Actor, the life and times of Paul Muni: Amazon.co.uk: Jerome Lawrence: Books

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb biography lives up to it's classic status, 30 Mar 2002

By	C. Jarvis "crisso" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Originally published in 1974, playwright Jerome Lawrence's biography of famed American actor Paul Muni has been hailed as 'The greatest theatere biography of the [20th] century' and rightly so. This exceptional book covers the whole of Muni's life: from his childhood spent touring with his parents Yiddish theatre company to his declining years and failing health. The viviness of the acconts Lawrence writes is due to the fact that Lawrence knew Muni well (Muni's most successful broadway play was 'Inherit the Wind', co-auhored by Lawrence) and most of the information was given first hand. Lawrence paints Muni as the tortured man that he was; always striving for perfection and never finding it and therefore never happy. After Muni's death in 1967 his widow Bella (with the encouragment of Lawrence) set about writing a book about her late husband to be entitled 'The Men I have Lived with', but Bella died in 1971 leaving the book unfinished, so it was left to Lawrence to finish it. Some of Bella's original passages have been included, notably the story of how she met and married Muni. Lawrence also recounts the history of the Yiddish theatre, the making of the Hollywood classic 'Scarface' and the story of Muni's obsessive search for the story of Alfred Nobel. Many of theatre and Hollywood luminaires were interviewed for this book including Luther Adler, George Abbott, Lee Strassberg, Howard Hawks and Bette Davis (a full transript of her interview is included in the closing chapters). 'Actor' is a fascinating and compelling read about a man who ultimately didn't know what else to do but act.