Alec Guinness: A Celebration [Paperback]

John Russell Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001

This celebratory volume is a tribute to Alec Guinness's life, achievements and passions, chronicling his rise through film, theatre and writing. During a career that began in the 1930's Guinness captured imaginations with each new role played, quickly earning him the reputation as 'the man with a thousand masks'.

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square; 2nd edition (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862055017
• ISBN-13: 978-1862055018
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,897,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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