Customer Reviews

John Thaw: The Biography

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As his wife I can tell you that John disliked this book intensely. It was not authorised and is full of misrepresentations and inventions. I urge you not to read it.

Though I only know John Thaw from his masterful performance of Inspector Morse, I was so impressed by him, I really wanted to know more about the man behind the actor.

If you have similar feelings, than you should know that this book will give you no in depth insight in John Thaws backgrounds and life. I'm afraid this biography is best characterized as compact, or even shallow. For a truly interesting biography virtually every sentence should be (and can easily be) expanded into 5 lines or a paragraph. And then perhaps the book would begin to describe and explain satisfactory about what now is only mentioned or hinted at.

I'm afraid, though, there is not much choice in Thaw-biographies - yet. And that leaves you with a tough choice. The book is not exactly worth the money, but it is better then nothing at all.

Good luck

I Agree With John's wife in the review of this book.The only reason I purchased it was to get more insite into John and his life. Being a huge fan of John Thaw and his work, I found it to be quite shallow and very repeditive on certain issues.Many facts in the book seemed to be incorrect as well. Although I found the photos in the book a nice touch, I thought that the writer focused too much on certain issues and aspects of John's life that John himself found to be incorrect and almost offensive.I'm looking forward to the release of Shiela's Book in Fall of 2004, about her husband,friend and the Talented Late actor whom I'm sure we all miss very much.I will definately purchase that publication as I'm sure it will give John's fans a correct view of his career and his life, which was cut far too short by his death from Cancer on Feb 21/02. John was probably one of the greatest British actors that I have ever seen, and It's my opinion that the author if this book didn't do him the justice he deserved. I still find it hard to comprehend that John is no longer with us and that we will never see any more new work from him .So, please don't waste your money on this book and wait for Sheila's Book to be published.You'll be glad that you did.

Despite its 250 pages, this book is very thin on detail; it makes up for this with frequent repetition and double spacing. It wouldn't be too dificult to compress the detail of this book into a Sunday Supplement in-depth profile.

I'm sure John Thaw is an interesting man, and there are bound to be interesting tales about the programmes he's made but I'm afraid you won't find much in this book.

I've given my copy to Oxfam!

and wanted to learn more about the man behind the "Morse" code, having been a fan for YEARS! He was indeed a talented actor - and lived life true to his Capricornian nature. This book allowed me to spend time with him in a way I would not otherwise have been able, so I disagree with the reviews saying negative things. I do think he left things out that we will never know; it is his right to do so. He held a longstanding grudge against his mother for leaving him at a young age, but at least he had a wonderful father.....many people don't even have that, so beyond one mention of it was overdone.. He also repeated phrases about his wife when once would have done the job; I don't know why he felt the need to do that - perhaps a fear in him (I can only speculate.) Still I remain a huge and devoted fan of John Thaw and Inspector Morse. I have bought his movies and am glad I had the pleasure of learning more about him thru his book. After all, we are, each of us, only simple human beings.

What can I say? From his early days dealing with London "bad boys" in "The Sweeney" (shut it!), through to his more thoughtful policing of the murder hot-bed of Oxford (I live only a few miles away, and I can tell you it's one of the most violent places on earth) it is apparent that Mr. Thaw was one of our proud country's greatest policemen.

NOT ONLY IS JOHN THAW AN AMAZING ACTOR, BUT HIS RISE TO STARDOM IS EQUALLY AMAZING. HIS COMMITMENT TO THE ART OF ACTING IS UNSURPASSED AND HIS DEDICATION TO EACH ROLE IS SOMETHING I'VE NOT SEEN BY ANY ACTOR IN QUITE SOMETIME. THIS BOOK IS A VERY SIMPLE AND CLEAR READ INTO THIS WONDERFUL ACTOR'S LIFE.

IT ALSO REVEALS WHO THE REAL JOHN THAW IS. HE'S A MAN OF IMMENSE TALENT BUT ALSO OF GREAT MODESTY. HE WORKS AS AN ACTOR BECAUSE HE LOVES HIS JOB AND NOT BECAUSE OF THE MONEY OR FAME. HE IS ALSO A FAMILY MAN WHO, OVER THE YEARS, HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT TO HIM.

HE SEEMS LIKE THE TYPE OF PERSON YOU'D LOVE TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE A PINT WITH.

A THOUROUGHLY ENJOYABLE AND INFORMATIVE BOOK!

John Thaw had a wooden leg, right side, knee down! Just watch him walk.
I loved watching him, miss him.