Product Description

This autobiography tells the story of an uneducated girl from wartime Coventry, who, without ever really wanting to become an actress, became one of Laurence Olivier's leading ladies and the muse of Samuel Beckett. She tells of an unlikely journey, working as a child actress, early fame as the first of Britain's TV kitchen sink heroines and ultimately triumphing in New York. She writes about her mentors and colleagues, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Albert Finney, Marcello Mastroianni and Joan Littlewood. She describes early backstage romances, a difficult first marriage and five decades as an actress.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #368587 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

Customer Reviews

Billie whitelaw - Who He?
Best known for her portrayal of the mother in the film The Krays her autobiography gives readers an honest insight into the life of a jobbing actor. The book details her career from 1948 to 1994 allowing us an insight into performance history. She carefully splits the narrative into three sections, the Prologue looks at her early radio, theatre and television work. The larger middle section gives us a detailed account of her work with Samuel Beckett with intermissions looking at her perfomances and relationships with Lawrence Olivier and other assorted directors and writers. The Epilogue merely serves to bring the reader up to date with her latest performances and credits. The section on Beckett is worth purchasing the book for, she describes their working process together exploring both the professional and personal relationship that spanned 25 years. All fans of Beckett will understand the important part Billie Whitelaw played in producing his work here in Britian, she being his muse! An incredible read, beautifully written by an actor who is exceptionally articulate about her own life and the processes she goes through to create her work. She writes with an honesty and conviction that would appeal to any lover of the biography genre. A must buy, especially for students studying the actors art or else Beckett.