John Gielgud In His Own Words

Nov 17, 2024 6:00 AM

Author:John Gielgud,John Gielgud

Sir John Gielgud was one of his generation's leading actors, who won an Academy Award. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his family and childhood, deciding to be an actor and his first confident performance. He discusses understudying Noël Coward and failing as Romeo, playing Hamlet for the first time and working with other actors. He also talks about bringing Shakespeare back to the West End, directing plays himself, film vs theatre acting, making mistakes and writing his autobiographies.

Interviews include: BBC radio archive interview (first broadcast 1 January 1941) Great Acting, BBC TV (first broadcast 12 February 1966); Parkinson, BBC 1 (first broadcast 7 October 1972); An Actor In His Time, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 15 October 1978); Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 30 January 1980); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (first broadcast 16 May 1981); Sir John Gielgud Looks Back, BBC World Service (first broadcast 19 February 1995).

Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary.

Reviews

[An] outstanding filmmaker biography... Deconstructs the French comedian-auteur as if he were an intricate human clock mechanism, which in some ways he was

—— Nigel Andrews , Financial Times

The best of the year’s biographies...David Bellos examines with perception and style how the creator of Monsieur Hulot staked a legitimate claim in a rapidly changing medium to the mantle once worn by Chaplin and Keaton

—— John Coldstream , Daily Telegraph

Elegantly written and illustrated, brilliantly illuminating about the work... this is a book of which Jacques Tati, who was extremely proud of his work but never thought much of himself, would surely approve

—— Margot Norman , Literary Review

This splendidly illustrated book pays a handsome tribute to a comic creator whose craft was an art which turned a delight in human absurdity into the most accessible form of sanity

—— David Coward , Times Literary Supplement

A witty, well-informed collection of fact and anecdote, full of fascinating bits and pieces

—— Uncut

Goddard widens his previous book's mixture of detail and passionate celebration to Morrissey's entire aesthetic universe

—— Dave Hill , The Guardian

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