English Actors

Ed Lowry joined the vaudeville circuit in 1910 at the age of 14. He never achieved stardom equal to the likes of Fred Allen, Jack Benny, George Burns, Buster Keaton, or Eddie Cantor, and he never considered himself an "artiste". Instead, he saw himself as a hoofer and comic simply trying to make a living on the vaude scene. My Life in Vaudeville recounts Lowry's long career in entertainment from the viewpoint of a foot soldier with a big dream.

At the age of 17, in the glory days of moviemaking, Piper Laurie was living every little girl's dream. A contract star with Universal, Piper was elevated to the heights of Hollywood, her name emblazoned on 1950s marquees across America for hit movies like The Prince Who Was a Thief, The Mississippi Gambler, and Ain't Misbehavin'. Meanwhile, Piper's beauty was admired by the likes of Ronald Reagan, Howard Hughes, Paul Newman, and Tony Curtis as well as dozens of directors and legions of fans.

Howard Hughes lived one of the greatest, most heroic, misunderstood, mysterious, bizarre, and tragic lives in American history. In this brilliantly documented biography, the mythology that surrounded that life is disentangled from the truth.

Brimming with previously untold stories and insights, How Coppola Became Cage both revels in and demystifies Cage's onscreen eccentricities. No other modern actor has explored such profound creative extremes while bending the boundaries of good taste. Here is the origin story of an actor who truly is wild at heart and weird on top.

In Josephine Baker’s Cinematic Prism, Terri Simone Francis examines how Baker fashioned her celebrity through cinematic reflexivity, an authorial strategy in which she placed herself, her persona, and her character into visual dialogue.

Growing up in the shadow of one of America's most famous actors would be intimidating for anyone, but few have emerged out of that shadow like Jane Fonda, the oldest daughter of screen legend Henry Fonda. In fact, when Jane costarred with her father in the last film he made, On Golden Pond, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for it. However, she has accomplished more than enough in her own career to make her father proud, winning two Academy Awards, an Emmy, and seven Golden Globe Awards herself.

Rollyson fully explores Brennan's work with Hollywood's greatest directors, such as Howard Hawks, John Ford, and Fritz Lang. As a father and grandfather, Brennan instilled generations of his family with an outlook on the American Dream that remains a sustaining feature of their lives today. His conservative politics, which grew out of his New England upbringing and his devout Catholicism, receive meticulous attention and a balanced assessment in A Real American Character.

Returning to her parents’ birthplace in 1994, Pamela Nomvete became a household name as Ntsiki Lukhele, “the bitch”, on a South African soap opera called Generations. Dancing to the Beat of the Drum details the traumatic personal crisis Pamela went through as her success grew—a crisis which took everything she had worked for from her—and how she came to re-evaluate her priorities and reconnect with the spiritual side of her life, something she had long neglected.

Australian voice-over artist Lofty Fulton knows what it's like to have the odds stacked against him: Born with achondroplasia, which is a form of dwarfism, his grandmother thought he should be locked away from the world. At school, he suffered years of relentless bullying, believing the lie he would never be loved or good enough. At 15, Lofty's voice broke, giving him a unique gift that paved the way for his future. LOFTY: MY LIFE IN SHORT is a deeply personal memoir—of vulnerability and courage and humor.

Lizzy Munro is working at the Cannes Film Festival in a job that involves a lot more admin than red-carpet glamour. There, Ciaran Flynn is the man everyone is talking about: heartthrob of the moment and director of the most romantic movie of the year. What nobody knows is that 12 years ago, they were best friends...and they haven’t spoken since. But when Ciaran’s film runs into trouble, there’s only one person he can turn to.

For two moviegoing generations, Cary Grant was class—an effortless embodiment of gentlemanly grace and humor. But Cary Grant’s greatest achievement was in creating himself and the irresistible character he became. In this savvy, fascinating portrait, McCann tracks the transformation of a life and looks closely at the sources of Cary Grant’s charms, which did not come easily. Generously filled with anecdotes about fellow actors and directors, a realistic portrait of a complicated man emerges.

From watching his colleague get shot in the testicles by a jealous producer to running Hollywood's most successful television studio, Harris Katleman had a front row seat in the development of the television industry. Through a number of hilarious accounts, Harris Katleman shares his journey from office boy to talent agent to television producer, and finally to studio head at both MGM and 20th Century Fox. Along the way, we meet industry giants including Rupert Murdoch, Bob Iger, Barry Diller, Marvin Davis, Kirk Kerkorian, Mark Goodson, and Lew Wasserman.

In this intimate and often surprising personal portrait, Joseph McBride challenges the conventional wisdom that Welles' career after Citizen Kane, widely regarded as the greatest film ever made, fell into a long decline. The author shows instead how Welles never stopped directing radical, adventurous films and was always breaking new artistic ground as a filmmaker. McBride is the first author to provide a comprehensive examination of the films of Welles's artistically rich yet widely misunderstood later period in the United States (1970–1985).

A powerful force in theatre since the 1970s, Williamson's plays have uniquely explored the pulse of our Australianness. After five decades of chronicling the blunders, mishaps and messes that he and his fellow Australians got themselves into, Williamson has penned his long-awaited memoir, Home Truths. It reveals the story of the man behind the work

Dolly Parton is best known for her musical prowess, but there is so much more to her character than people realize. Nowadays, she is the epitome of old Hollywood glamor. She is pretty well known for getting a lot of cosmetic surgery over the years in order to keep up the gaudy, glamorous image we’ve come to know and love. Even through all this she’s still modest. What people may not realize is that her early life was anything but glamorous.

Ava is a tribute to a legendary life. Authors Kendra Bean and Anthony Uzarowski take a closer look at the Academy Award-nominated actress' life and famous screen roles. They also shed new light on the creation and maintenance of her glamorous image, her marriages, and friendships with famous figures such as Ernest Hemingway, John Huston, and Tennessee Williams.

From best-selling author Julie Klam comes a lively and engaging exploration of celebrity: Why celebrities fascinate us, what it means to be famous today, and why celebrities are so important. “When I was young I was convinced celebrities could save me”, Julie Klam admits in The Stars in Our Eyes, her funny and personal exploration of fame and celebrity. As she did for subjects as wide-ranging as dogs, mothers, and friendship, Klam brings her infectious curiosity and crackling wit to the topic of celebrity.

Marlon Brando, screen legend: Life and work in a short biography! Everything you need to know, brief and concise. Infotainment, education and entertainment at its best.

When Becky, a housewife with screenwriting dreams, attracts the interest of Felix, a Hollywood star, the two quickly become friends. Though the sexual tension is obvious, Becky has no intention of cheating on her husband - but would Felix cheat on his wife? As their friendship blossoms, rumors and suspicion threaten to derail their platonic love.

He was the unlikeliest of presidential candidates - dismissed by opponents as a movie actor, a right-winger trying to undo the work of liberals stretching back to Franklin Roosevelt. Yet Ronald Reagan made it to the White House, taking office in a time of economic turmoil, waning prestige abroad, and a general dampening of the American spirit. Reagan's patriotism, wit, and optimism lifted the nation and brought it through several crises.