English Actors

The actors in James Franco’s brilliant debut novel include a McDonald’s drive-thru operator who spends his shift trying on accents; an ex-child star recalling a massive beachside bacchanal; hospital volunteers and Midwestern transplants; a vampire flick starlet who discovers a cryptic book written by a famous actor gone AWOL; and the ghost of River Phoenix. Then there’s Franco himself, who prowls backstage, peering out between the lines - before taking the stage with fascinating meditations on his art, along with nightmarish tales of excess.

In her first memoir, the Academy Award-winning actress Sophia Loren tells her incredible life story from the struggles of her childhood in war-torn Naples to her life as a screen legend, icon of elegance, and devoted mother. In her acting career spanning more than six decades, Sophia Loren became known for her striking beauty and dramatic roles with famed costars Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, and Paul Newman.

Take an unforgettable journey with the man George Bernard Shaw called "the only genius to come out of the movie industry" as he moves from his impoverished South London childhood to the heights of Hollywood wealth and fame; from the McCarthy-era investigations to his founding of United Artists to his "reverse migration" back to Europe.

For almost a century, movie fans have been riveted by the Academy Awards and the stars who have won Oscars. 50 Oscar Nights takes listeners behind the scenes of Hollywood’s most storied awards show through new and exclusive interviews with dozens of A-list actors, filmmakers, and craftspeople spanning sixty years of the Oscars. Here these artists reflect on their winning work and recount all the details of how they got ready, how they felt when they heard their name and got up on stage to accept their award, what they wore, how the entire experience impacted their life, and more.

While actors like Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant remain household names, and actresses like Greta Garbo are still widely remembered, few had careers that enjoyed the success of William Powell. In a career spanning several decades, Powell would receive three Oscar nominations for Best Actor for critically acclaimed movies, so it is somewhat ironic that he is mostly remembered today for his association with the more famous Myrna Loy. Together, they starred in 14 films, including the 1934 box office hit, The Thin Man.

Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926, is one of the great comic voices of the twentieth century. Having won almost every entertainment award there is, Brooks has straddled the line between outsider and insider, obedient and rebellious, throughout his career, making out-of-bounds comedy the American mainstream. Jeremy Dauber argues that throughout Brooks's extensive body of work, the comedian has seen the most success when he found a balance between his manic energy and the constraints imposed by comedic partners, the Hollywood system, and American cultural mores.

An Actor Performs goes from the very basics of acting, to scene study, and to the development of one-person shows. It expands on text analysis, characterization, and use of language. The book explores what is most essential for the actor: imagination, biography, research.

From his earliest memories of watching Rhoda with his parents in their tiny Hell’s Kitchen apartment, John knew that he wanted to be an actor. The strange, alternate world of television—where people always cracked the perfect joke, lived in glamorous Upper East Side buildings, and made up immediately after fighting—seemed far better than his own home life, with a mother and father on the brink of divorce and a neighborhood full of crumbling pre-war architecture and not-so-occasional muggings. And yet that other world also seems unattainable.

Here's the unauthorized, best-selling biography of one of America's brightest—and most flamboyantly glamorous—stars. Elizabeth Taylor has beguiled audiences since National Velvet, and her many loves and peccadilloes have provided endless spice and interest for the movie-going and star-watching public. Biographer Kitty Kelley tells all—even the parts Liz would rather keep secret!—in this uncensored biography.

After almost 60 years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. It seems that Shatner is everywhere, and he was recently elected to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. In this touching and funny autobiography, he reveals the man behind his career, and explains how he's become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today.

New York Times best-selling author Gavin Edwards, like the rest of us, has always been fascinated with Bill Murray - in particular the beloved actor's adventures offscreen, which rival his filmography for sheer entertainment value. Edwards traveled to the places where Murray has lived, worked, and partied, in search of the most outrageous and hilarious Bill Murray stories from the past four decades, many of which have never before been reported.

Kathy Garver, the teenage heartthrob from the hit series Family Affair (1966 - 1971), was no one-hit wonder, but a talented actress who appeared in such classic films as Night of the Hunter and The Ten Commandments long before she became a television icon.

Are you here because you've been told you have a 'great voice’? Are you pivoting, just starting out or have you been in the industry for a while and hit a wall? Are you feeling a little lost, isolated, or struggling with consistency? You're in the right place. Twenty-two professionals give their best insights on the voice over industry. Bypass years of trial and error and learn from those that have been where you want to be.

In this hilarious collection, you'll find essays like “Thoughts About My First Agent’s Girlfriend’s Vagina”, wherein Olivia skewers what it’s like to live in Hollywood. In “Sex: What You Can Do to Help Yourself Have More of It”, she frankly gets down to the business of getting it on, including advice on how to appropriately wrap it and bag it.

In “What to Do When the Robots Invade (Yes, When!)” Olivia offers valuable information on...what to do when the robots invade!

Once Upon a Time there was a woman who embodied the secret fantasies of every woman of her time. She was a classic beauty, the daughter of a millionaire, an Academy Award-winning actress, and then, after she married Rainier of Monaco, a real-life princess. This audiobooks takes an unprecedented look at the lives of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier and answers the question: Did they live happily ever after?

"Do you have any notes for me?" Actors always ask for notes on their performance, and they will take them from just about anyone. Ron Marasco's Notes to an Actor grew out of the actor's profession. In his years as an actor, scholar, and teacher of acting, Mr. Marasco found that most acting books were either outdated classics that were rarely read, or quasi-textbooks that actors only "skimmed." So he developed Notes to an Actor, a compact, user-friendly audiobook geared specifically to the way actors work.

Dueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew is a collection of stories of the making of the iconic movie, Deliverance, told from the perspective of one of the four main actors in the film, Ronny Cox, who played the character of Drew. Based on the novel by James Dickey, the movie was filmed in the summer of 1971 and was released the following year in 1972. Forty years later, it remains one of the most recognized films in movie history for being raw, emotional, violent and shocking - yet it leaves a lasting impression of artistic excellence.

Tallulah Bankhead was known just as much for her off-stage presence as she was for her on-stage performances. Fearless from birth, Tallulah charted her own course in life. She trudged off to New York to make it big in theater when she was still a teen. She then saw opportunity calling on the other side of the Atlantic and didn’t hesitate to hop on a steamship and head to England, chasing her dreams until they became a certain reality.

Veteran character actor Nick Searcy takes you through his wide-ranging career, from both sides of the camera as an actor and director, to guest-hosting for Rush Limbaugh, managing a professional wrestler, costarring in the hit show Justified—and somehow continuing to work in Hollywood even after he went to Washington DC on January 6, 2021.

This anthology contains action, adventure, spicy tales, and some swishing tails. A rare treat of compiled stories in one place. Enjoy!