Maggie Smith: A Bright Particular Star (Hardcover)

by Michael Coveney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Accomplished acting is as difficult to describe as good music, but Coveney, the drama critic for the London Observer , succeeds admirably in this chatty biography of British actress Maggie Smith. He traces her artistic journey from her early years in revues to her West End stardom, dissecting many of her performances and capturing the uniqueness of her technique and style ("widely imitated in other people's conversations, she remains entirely inimitable"). Coveney reveals the story behind her "flamboyant withdrawal from the celebrity circuit" and her five-year absence from Britain to lead the classical company at Stratford, Ontario, and to make movies in L.A. where she won Oscars for her portrayals in California Suite and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie . The author also discusses Smith's enduring admiration for American writer J. D. Salinger, her preference for Brian Bedford as her leading man on stage, her popularity as a "camp pin-up," and takes a glance at Smith's two marriages. She was named Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1989. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Coveney's loving biography of a woman so shy we may never see an autobiography is warm and, for the most part, uneventful. Best known for her Oscar-winning performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Smith has led what most would consider a good life, free from too much controversy--a life in which she would eventually wed her longtime amour, Beverley Cross, after an unsuccessful marriage to actor Robert Stephens had yielded two sons. (The couple was billed as the "New Lunts" during the 1960s, but her career took off while his fizzled. Eventually, so did the marriage.) Smith had a rather unremarkable childhood; it wasn't until she moved from college to Britain's National Theatre that the sparks began to fly, for there she met her nemesis, Laurence Olivier. Beyond that relationship, however, most of the actors who worked with Smith speak of her in glowing terms; she returns the compliments. Anglophiles and National Theatre buffs may find the book a juicy morsel, but Smith's film forays have been too few to entice many mainstream moviegoers. Joe Collins

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (September 10, 1992)
• ISBN-10: 0575051884
• ISBN-13: 978-0575051881
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,845,931 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)