Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.11 (817 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0743416147 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 640 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-02-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
With a talent recognised by discerning critics from his very first appearance on the stage he gained a world-wide reputation playing roles on the screen such Fagin in OLIVER TWIST and THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT. Guinness was a man who vigorously guarded his privacy and, despite publishing an autobiography, BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE, and two volumes of his diaries, he remained an enigma to the general public and a mystery even to his family and closest friends. Sir Alec Guinness was one the greatest actors of the twentieth century. After his death in August, 2000, his widow Merula asked the author Piers Paul Read, who had been a friend of her husband, to write his biography. His performance as Colonel Nicholson in BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI won him an Oscar and in his later years he captivated a new generation of admirers as George Smiley in TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY and Ben Kenobi in STAR WARS. Given full co-operation by the Guinness family and free access to Sir Alec's papers, including his private and unpublished diaries, Read has written a penetrating and perceptive account of an in
Read fares better in discussing other aspects of Guinness's emotional life, including his ambivalence toward the mother who conceived him out of wedlock, and an adult conversion to Roman Catholicism. Read doesn't allow his friendship with Guinness to interfere with an honest account of some unsavory aspects of the actor's personality (e.g., his frequent cruelty to his wife). Instead, Read offers repeated, lengthy speculations about his subject's sexuality. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. B&w photos. Anecdotal evidence and cryptic diary entries do suggest Guinness may have wrestled with an attraction to men, and might even on occasion have acted upon it and felt guilty afterward, but the issue probably doesn't require quite so much attention. Readers hoping for the usual celebrity biography filled with the star's encounters with other stars, however, will like
Stage history but scant film information B. Margolis If you're looking for details about Alec's movies, look elsewhere. One my favorite films by him, "Last Holiday" is mentioned only once and in passing. So, details about his upbringing and his stage career is the majority of his bio. It's a darn shame.. Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography I found this to be an outstanding biography of Alec Guinness, the man and the actor. I have to say I don't really understand the objections that the Publisher's Weekly blurb (directly above) raises about this biography: "Read's treatment of his subject's professional career is spotty some of his best films from the 1950's are barely mentioned." Huh? There's more than just adequate coverage of Guinness's 1950's films (and films from other decades). Read describes the directors and other personalities involved; he describes Guinness's performances and how they were received by critics both at the time, and later."Readers hopin. A sad look at the personal life of a legendary actor Alec Guinness's career spanned generations. Great-grandparents might recall his days on the British stage. Grandparents may have seen such classics as The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. Younger cinemaphiles still picture him as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.Like most actors, Guinness had more than his share of success with a few clinkers thrown in. Piers Paul Read reveals the enormity of his life's work, along with a massive account of Sir Alec's personal side, in ALEC GUINNESS: The Authorised Biography.Read, author of more than a dozen books, has done a huge amount of research, culling letters and journals f
. His occasional journalism includes a profile of Sir Alec Guinness written for THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE in 1985. Piers Paul Read is the author of thirteen acclaimed novels, most recently ALICE IN EXILE, and four works of non-fiction, among them a history of the crusading order, THE TEMPLARS and the international bestseller ALIVE! Past novels have won the Hawthornden Prize and the Geoffrey Faber, Somerset Maugham and James Tail Black Awards