Being an Actor, Revised and Expanded Edition - by Simon Callow (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A new edition of the classic book for actors starting their careers, with new material

Few actors have ever been more eloquent, more honest, or more entertaining about their life and their profession than Simon Callow, one of the finest actors of his time and increasingly one of the most admired writers about the theater.

Beginning with the letter to Laurence Olivier that produced his first theatrical job to his triumph as Mozart in the original production of Amadeus, Callow takes us with him on his progress through England's rich and demanding theater: his training at London's famed Drama Centre, his grim and glorious apprenticeship in the provincial theater, his breakthrough at the Joint Stock Company, and then success at Olivier's National Theatre are among the way stations.

Callow provides a guide not only to the actor's profession but also to the intricacies of his art, from unemployment--"the primeval slime from which all actors emerge and to which, inevitably, they return"--to the last night of a long run.

Review Quotes

"The most honest book ever written about us all." --Sir Ian McKellen

"The best picture of theatre life since MacLiammóir's classic All for Hecuba." --Ulick O'Connor, The Sunday Independent (London)

"Impassioned, intelligent, informative, and quite simply, one of the best theatre books I have read." --Michael Coveney, The Financial Times (London)

"Pugnaciously candid...His book is a unique account of an actor's life in mid-career." --Michael Billington, The Guardian (London)

About the Author

In addition to his distinguished career in the theater, Simon Callow has appeared in the films Amadeus, A Room with A View, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. He is also the author of Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor, Shooting the Actor, and Orson Welles. He lives in London, England.