John Gielgud (1904–2000)

A look inside the daily life of the great actor– as only personal letters may provide.

Mr. Gielgud, funny, erudite, frequently naughty and filled with gossip– theatrical and otherwise– falls prey as age creeps in taking friends and foes alike, to the sadness of remaining, alone, bearing witness to the utter decay of all he had known.

My volume– the First U.S. Edition– has a funny typo on both the dust jacket spine and the book spine: “...Lettters.” Humorous that the proofreaders show more added an extra letter to a volume of letters. show less

I have read Sterne's book before - as a theatre obsessed teenager. With the benefit of now being able to read it alongside William Redfield's far superior 'Letters from an Actor' it's difficult to see this as anything other than some sort of chronological record of rehearsals and conversations based on Sterne's highly dubious idea of secretly taping everything without initially letting anyone (Gielgud and Burton included) know. His reverence for Gielgud in particular becomes rapidly wearing show more and his analysis - such as it is - is naive in the extreme. However, it's a useful supplement to Redfield and one can see how it will be doubly so for Jack Thorne in his new play. Redfield is incidentally quite amusing in his view of Sterne's insignificance and apparently nonchalant about the recordings. If you only read one book about that 1964 Hamlet then, read Redfield's. But if your curiosity is piqued, you'll enjoy this too. show less

I find this book hard to assess objectively. I am a very great fan of Gielgud and I was absolutely delighted by it. One of the things about living a public life and living to a good age is that you might write or say things over a great many years. This is not Gielgud's recollections made in old age but a collection of his writing over his professional career. It would appear that he wrote his autobiography (or at least edited them) on three occasions. Despite this ideosyncracy one can hear show more his dulcet tones in every sentence. You would describe this book as light entertainment (froth and bubble) albeit of a rather droll kind. show less

An interesting recollection of Gielgud's career. This is a collection of his memories of various roles and plays that Sir Gielgud had acted in or directed throughout his career. Not very in depth in terms of literary criticism or acting technique, but an entertaining read of his view of the craft of Shakespearean acting.

Even more interesting and fun are the appendices including critics' reviews of his opening nights and playbills.