An Actor and His Time


Book Description

The acclaimed British actor looks back on his long career in the theater and recalls the many great actors and actresses with whom he has worked




Acting in Film


Book Description

(Applause Books). A master actor who's appeared in an enormous number of films, starring with everyone from Nicholson to Kermit the Frog, Michael Caine is uniquely qualified to provide his view of making movies. This revised and expanded edition features great photos, with chapters on: Preparation, In Front of the Camera Before You Shoot, The Take, Characters, Directors, On Being a Star, and much more. "Remarkable material ... A treasure ... I'm not going to be looking at performances quite the same way ... FASCINATING!" Gene Siskel




Jack Nicholson


Book Description

Jack Nicholson has been part of the Hollywood movie scene for more than 40 years. Since his role in Easy Rider in 1969, he has lived in the limelight. This book explores the truth about the secret life of the actor who calls himself Dr Devil. Writer and investigative journalist, Peter Thompson catches Nicholson unguarded in off-screen moments to examine the contradictions of his personality. Nicholson reveals the truth behind his feud with Susan Anspach, the mother of his 26-year-old son Caleb, the truth about his other children, how Marlon Brando comforted him after the murder of his half-sister, Pamela, and why he continues to pursue a vendetta against her grieving husband. He also discloses the intimate secrets of his stormy relationships with Anjelica Houston and Rebecca Broussard. The book exposes him as a spoiled playboy trying to escape reality with sex and drug binges. Thompson paints a picture of a tormented man who inflicts pain on his loved ones and ultimately on himself.




An Actor and His Time


Book Description

The acclaimed British actor looks back on his long career in the theater and recalls the many great actors and actresses with whom he has worked




There and Back Again


Book Description

The fascinating memoir of a Hollywood life and an inside look at a life-changing role and the groundbreaking Lord of the Rings films that captured the imagination of movie fans everywhere. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful film franchises in cinematic history. Winner of a record eleven Academy Awards--a clean sweep--and breaking box office records worldwide, the trilogy is a breathtaking cinematic achievement and beloved by fans everywhere. For Sean Astin, a Hollywood child (his mother is Patty Duke and stepfather is John Astin) who made his feature film debut at 13 in the 1980s classic The Goonies and played the title role in Rudy, the call from his agent about the role of Samwise Gamgee couldn't have come at a better time. His career was at a low point and choice roles were hard to come by. But his 18-month experience in New Zealand with director Peter Jackson and the cast and crew od The Lord of the Rings films would be more than simply a dream-come-true--it would prove to be the challenge of a lifetime. There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale is the complete memoir of Sean Astin, from his early days in Hollywood to the role that changed his life. Though much has been written about the making of the films, including the techniques and artistry employed to bring Tolkien's vision of life and the various relationships between castmembers, the real story of what took place on the set, the harrowing ordeals of the actors and the unspoken controversy and backstage dealings have never been told. Sean's experience and candid account of his time filming in New Zealand is unparalleled. More than a companion guide to the Ring films, There and Back Again filled with stories from the set and of the actors involved that have never been revealed before and is an eye-opening look from a Hollywood veteran at the blood, sweat and tears that went into the making of one of the most ambitious films of all time.




Letters from an Actor


Book Description

The legendary 1964 Broadway run of Hamlet directed by John Gielgud is one of the most famous productions of Shakespeare’s most important play. Audacious for its time in concept and execution, it placed the actors in everyday clothes within an unassuming “rehearsal” set, with the Ghost of Hamlet’s father projected as a shadow against the rear wall and voiced by the director himself. It was also a runaway critical and financial success, breaking the then-record for most performances of a Broadway show. This was in no small part due to the starring role played by Richard Burton, whose romance with Elizabeth Taylor was the object of widespread fascination. Present throughout, and ever attentive to the backstage drama and towering egos on display, was the actor William Redfield, who played Guildenstern. During the three months of the play’s preparation, from rehearsals through out-of-town tryouts to the gala opening night on Broadway, Redfield wrote a series of letters describing the daily happenings and his impressions of them. In 1967, they were in 1967 collected into Letters from an Actor, a brilliant and unusual book that has since become a classic behind-the-scenes account that remains an indispensable contribution to theatrical history and lore. This new edition at last brings Redfield’s classic back into print, as The Motive and the Cue—the Sam Mendes-directed play about the Gielgud production that is based in part on the book—continues its successful run in London’s West End.




Paul Scofield


Book Description

"Scofield, however, is adamantly not a celebrity actor. As guardian of his craft and integrity, he has kept himself most carefully out of the limelight. This, in fact, is the first full biography of him. Garry O'Connor, highly respected for his theatrical biographies, presents a richly drawn, fully dimensional portrait of the great actor. O'Connor interviewed the intensely private Scofield himself, as well as many of the actors and directors he has worked with, including Simon Callow, Trevor Nunn, Richard Eyre, and Peter Hall. The result is a biography of one of the past century's most remarkable and enigmatic icons."--BOOK JACKET.




Four by Fratti


Book Description




The Existential Actor


Book Description

This is a book for the thinking actor, and the finest actors I've known are just that. The best actors bring it all together body, heart, spirit, and mind. This book is for the actor who thinks about craft and influence, who thinks about the relationship of performance to living, who thinks about doing and what that doing means. Acting is a metaphor and it's a mirror, and, so, a theory of acting, if true, shows us to ourselves. Jeff Zinn knows this. He knows it as an actor, director, teacher, and thinker. His theory of everything is simple and revelatory. (from the foreword by Todd London)




The Actor as Storyteller: An Introduction to Acting


Book Description

This introductory acting text emphasizes the actor's responsibility to tell the story of the play. Through an engaging presentation of anecdotes and techniques, including more than 100 exercises, this text teaches beginning actors their craft as it casts them in the role of storytellers in service of the script. A complete play, Rules of Love, by Joe Pintauro, is included.




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