is an intimate and fully rounded portrait of an unforgettable actor and a remarkable man. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Whatever other achievements may yet be claimed for the twentieth century, one is already beyond all doubt or dispute: it produced in Britain the greatest generation of classical actors that the world has ever known. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Whatever other achievements may yet be claimed for the twentieth century, one is already beyond all doubt or dispute: it produced in Britain the greatest generation of classical actors that the world has ever known. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having seen John Gielgud at his very best, namely in Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale" and "Much Ado about Nothing", as well as in Otway's "Venice Preserv'd", Sheridan Morley's biography gives me great enjoyment. It is a mosaic of amusing anecdotes and astute observations that constitute the mercurial but kind personality of my favourite actor. Not inclined to read from cover to cover, I plunged into the middle of the book, read backwards and forwards according to curiosity and mood, and found countless gems that bring Gielgud to life. A book to be treasured.
An outstanding trait in Gielgud's character was his ability to inspire and bring out the best in his fellow actors. He was a teambuilder, to whom the quality of a production meant even more than his own performance. And his humility showed in the pleasure he took playing minor roles in several films notwithstanding the glory of his younger years as Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".
Contemplating the two most famous classical actors of their time, Morley compares the vitality, passion, emotional accessibility and good looks of Lawrence Olivier with the intensely melodious and rhythmical articulation of poetry by John Gielgud, of whom a critic wrote: "When Gielgud speaks a line, you hear Shakespeare think".
An outstanding trait in Gielgud's character was his ability to inspire and bring out the best in his fellow actors. He was a teambuilder, to whom the quality of a production meant even more than his own performance. And his humility showed in the pleasure he took playing minor roles in several films notwithstanding the glory of his younger years as Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar".
Contemplating the two most famous classical actors of their time, Morley compares the vitality, passion, emotional accessibility and good looks of Lawrence Olivier with the intensely melodious and rhythmical articulation of poetry by John Gielgud, of whom a critic wrote: "When Gielgud speaks a line, you hear Shakespeare think".
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sir John Gielgud was one of the great Shakespearean thespians of the twentieth century, although I unfortunately never saw him on stage where he was apparently at his best. Morley's biography is well-written and informative, but somehow lacks a certain spark.
It follows Gielgud from his childhood (from a family with several respected actors) to his early acting career, ascending from a skinny-legged boy to a much-respected actor, and then a knight and universally revered thespian. His arrest for soliciting a plainclothes policeman resulted in a reworking of laws on homosexuality. And he left behind an astonishing body of work, from a quiet man whose life essentially revolved around his work.
One of the unusual aspects of "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is the respect that Morley has for Gielgud. He keeps his tone constantly respectful but not fannish. His handling of potentially sordid situations (the soliciting case) is always careful and respectful, a rarity in most biographies. His handling of Gielgud's homosexuality and its place in 1940s and 1950s England is particularly good. The attitude there and then was quite different from now. Some of the best actors today -- Ian McKellen being the most prominent -- are able to be openly gay, but then it was actually illegal. Morley does a good job describing the social and legal atmosphere at that time, through conversations, letters to the editors, the press's response, and the changes in the law. One slightly frustrating aspect of the book is the lack of presence of the Gielgud family -- when one of them popped back into the narrative, I found myself wondering, "Who is that again?"
Morley also offers insights into British theater and actors, including Gielgud's connections with Vivien Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Noel Coward. We get to hear the good and bad reviews, some from Gielgud himself, such as his disgust with his shoeless "Romeo" costume (though the picture of him in that play isn't bad). And (wow, another rarity) Morley lets us see some examples of Gielgud's undeniable wit. Though he seems to have put his foot in his mouth frequently, he had some great zingers: at one point he complained about a flatulent crew member by saying that he didn't mind dying, but must it be in a gas chamber?
What is lacking? Perhaps it's a greater sense of knowledge about what made Gielgud tick. Morley knew him, but he fails overall to really let the readers really know what he was like. I got bits and pieces of his personality -- his shyness, his wit, his intense love of acting -- but not a picture of the whole. Some of the dates and situations seem unreliable or debatable. That, and I found the pictures a little unsatisfying. I like it when professional and personal photos are balanced out; this book had almost entirely professional pics.
Gielgud was part of a golden generation of great actors, and had a certain quality that filled whatever stage or screen he was on. While "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" can't be called the best, it's certainly worth a look.
Format:Paperback
Sheridan Morley's "authorised" biography is entertaining and well informed. It is by no means a hagiography and contrary to one particularly intemperate review here on Amazon it does not seek to aggrandise Gielgud at the expense of Laurence Olivier. It is quite clear that these two great actors had an uneasy relationship through most of their professional lives but Morley's book offers a perfectly reasonable account of that relationship.
Gielgud's extraordinary gifts as an actor are thoroughly illustrated, both by the author himself and - and this gives the book its special value - by a great number of other writers, actors and directors who saw Gielgud perform, from his earliest work through to his final appearances on television. There are shrewd and affectionate descriptions of the man by Harold Hobson, Harold Pinter, Peter Brooke, Peter Hall and Alan Bennett.
There are other biographies of Gielgud and many books of reminiscences by the man himself. Sheridan Morley's book is well worth reading, most especially because it offers a vivid picture of an extraordinarily gifted, hard-working, thoroughly professional, vulnerable and lovable man.
Gielgud's extraordinary gifts as an actor are thoroughly illustrated, both by the author himself and - and this gives the book its special value - by a great number of other writers, actors and directors who saw Gielgud perform, from his earliest work through to his final appearances on television. There are shrewd and affectionate descriptions of the man by Harold Hobson, Harold Pinter, Peter Brooke, Peter Hall and Alan Bennett.
There are other biographies of Gielgud and many books of reminiscences by the man himself. Sheridan Morley's book is well worth reading, most especially because it offers a vivid picture of an extraordinarily gifted, hard-working, thoroughly professional, vulnerable and lovable man.
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