In the Moment: My Life as an Actor [Hardcover]

Ben Gazzara (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2004

In the Moment is an intimate memoir by the quintessential “actor’s actor.” Ben Gazzara established his name at the Actor’s Studio in 1952. Working under Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, alongside Marlon Brando and James Dean, and gaining success with mega-stars like Marilyn Monroe, Gazzara helped to introduce a new acting style to the world. More importantly, however, the Actor’s Studio launched his career as a leading man when he was handpicked by Kazan to originate the role of Brick on Broadway in Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Soon Gazzara achieved national fame in the film Anatomy of a Murder. Launched into a career in which he worked and played with Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Shelley Winters, Lee Remick, Woody Allen, and Audrey Hepburn, who was for a time the author’s lover, Gazzara may be best known for his early work in independent film, collaborating on a string of off-beat, experimental movies by John Cassavetes. In the Moment takes readers onto the movie sets, revealing for the first time how these and other much-loved films were created. More recently, Gazzara has sprung into the second phase of his career by appearing in newer independent films.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since Gazzara's been a star for more than 50 years, most readers can remember at least one of his performances: on stage in Who's Afraidof Virginia Woolf?, in old television shows like Arrest and Trial and Run for Your Life or in recent independent films like The Spanish Prisoner and The Big Lebowski. In this memoir, Gazzara recalls his altar boy days on East 29th Street in New York City; his discovery of acting at the Madison Square Boys Club; his immigrant Italian parents, who trusted their son to embark on a totally non-blue collar career; his training in the Actors Studio; his experiences on the sets of various films; his affairs with a series of attractive women. His prose is plain and he's too much the gentleman to do a kiss-and-tell on his celebrity lovers like Audrey Hepburn, but his thoughts on working with various creative men—Kazan, Bogdanovich, Albee and others—are revealing. Gazzara is most engaging when he describes working with John Cassavetes and Peter Falk on that masterpiece of scriptless filmmaking, Husbands; a story about three men who bond while mourning a friend who has died, Husbandsbrought the three actors a profound sense of closeness as they went through intense improv sessions. While not bursting with the typical salaciousness of a Hollywood autobiography, Gazzara's simply written memoir should please fans of late 20th–century stage and screen craft.
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About the Author

Ben Gazzara has acted in more than 70 feature films and in hundreds of television programs. He has received six Emmy nominations, winning in 2003 in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries category for HBO’s Hysterical Blindness. He has acted in the theater for over 50 years, garnering Tony nominations for his roles in Hughie, Duet, and the 1992 revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Gazzara lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (September 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786713992
• ISBN-13: 978-0786713998
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,991,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ACTING WELL AND BEHAVING BADLY, December 19, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Moment: My Life as an Actor (Hardcover)

When you're a septuagenarian looking back on a life marked by intoxicating highs and terrifying lows, you have a story to tell. Noted actor Ben Gazzara certainly has a story - and he tells it well. There aren't any ruffles and flourishes in this showbiz bio but rather a candid, straight forward account by a man who, as they say, has been there, done that.

The son of Sicilian parents, Gazzara grew up on New York's Lower East Side where he lived with his mother, Angela, and his father, Antonio, who never learned English and yearned to return to his native land. Older brother, Tony, is gay. Remember this was a time when being gay was unacceptable and, if you were gay, the Lower East Side wasn't any place to be.

Describing himself as a lonely child, Gazarra found company and inspiration in movie houses. He was an altar boy, and came upon acting quite by chance at the Madison Square Boys Club. From there he made a giant leap to the Actor's Studio in the 1950's where he trained with Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe. His big moment arrived when Elia Kazan tapped him to play the role of Brick in the original production of "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof."

Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of Murder" marked his Hollywood debut, and along with it came recognition that here was a major talent. For the next twenty years Gazzara worked with most of Hollywood's luminaries. He also married actress Janice Rule, which proved to be a disaster for both. During that time the actor is frank about his one-night stands and affairs with Audrey Hepburn, Eva Gabor, and Elaine Stritch.

The film "Bloodline" (1979) brought Hepburn and Gazzara together. Of their first meeting on the set he writes, "My jaw dropped. She seemed to have appeared in close-up. Her large glistening eyes, set in that exquisite one-of-a-kind face, set me back on my heels." The pair romanced their way across the world. But, it ended when he met and fell in love with his future wife, Elke. "She (Hepburn) was so kind and sweet," he writes. "Amazing. And I hurt her."

There was more hurt to come as Gazzara became clinically depressed following the death of his best friend, John Cassavetes, in 1989. Next, he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999. Following radiation and a lengthy recovery period, it was back to what he loves to do - act.

The heart of Gazzara's story for this reader is his obvious love for his craft, a profession he honors. There are many reminiscences about working with the greats - Elia Kazan, Edward Albee, Peter Bogdanovich, his idol, Jimmy Stewart.

He didn't take home an Oscar or quite become a super star. Of this, he writes, "...I was never jealous of another actor, `cause I was really pleased with myself, with my talent. I knew I had the goods."

He does, indeed, have the goods.

- Gail Cooke

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He LIVED the GOLDEN AGE and tells his story!, December 29, 2004

By 

L. Taylor (Broadway, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Moment: My Life as an Actor (Hardcover)

I saw Ben Gazzara in the new movie, "Broadway: The Golden Age" and really liked him. It inspired me to get this book and I certainly don't regret it. It is fascinating to hear his first hand stories of growing up in NYC and becoming part of the golden age of Broadway and then his first hand stories of making films with John Cassavettes and everyone else under the sun. I also really appreciated his honesty about his battle with depression. He does a great service by telling the truth - and helps many who suffer from the disease. An inspiring and moving book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ben Gazzara, March 20, 2011

By 

Kevin Hayden "kevin hayden Photography" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Moment: My Life as an Actor (Paperback)

I read this book before going to shoot stills of a film/documentary based on the life of Ben Gazzara in New York city.
It is honestly written and gives a good insight into being an "almost made it actor". Though for me Ben Gazzara made it. Like many of us, enough is never enough!
It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with him for three amazing weeks in NYC, and to hear about his life growing up in East Manhattan.