- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd; illustrated edition edition (1 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844543838
- ISBN-13: 978-1844543830
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16.1 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 73,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Ray Winstone
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
From the humble East End to the glitz of the BAFTAS, Ray Winstone is now regarded as one of the foremost actors of his generation and the ultimate screen hard man. But there's much more to Ray's on-screen tough-guy image, and his path to the top has been anything but plain sailing. He was every inch the rebel in his youth and was even a London schoolboy boxing champion; but he always had an affinity for acting. Deciding to pursue his dream through drama school, he soon found himself an outsider and was expelled. But he managed to blag his way into an audition for what would prove to be his big break - his cocky, aggressive boxer's gait making him perfect for the lead in Alan Clarke's Scum. Going on to both small - and big-screen success, as well as in the theatre, Ray really cemented his place in the pantheon of British acting greats with his breathtaking performance in Nil By Mouth, which earned him a BAFTA nomination. His subsequent roles, in the likes of "Sexy Beast and Ripley's Game", won him plaudits and continued his tradition of portraying tough, uncompromising men. But every tough guy has a heart, and Ray has tempered these roles with those in more light-hearted, romantic comedies such as "Fanny and Elvis" and "There's Only One Jimmy Grimble". With Hollywood films and another television series, "Vincent", under his belt, Ray Winstone continues to go from strength to strength. Married for almost thirty years, and a dedicated family man with three daughters, Ray's story is of a rebel made good. In this first ever biography, we see the man behind the tough, unflinching onscreen exterior.
About the Author
Nigel Goodall is a prize-nominated author with five bestselling film biographies to his name, including The Secret World of Johnny Depp and Christian Slater: Back From The Edge. Although a highly respected authority on Hollywood celebrities, and the author of last year's hardback bestseller, Being Davina, he has also written numerous books on the rock and pop world with subjects ranging from Cliff Richard, Elton John and the Rolling Stones to Cher, George Michael and Kylie Minogue. He has also contributed to various album and video projects for over a decade. He lives in Sussex, England, from where he travels occasionally to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
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)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you are looking for an authoritative biography of Ray Winstone - do not buy this book! Instead, look on the internet as the quality of the research in this book suggests that that's where Nigel Goodall got his information from!
The book consists largely of a series of quotes taken from interviews provided in other resources. Even then, Mr Goodall still manages to get a lot of his facts wrong.
Not only that but the writing, when he does actually write in his own words, is abysmal! Mr Goodall needs to go back to school and study sentence construction and punctuation.
I found this book incredibly frustrating to read - inaccurate facts, bad writing, and a clear lack of real knowledge of the subject. An actor of Ray Winstone's calibre deserves better than a cheap paparazzi-biog which appears to have ripped most of its material from other sources without checking their accuracy.
The book consists largely of a series of quotes taken from interviews provided in other resources. Even then, Mr Goodall still manages to get a lot of his facts wrong.
Not only that but the writing, when he does actually write in his own words, is abysmal! Mr Goodall needs to go back to school and study sentence construction and punctuation.
I found this book incredibly frustrating to read - inaccurate facts, bad writing, and a clear lack of real knowledge of the subject. An actor of Ray Winstone's calibre deserves better than a cheap paparazzi-biog which appears to have ripped most of its material from other sources without checking their accuracy.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am a Ray Winstone fan, not huge fan, but a fan all the same. I only wish the above reviewer had written their review before I placed my order!! What utter rubbish this book is, I agree totally with the other reviewer and MORE! The writer goes into great detail about other people in the book as if the book is about the director or the producer, and how wonderful they are, and goes on far too much about Alan Clarke! He also goes into even greater depth about the film or TV show that Mr Winstone appeared in. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but if you know of Ray Winstone and saw his films and TV shows, you won't need to read four pages of what the plot of that film/tv show is about, or am I missing the point? I spent half my time flicking through pages as I already knew what Scum, Quadrophenia, Sexy Beast, Nil by Mouth etc etc were all about. I was so looking forward to the book. My sound advice would be DON'T BUY THIS BOOK IT'S A COMPLETE AND UTTER WASTE OF MONEY! Disgraceful rip-off if I knew the writer's address I'd send the book back and demand a refund!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Without question, the only redeeming feature of this book is the the one in which Nigel Goodall plays no part, for the pictures are at least authentic. To say that this book is disjointed and factually inaccurate could still not convey the absolute awfulness of it. The writing, hackneyed at best, is interspersed with long arduous ramblings about the history of the films, locations and other actors, obviously all used to plump up the pages of a very poorly written biography. The enormous, patronising and unecessary film glossary just added insult to injury, only forgotten was "A is for Actor",you can perhaps draw your own conclusions to that. This book does not an ounce of justice to the fine actor Ray Winstone, incredibly disappointing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
b
Very good what more could I say. Very good what more could I say. Very good what more could I say.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs.M.P Forrest
its all true it's rubbish!
I got this book as a gift, it is the worst boig ever! it's just well known information about Ray's films and 50% of the book is copied reviews of Rays films, total waste of money!
Published 9 months ago by Mr. Christopher L. Eales
Why didn't He Write His Own Book?
Anything to do with Ray is going to be loved by his fans. But sadly this book waffles on about Scum when we already know the script. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Chris Waywell
Got this as a present, asked for the receipt
Holy Moly this has to be the worst biography I have ever read. Save yourself from this experience and avoid at all costs. Read more
Published 15 months ago by B. Tamlyn
Not even worth 1p
Well I can't say I wasn't warned about this "autobiography" and have to say it felt like I was reading notes from one of his mates down the pub!. Read more
Published 20 months ago by L. J. Toshack
should be a no star review!
Wow. My other half bought me this in a charity shop for 25p, and I can honestly say we have been thoroughly ripped off. Read more
Published 20 months ago by VegasBaby
The Ultimate Hardman but not the Ultimate Biography
As an overview of Ray Winstone's life and career the book serves its purpose. But author Goodall devotes the majority of the book to the actual movies and TV shows which Winstone... Read more
Published on 14 May 2010 by The Movie Scene
Reluctantly finished
This book is not so much a biography, more of a history of his films. There is not enough about the "REAL" Ray Winstone
Published on 21 Nov 2008 by Ian Lambert
A tedious read.
A truly awful biography. After reading this book, I found I knew everything about Gary Oldham,Alan Clarke and a host of other people, who I have no interest in, but not a thing... Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2008 by Motorway
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.
