Download or read book Spencer Tracy written by James Curtis and published by Arrow. This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 1024 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During his lifetime, Spencer Tracy was known as Hollywood's 'actor's actor'. Critics wrote that what Olivier was to theatre, Tracy was to film. Over his career he was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won two. But there has been no substantial, intimate biography of the man, until now. From his earliest days in stock theatre, Tracy was a publicist's trial, guarding his private life fiercely. Most of the people associated closely with him shunned the limelight - notably his wife, his children and the great actress Katharine Hepburn, with whom he had an affair that lasted over 26 years. Although his screen roles often depicted a happy, twinkling Irishman, Tracy struggled with alchoholism to the end, a fact which the studios managed to keep out of the papers.With the help of Tracy's daughter, Susie, and access to previously unseen papers, James Curtis has now produced the definitive biography of a tortured, complex and immensely talented man.The book contains 124 integrated photos, many published for the first time.
Download or read book A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Actresses Musicians Dancers Managers Other Stage Personnel in London 1660 1800 written by Philip H. Highfill and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1973 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the works already published, these latest volumes of the Biographical Dictionary deal with theatre people of every ilk, ranging from dressers and one-performance actors to trumpeter John Shore (inventor of the tuning fork) and the incomparable Sarah Siddons. Also prominent is Susanna Rowson, a novelist, actress, and early female playwright. Although born into a British military family, Rowson often wrote plays that dealt with patriotic American themes and spent much of her career on the American stage. The theatrical jewel of these volumes is the "divine Sarah" Siddons: "She raised the tragedy to the skies," wrote William Hazlitt, and "embodied to our imagination the fables of mythology, of the heroic and dignified mortals of elder time." She endured much tragedy herself, including a crippling debilitating illness and the deaths of five of her seven children. Siddons played major roles in both comedy and tragedy, not the least of which was a performance as Hamlet.
Download or read book A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Actresses Musicians Dancers Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London 1660 1800 written by Philip H. Highfill and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1973 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Leading Men written by Frank Miller and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2006-09-28 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tough, sophisticated, witty, and handsomefrom Rudolph Valentino to Buster Keaton, Cary Grant to Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart to Steve McQueen, each of the actors featured in this book brought a magnetic presence to the screen and made a powerful and enduring mark on film history. Produced by Turner Classic Movies, this stylish and definitive guide as the inside scoop and off-the-record reveals of fifty unforgettable actors and is also the focus of an on-air film festival on the channel. The lives and accomplishments of each actor are celebrated in an insightful career overview, accompanied by an annotated list of essential films, filmographies, behind the scenes facts, Academy Award wins and nominations. Full of surprising trivia, film stills, posters, and stunning photos, Leading Men pays tribute to the most charismatic, enduring, and elegant actors of the silver screenan essential resource for movie buffs and pop-culture enthusiasts alike.
Download or read book Drama written by John Lithgow and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this riveting and surprising personal history, John Lithgow shares a backstage view of his own struggle, crisis, and discovery, revealing the early life and career that took place out of the public eye and before he became a nationally known star. Above all, Lithgow’s memoir is a tribute to his most important influence: his father, Arthur Lithgow, who, as an actor, director, producer, and great lover of Shakespeare, brought theater to John’s boyhood. From bedtime stories to Arthur’s illustrious productions, performance and storytelling were constant and cherished parts of family life. Drama tells of the Lithgows’ countless moves between Arthur’s gigs—John attended eight secondary schools before flourishing onstage at Harvard—and details with poignancy and sharp recollection the moments that introduced a budding young actor to the undeniable power of theater. Before Lithgow gained fame with the film The World According to Garp and the television show 3rd Rock from the Sun, his early years were full of scenes both hilarious and bittersweet. A shrewd acting performance saved him from duty in Vietnam. His involvement with a Broadway costar brought an end to his early first marriage. The theater worlds of New York and London come alive as Lithgow relives his collaborations with renowned performers and directors, including Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse, Liv Ullmann, and Meryl Streep. His ruminations on the nature of theater, film acting, and storytelling cut to the heart of why actors are driven to perform, and why people are driven to watch them do it. Lithgow’s memory is clear and his wit sharp, and much of the humor that runs throughout Drama comes at his own expense. But he also chronicles the harrowing moments of his past, reflecting with moving candor on friends made and lost, mistakes large and small, and the powerful love of a father who set him on the road to a life onstage. Illuminating, funny, affecting, and thoroughly engrossing, Drama raises the curtain on the making of one of our most beloved actors.
