Alec Guinness: A Celebration - Hardcover

Taylor, John Russell.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0907516416 ISBN 13: 9780907516415

Publisher: Pavilion/Michael Joseph, 1984

Synopsis

For many years now, Sir Alec Guinness has been described as a man of a thousand faces, the actor you would pass in the street without noticing. And yet he is undoubtedly one of Britain's most highly respected stars of both stage cinema and television, praised for his ability to tackle a wide range of roles; Hamlet, Smiley, or seven different characters in "Kind Hearts and Coronets". It is precisely this ability to adapt completely to different parts which keeps him at the pinnacle of his profession. John Russell Taylor looks back over Guinness's entire career in this celebration, published to coincide with Guinness' eightieth birthday. In the process he sheds light on this great actor's development, personal as well as professional and illuminates Guinness' ability to adapt to the demands of the modern audience. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs showing every facet of Sir Alec's formidable presence. John Russell Taylor has worked for "The Times" as a freelance critic and later as their film critic. After a spell in the USA lecturing and writing. he returned to London to work on "The Times" as art critic. He is the editor of "Films and Filming". His books include a biography of Alfred Hitchcock.

About this title

From the Publisher

In the span of a career that began in the 1930s, Alec Guinness captivated audiences with each new role he played; almost immediately, he became known as the ³the man of a thousand masks.² His performances ranged widely: Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations, Fagin the pickpocket in Oliver Twist, the British colonel in Bridge on the River Kwai, which won him an Oscar. Such was his virtuosity that in Kind Hearts and Coronets, he played eight different characters ‹ both male and female. This photographic tribute richly documents the career of a master of disguise and the last of a heroic generation of actors. John Russell Taylor is the television, theater, film, and art critic of THE TIMES and a former professor of cinema at UCLA. He has written more than 50 books, including definitive studies of the Hollywood musical.

From Booklist

Certainly not to be confused with the tell-all biographies of movie stars so current today, this book attempts to answer a simple if unstated question: How does a man with so little flash rise to the top of an industry where flash is usually everything? Guinness' defining characteristics, we are told more than once, are his modesty and humility. Indeed, he has a rather low opinion of himself and his capabilities, on and off screen. He appears completely mundane, and yet this seems to be his strength: his "great gift has an actor is for finding the extraordinary hidden in the ordinary." His roles, then, have not so much been limited by this quality as defined by a quiet sense of his own being. Rare enough in life, but in the movie business? Quite astounding. Great photos throughout. Brian McCombie

Edition details

• Publisher: Pavilion/Michael Joseph
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0907516416
• ISBN 13: 9780907516415
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192