An ardent fan of Alec Guinness (1914-2000), O'Connor notes that the actor's autobiographies "go little way to explaining what made Guinness tick, and what made him great." O'Connor spent 15-plus years gathering information from a variety of sources including interviews with Guinness himself, and countless leading figures in theater and film to give readers greater insight into the famed British actor. O'Connor is former director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and author of biographies of Shakespeare, Paul Scofield, and Ralph Richardson. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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(Applause Books). The late Sir Alec Guinness, one of the great British actors of the 20th Century along with his fellow knights Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson, was known for his ability to slip, chameleon-like, into his roles. His most mmemorable included DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, Obi-Wan Kenobi in STAR WARS, George Smiley in the television adaptation of John Le Carre's SMILEY'S PEOPLE and his Oscar-winning performance in BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Known, but not known, for despite being a familiar face throughout the world from his acting and memoirs, Guiness remained an enigmatic, complex man, careful throughout his life to show little of his true self. Until now. For the first time, Garry O'Connor is able to reveal the full story, including how Guinness was shaped by his illegitimacy, his strained relationship with is mother, and his search for certainties through the Roman Catholic Church. Backed by impeccable research, including interviews with Guinness himself, and containing startling new information about his childhood, his secret relationships and the fears that haunted him, the book is a portrait of the true, complicated man behind the idelible performances.
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