by Alan Strachan (Author)
Michael Redgrave ranks with Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson as one of the great British actors of the 20th century. Married to the actress Rachel Kempton, he also fathered a dynasty of actors, Vanessa, Corin and Lynn Redgrave and their children including actors Joely and Natasha Richardson. Redgrave played all the great Shakespearean roles, was considered the greatest English actor in Chekhov, and had an impressive film career (that included his debut in Hitchcock's celebrated THE LADY VANISHES). Then, in his prime, he contracted Parkinson's disease and was no longer able to learn new roles. He wrote his memoirs, but these were noted as much for what he left out, including details of his complex and unconventional private life. Strachan had exclusive access to the papers recently sold to the Theatre Museum, enabling him to write this 'splendid, thorough and insightful biography' [Literary Review]
Format: Paperback
Pages: 560
Edition: New Ed
Publisher: Orion
Published: 07 Jul 2005
ISBN 10: 075286548X
ISBN 13: 9780752865485
Book Overview: A fascinating and revealing biography of one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. Strachan directed Redgrave in his last years and knows the family well. SECRET DREAMS was serialised on publication, and received incredible review coverage: 'I finished this admirable book with a greater admiration for Redgrave than I had before ... Alan Strachan's fine study is highly recommended' Spectator. '[An] absorbing and informative biography ... it is one of the virtues of Alan Strachan's book that he records the secret life, and dreams, of his subject without passing easy judgement ... His analysis of every film role is superb, the research torrential ... Here is a wealth of stage-lore, cultural history, well-organized biography and critical insight unmatched in recent years' TLS. 'Redgrave was undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of his generation, and this marvellous book does full justice to his many achievements' Film Review. '[A] first-rate biography' Sunday Express. 'This fine and judicious biography does an important service in restoring a major figure to its rightful place in the theatrical landscape' Simon Callow, Guardian.