Download or read book Michael Douglas written by Marc Eliot and published by Crown. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking portrait of one of Hollywood’s most successful stars, from critically acclaimed and bestselling biographer Marc Eliot Through determination, inventiveness, and charisma, Michael Douglas emerged from the long shadow cast by his movie-legend father, Kirk Douglas, to become his own man and one of the film industry’s most formidable players. Overcoming the curse of failure that haunts the sons and daughters of Hollywood celebrities, Michael became a sensation when he successfully brought One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, starring his friend Jack Nicholson, to the screen after numerous setbacks, including his father’s own failed attempts to make it happen. This 1975 box-office phenomenon won Michael his first Oscar (the film won five total, including Best Picture), an award Kirk hadn’t won at the time, and solidified the turbulent, competitive father-son relationship that would shape Michael’s career and personal life. In the decades that followed, Michael established a reputation for taking chances on new talent and projects by producing and starring in the hugely successful Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile movies, while cultivating a multifaceted acting persona—edgy, rebellious, and a little dark—in such films as Wall Street, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Disclosure. Yet as his career thrived, Michael’s personal life floundered, with an unhappy and tumultuous first marriage, rumors of infidelity (especially with leading ladies such as Kathleen Turner), and a headline-grabbing stint in rehab. Rocked by a series of tragedies, including Kirk’s strokes, his son Cameron’s incarceration, and his own fight against throat cancer, Michael has emerged triumphant, healthy, and happy in his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Welsh actress twenty-five years his junior, and their new young family. In Michael Douglas, Marc Eliot brings into sharp focus this incredible career, complicated personal life, and legendary Hollywood family. Eliot’s fascinating portrait of the lows and remarkable highs in Michael’s life—including the thorny yet influential relationship with his father—breaks boundaries in understanding the life and work of a true American film star.
Download or read book The Actor s Life written by Jenna Fischer and published by BenBella Books. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jenna Fischer's Hollywood journey began at the age of 22 when she moved to Los Angeles from her hometown of St. Louis. With a theater degree in hand, she was determined, she was confident, she was ready to work hard. So, what could go wrong? Uh, basically everything. The path to being a professional actor was so much more vast and competitive than she'd imagined. It would be eight long years before she landed her iconic role on The Office, nearly a decade of frustration, struggle, rejection and doubt. If only she'd had a handbook for the aspiring actor. Or, better yet, someone to show her the way—an established actor who could educate her about the business, manage her expectations, and reassure her in those moments of despair. Jenna wants to be that person for you. With amusing candor and wit, Fischer spells out the nuts and bolts of getting established in the profession, based on her own memorable and hilarious experiences. She tells you how to get the right headshot, what to look for in representation, and the importance of joining forces with other like-minded artists and creating your own work—invaluable advice personally acquired from her many years of struggle. She provides helpful hints on how to be gutsy and take risks, the tricks to good auditioning and callbacks, and how not to fall for certain scams (auditions in a guy's apartment are probably not legit—or at least not for the kind of part you're looking for!). Her inspiring, helpful guidance feels like a trusted friend who's made the journey, and has now returned to walk beside you, pointing out the pitfalls as you blaze your own path towards the life of a professional actor.
Download or read book Tallulah Bankhead written by Hourly History and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tallulah BankheadTallulah Bankhead was known just as much for her off-stage presence as she was for her on-stage performances. Fearless from birth, Tallulah charted her own course in life. She trudged off to New York to make it big in theater when she was still a teen. She then saw opportunity calling on the other side of the Atlantic and didn't hesitate to hop on a steamship and head to England, chasing her dreams until they became a certain reality. Inside you will read about...✓ Early Life and Discovery ✓ The Road to England ✓ The Suicide Attempt ✓ Tallulah's Return to America ✓ Hollywood Success ✓ Late Life and Death And much more! Tallulah Bankhead was a legendary stage performer, a strong voice in both radio and television, and an occasional blockbuster at the movie house. But more than any accolades from theater or film critics, Tallulah is celebrated for her personality and no-holds-barred approach to life. She was someone who refused to conform to anyone's standards, determined to live life to its fullest and on her own terms. The life and legacy of Tallulah Bankhead is an impressive one by anyone's standards.
Download or read book A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Volume 3 Cabanel to Cory written by Philip H. Highfill and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1975 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volumes three and four of this monumental work include full entries for all such illustrious names as those of the Cibbers--Colley, Theophilus, and Susanna Maria--Kitty Clive, and Charlotte Charke, George Colman, the Elder, and the Younger, William Davenant, and De Loutherboug. But here also are full entries for dozens of important secondary figures and of minor ones whose stories have never been told, as well as a census (and at least a few recoverable facts) for even the most inconsiderable performers and servants of the theatres. As in the previous volumes in this distinguished series, the accompanying illustrations include at least one picture of each subject for whom a portrait exists.
Download or read book Maggie Smith written by Michael Coveney and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-12-29 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Steeped in theater history” this biography “seamlessly melds Smith’s personal and professional lives into an engrossing narrative” (Kirkus Reviews). No one does glamour, severity, girlish charm or tight-lipped witticism better than Dame Maggie Smith. Michael Coveney’s biography shines a light on the life and career of a truly remarkable performer, one whose stage and screen career spans six decades. From her days as a West End star of comedy and revue, Dame Maggie’s path would cross with those of the greatest actors, playwrights and directors of the era. Whether stealing scenes from Richard Burton, answering back to Laurence Olivier, or playing opposite Judi Dench in Breath of Life, her career can be seen as a ‘Who’s Who’ of British theatre. Her film and television career has been just as starry. From the title character in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the meddling chaperone in A Room With a View to the Harry Potter films in which she played Minerva McGonagall (as she put it ‘Miss Jean Brodie in a wizard’s hat’) and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films in which she played the wise Muriel Donnelly, Smith has thrilled, engaged and made audiences laugh. As Violet Crawley, the formidable Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey she conquered millions more. Paradoxically she remains an enigmatic figure, rarely appearing in public. Michael Coveney’s absorbing biography, written with the actress’s blessing and drawing on personal archives, as well as interviews with immediate family and close friends, is a portrait of one of the greatest actors of our time.
