The House of Redgrave

The House of Redgrave PDF

Author: Tim Adler

Publisher: Aurum

Published: 2011-09-22

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1845136861

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From the landmark films of Tony Richardson to the untimely death of Natasha Richardson – this is the saga of one of the greatest dynasties in British film and theatre. In 1928, at the end of a production of Hamlet at the Old Vic, Laurence Olivier strode to the front of the stage to hush the audience and announced, pointing at his co-star Michael Redgrave, 'Tonight a great actress has been born. Laertes has a daughter.' He meant Vanessa Redgrave. That is where this dramatic book’s story begins. It concludes in 2009, with the sudden and tragic death in a skiing accident of Vanessa’s daughter Natasha Richardson – and further family sorrow soon to follow with the deaths of both Corin and Lynn Redgrave. The story of this amazing family is explosive throughout - from the tangled private life of Tony Richardson, Natasha’s father, who directed major films such as Look back in Anger, to Vanessa and Corin’s complicated involvement with the Workers’ Revolutionary Party, to the emergence of a fourth generation of fine actors with Natasha and Joely.? There is truly never a dull moment – but plenty of scandal, melodrama, tragedy and intrigue – in the story of this remarkable dynasty, whose contribution to British drama and film has been immense.

Shakespeare for My Father

Shakespeare for My Father PDF

Author: Lynn Redgrave

Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 9780573627583

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The renowned actress's first foray into playwriting as family reminiscences developed into a complex, funny and moving portrait of a child's longing for the love of the inscrutable, daunting and charismatic Shakespearean actor who was her father. Acclaimed in America and Great Britain, Shakespeare for My Father weaves scenes from the Bard that delightfully coalesce with events in Ms. Redgrave's young life, eliciting memories of Sir Michael and engaging impressions of the celebrated stars who frequented the Redgrave's home and lives.

British Cinema in the 1950's

British Cinema in the 1950's PDF

Author: Ian MacKillop

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2003-06-28

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780719064890

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Covering a variety of genres, such as war films and women's pictures, as well as social issues which affect film-making, this is a re-evaluation of what has until now been seen as the most critically lacklustre period of the British film industry.

The Redgraves

The Redgraves PDF

Author: Donald Spoto

Publisher: Random House Digital, Inc.

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 0307720144

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The dramatic and revealing account of five generations of the Redgrave family, one of the greatest theatrical and Hollywood movie dynasties of all time, includes Lynn Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, and Natasha Richardson.

Our Time of Day

Our Time of Day PDF

Author: Kika Markham

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-09-08

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1783195991

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‘I remember thinking if life had been different, I might have liked to have ended up with that man.’ Our Time of Day was inspired by Corin’s revelation that after suffering brain damage he could remember little of his marriage – despite the fact that for over thirty happy, passionate and turbulent years he and Kika had shared their love of acting, family and left-wing politics with ceaseless energy and commitment.With great empathy and wit, Kika records their lives on and off stage – two great actors from two theatrical families. She draws upon intimate records of the thoughts and feelings that they had both expressed in personal diaries, writing with often brutal honesty. Finally she charts the poignant trajectory of Corin’s illness, from the moment he suffered a near-fatal heart attack during a speech on behalf of the Dale Farm gypsies, to severe memory loss, cancer and his eventual death from an aneurysm in the brain. Throughout these troubled years both continued acting in plays and films, as well as strenuously pursuing the human rights causes they held so dear.

Secret Dreams

Secret Dreams PDF

Author: Alan Strachan

Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson

Published: 2005-07

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 9780752865485

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Michael Redgrave ranks with Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson as one of the great British actors of the 20th century. Married to the actress Rachel Kempton, he also fathered a dynasty of actors, Vanessa, Corin and Lynn Redgrave and their children including actors Joely and Natasha Richardson. Redgrave played all the great Shakespearean roles, was considered the greatest English actor in Chekhov, and had an impressive film career (that included his debut in Hitchcock's celebrated THE LADY VANISHES). Then, in his prime, he contracted Parkinson's disease and was no longer able to learn new roles. He wrote his memoirs, but these were noted as much for what he left out, including details of his complex and unconventional private life. Strachan had exclusive access to the papers recently sold to the Theatre Museum, enabling him to write this 'splendid, thorough and insightful biography' [Literary Review]

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh PDF

Author: Kendra Bean

Publisher: Running Press Adult

Published: 2013-10-15

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0762451033

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Vivien Leigh's mystique was a combination of staggering beauty, glamour, romance, and genuine talent displayed in her Oscar-winning performances in Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. For more than thirty years, her name alone sold out theaters and cinemas the world over, and she inspired many of the greatest visionaries of her time: Laurence Olivier loved her; Winston Churchill praised her; Christian Dior dressed her. Through both an in-depth narrative and a stunning array of photos, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait presents the personal story of one of the most celebrated women of the twentieth century, an engrossing tale of success, struggles, and triumphs. It chronicles Leigh's journey from her birth in India to prominence in British film, winning the most-coveted role in Hollywood history, her celebrated love affair with Laurence Olivier, through to her untimely death at age fifty-three in 1967. Author Kendra Bean is the first Vivien Leigh biographer to delve into the Laurence Olivier Archives, where an invaluable collection of personal letters and documents ranging from interview transcripts to film contracts to medical records shed new insight on Leigh's story. Illustrated by hundreds of rare and never-before-published images, including those by Leigh's "official" photographer, Angus McBean, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait is the first illustrated biography to closely examine the fascinating, troubled, and often misunderstood life of Vivien Leigh: the woman, the actress, the legend.

John Gielgud

John Gielgud PDF

Author: Sheridan Morley

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2003-03-01

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 9781557835031

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Sir John Gielgud's acting career was among the most distinguished of his generation. Now, in this insightful biography, Morley traces not only the actor's career, but also gives a refreshingly frank look into Gielgud the man, and how his professional success as an actor often came at the expense of his personal happiness. 48 photos.

The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes

The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes PDF

Author: Gyles Brandreth

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-10-08

Total Pages: 511

ISBN-13: 0191066524

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This is the ultimate anthology of theatrical anecdotes, edited by lifelong theatre-lover Gyles Brandreth in the Oxford tradition, and covering every kind of theatrical story and experience from the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe to the age of Stoppard and Mamet, from Richard Burbage to Richard Briers, from Nell Gwynn to Daniel Day-Lewis, from Sarah Bernhardt to Judi Dench. Players, playwrights, prompters, producers—they all feature. The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes provides a comprehensive, revealing, and hugely entertaining portrait of the world of theatre across four hundred years. Many of the anecdotes are humorous: all have something pertinent and illuminating to say about an aspect of theatrical life—whether it is the art of playwriting, the craft of covering up missed cues, the drama of the First Night, the nightmare of touring, or the secret ingredients of star quality. Edmund Kean, Henry Irving, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ellen Terry, Edith Evans, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren—the great 'names' are all here, of course, but there are tales of the unexpected, too—and the unknown. This is a book—presented in five acts, with a suitably anecdotal and personal prologue from Gyles Brandreth—where, once in a while, the understudy takes centre-stage and Gyles Brandreth treats triumph and disaster just the same, including stories from the tattiest touring companies as well as from Broadway, the West End and theatres, large and small, in Australia, India, and across Europe.