| BILLIE WHITELAW has been one of Laurence Olivier's leading
ladies; she has worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Albert Finney,
Peter Sellers, and other greats; she has appeared in films that include
The Sleeping Tiger, Miracle in Soho, Make Mine Mink, The Krays, and The Omen
(in which she played the notoriously evil nanny); most of all, she was the
longtime muse of the great playwright Samuel Beckett, with whom she worked
closely for twenty-five years.
In this likable, clear-eyed memoir Whitelaw traces the arc of her
extraordinary career-a career that transported her from an underprivileged
childhood in Coventry to the brightest lights of stage and screen, though
she never even dreamed of becoming an actress. With candor, humor, and
generous detail, she reveals what it was like to work with the most
accomplished and up-and-coming directors, playwrights, and fellow actors of
her time. She gives us an intimate view of the day-to-day workings of the
mind of Beckett as he devised his unique, intense theatrical style in plays
like Footfalls, Play, and Happy Days.
A must-read for theater and film aficionados, Whitelaw's story is one of
an irrepressible talent who has forged a stellar career. |
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