Download or read book Celebrity Biographies The Amazing Life Of Ryan Reynolds Famous Actors written by Matt Green and published by Matt Green. This book was released on with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever wondered how Ryan Reynolds rose to stardom? Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian television and film actor. Ryan was born on October 23, 1976 in a beautiful coastal seaport city Vancouver on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. He was raised Catholic. His father, Jim Reynolds, was a food wholesaler and his mother, Tammy Reynolds, was a saleswoman in a retail store. Ryan is the youngest one among his parents’ all the four children. The names of other three are: Terry Reynolds, Jeff Reynolds and Patrick Reynolds. Two of Ryan’s three older brothers are police officers. One of those two is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police member. Ryan Reynolds made his way to the education when he got the admission in Kitsilano Secondary School in Vancouver and graduated in 1994 from that school. For more interesting facts you must read his biography. Grab your biography book now!
Download or read book The Actors Handbook written by Marnie Hill and published by Marnie Hill. This book was released on 2007 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Little Masterpieces of Autobiography written by George Iles and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses written by George A. Katchmer and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before sound became an essential part of motion pictures, Westerns were already an established genre. The men and women who brought to life cowboys, cowgirls, villains, sidekicks, distressed damsels and outraged townspeople often continued with their film careers, finding success and fame well into the sound era--always knowing that it was in silent Westerns that their roads to film success began.Over one thousand of these once-silent Western players are featured in this encyclopedia work. The actors are listed alphabetically by last name, and each entry includes a detailed biography, covering both personal and professional milestones in the performer's life. Also included for each actor is a complete Western filmography. The biographies are preceded by a foreword by Diana Serra Cary (formerly the child star Baby Peggy), who performed with many of those included in this dictionary. Full indexing is included.
Download or read book A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Volume 4 Corye to Dynion written by Philip H. Highfill and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1975 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volumes three and four of this monumental work include full entries for all such illustrious names as those of the Cibbers--Colley, Theophilus, and Susanna Maria--Kitty Clive, and Charlotte Charke, George Colman, the Elder, and the Younger, William Davenant, and De Loutherboug. But here also are full entries for dozens of important secondary figures and of minor ones whose stories have never been told, as well as a census (and at least a few recoverable facts) for even the most inconsiderable performers and servants of the theatres. As in the previous volumes in this distinguished series, the accompanying illustrations include at least one picture of each subject for whom a portrait exists.
Download or read book An Actor s Actor written by Hanif Zaveri and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than forty years after his death, Sanjeev Kumar remains a role model for all aspiring actors. He could light up the screen in underpants, paunch showing, in one of Hindi cinema's most lovable song sequences, 'Thande thande paani se nahana chahiye' (Pati Patni Aur Woh, 1977). Entirely unselfconscious of his image as a star, he would often be cast as the father figure to a number of his contemporaries, most famously Sharmila Tagore in Mausam (1975) and Amitabh Bachchan in Trishul (1978), or as the elderly Thakur in Sholay (1975) and yet leave an indelible mark with his presence and his acting prowess. After starting out in B-films in the 1960s, he caught the eye in Sungharsh (1967), where the manner in which he held his own against Dilip Kumar is now stuff of Hindi film folklore. Equally adept at comedy (Angoor and Manchali, for example) and dramatic serious roles (Anubhav and Koshish), he was truly an actor's actor. Hanif Zaveri and Sumant Batra's biography provides a glimpse of star's personal and professional lives, taking off from the traditional business of the Zariwalas, his romantic involvement with some of Hindi cinema's biggest names, his lifelong battle with loneliness and his glittering achievements on screen. An Actor's Actor is a succinct introduction to the life and films of a star who left us tragically at the young age of forty-seven but who continues to live through his unforgettable and remarkable contribution to Hindi cinema.
Download or read book Stories I Only Tell My Friends written by Rob Lowe and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2011-04-26 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Actor Rob Lowe's memoir presents a wryly funny and surprisingly moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye. A teen idol at fifteen, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild counterculture of mid-seventies Malibu, where he embarked on his unrelenting pursuit of a career in Hollywood. The Outsiders placed Lowe at the birth of the modern youth movement in the entertainment industry. During his time on The West Wing, he witnessed the surreal nexus of show business and politics both on the set and in the actual White House. And in between are deft and humorous stories of the wild excesses that marked the eighties, leading to his quest for family and sobriety. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last twenty-five years. Rob Lowe's New York Times bestselling autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, shares tales that are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.
