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 Stepin
Fetchit: The Life & Times of Lincoln Perry
Mel Watkins
The first African American movie star, Lincoln Perry, a.k.a. Stepin
Fetchit, is an iconic figure in the history of American popular culture.
In the late 1920s and 30s he was both renowned and reviled for his
surrealistic portrayals of the era's most popular comic stereotype
-- the lazy shiftless Negro. However, Perry lived a life far richer
than his on-screen persona, and in Stepin Fetchit,
Mel Watkins has given us the first definitive, full-scale biography
of an entertainment legend. Hardcover, 338 pp. $34.95.
 Design for Living: Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
Margot Peters
In this new biography, Margot Peters catches the magic of Lunt
and Fontanne -- their period, their work, their intimacy and its
contradictions -- with candor, delicacy, intelligence, and wit.
Hardcover, 394 pp. $45.00.
 Michael
Gambon: A Life in Acting
Mel Gussow
This is the first book devoted to the actor who has created a judicious blend
of high-definition performances on the British stage and a wide range of award-winning
television and film roles. New York Times writer Mel Gussow interviewed Gambon
on many occasions, and those conversations comprise the majority of this book.
Gussow also draws insights from some of the people who have worked with Gambon
including the playwrights Dennis Potter, Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter,
directors Peter Hall and Deborah Warner, and the highly acclaimed actor Simon
Russell Beale. Softcover, 231 pp. $26.95.
 In
the Moment: My Life as an Actor
Ben Gazzara
For the first time ever, acclaimed actor Ben Gazzara shares his compelling
and intimate account of more than fifty years in film, theatre, and
television. In a career that has seen him brush shoulders with Marlon
Brando, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Elia Kazan, and Marilyn Monroe,
Gazzara has amassed a stunning body of work. In In the Moment, Gazzara
offers a vivid portrait of a life and career that will be an inspiration
for generations to come. Hardcover, 312 pp. $36.50.
 Gielgud's
Letters
John Mangan
John Gielgud wrote letters almost every day of his adult life.
Whether at home in London and later in Buckinghamshire, or acting
abroad or on location, he delighted in sitting down each day and
recounting what had been going on and what he felt about events
around him. Here is his life as seen through eighty years of letter
writing. Hardcover, 564 pp. $50.00.
 John
G: The Authorised Biography of John Gielgud
Sheridan Morley
John Gielgud has no place in the history of 20th century British theatre for
the simple reason that he was that history. In a career spanning almost 80
years on stage, screen, radio and television, he effectively reinvented Shakespeare
for the modern stage; he was the first great Hamlet of our time; with his brother
Val he virtually created the BBC radio drama; decades before the founding of
of the National Theatre or the RSC, he pioneered the idea of a resident classical
company in the West End. He made stars of Alec Guinness and Paul Scofield as
well as hundreds of other actors, directors and designers; from Peter Brook
to Peter Greenaway, he worked with all the visionary artists of his time. John
G is the story of one remarkable man in his time, playing many parts across
a lifetime of 96 years, in private and in public. The definitive portrait of
one of the most loved actors of the 20th century. Hardcover, $57.95.
 Gielgud: A Theatrical Life
Jonathan Croall
John Gielgud has been widely
acclaimed, following his recent death, as the greatest classical actor of the
twentieth century and the finest modern interpreter of Shakespeare. This biography
is the first to cover in full an astonishing career, spanning nearly eighty
years in films, radio, television and the theatre. Hardcover, $49.95; Softcover,
$37.50.
 Jean
Genet
Stephen Barber
Genet's work is a distillation of preoccupations and reinventions of crucial
matters -- sex, desire, death and revolution -- all of which became mediated
in the form of his own travels, imprisonments, sexual and emotional relationships,
political engagements and protests. This new short biography and critical work
cuts directly to the essence of Genet's life and elucidates his provocative
body of work. Softcover, 155 pp. $23.95.
 The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi
Andrew McConnell
Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837) revolutionized the art of the clown and became a national celbrity. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Lord Byron and Charles Dickens and transformed the art of on-stage comedy. Yet the outward joy and tomfoolery of his performances masked a dark and depressing personal life. Stott has written the definitive biography of the original 'sad clown' and offers a nuanced portrait of Georgian theatre in London. Riots, fires, and all! Hardcover, 433 pp. $42.00.
 Jerzy Grotowski
James Slowiak & Jairo Cuesta
Jerzy Grotowski was a master director, teacher and theorist whose work extends beyond the conventional limits of performance. This book combines an overview of Grotowski's life and the distinct phases of his work; an analysis of his key ideas; a consideration of his role as director of the renowned Polish Laboratory Theatre, and a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to the principles underlying Grotowski's working methods. Softcover, 182 pp. $24.95.
 Callas Kissed Me...Lenny Too! A Critic's Memoir
John Gruen
From his extraordinary beginnings--his mother went into labour while gambling at a French casino--to escaping Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and ultimately hoping to conquer New York City, John Gruen writes a subtly revealing self-portrait in Callas Kissed Me...Lenny Too! Hardcover, 327 pp. $32.00.
 Hampton
on Hampton
Alastair Owen
Since his acclaimed first play in 1966, Christopher Hampton has amassed over
50 credits in theatre, film and television. From his best-known play, Les
Liaisons Dangereuses, to personal and critical favourites like Total
Eclipse and Tales from Hollywood; from his films
as writer-director (Carrington) to his work as screenwriter-for-hire
(The Quiet American), Hampton eloquently and entertainingly
discusses a career which puts him among Britain's most prominent but least
predictable playwrights. Softcover, 262 pp. $35.00.
 Moss
Hart: A Prince of the Theatre
Jared Brown
This long-awaited biography -- the first to be written with the full support
and cooperation of Moss Hart's family and friends -- is more than just
an assessment of Hart's magnificent Broadway career; it is a thoughtfully
written portrait of the man behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning legend.
Hardcover, 452 pp. $36.95.
 Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune
Stephen Citron
Drawing on extensive interviews with Jerry Herman and his theatrical colleagues,
collaborators, and close friends, this revealing biography tells the full story
of Jerry Herman's life and career. Stephen Citron provides insights into Herman's
music and lyrics -- including voluminous examples from each of his musicals --
in a way that is instructive, edifying and entertaining. Hardcover, 338 pp. $45.00.
 Artists in Exile
Joseph Horowitz
Decades of war and revolution in Europe forced an intellectual migration during the last century, relocating thousands of artists and thinkers to the United States. For many if Europe's premier performing artists, America proved to be a destination both strange and opportune. Artists in Exile explores the impact that these newcomers had on American cukturem and that America had on them. Softcover, 458 pp. $22.99.
 The Secret Life of Houdini
William Kalush & Larry Sloman
Handcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar. Since his death eighty years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and bestselling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy. Softcover, 591 pp. $19.99.
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Robertson Davies: A Portrait in Mosaic
The Gentleman Press Agent: Fifty Years in the Theatrical Trenches with Merle Debuskey
Darling
Judi: A Celebration of Judi Dench
Scenes
From My Life
Etienne Decroux
Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis
Diaghilev and Friends
Gerald: A Portrait
Eleonora Duse: A Biography
Kander and Ebb
I Belong to the Stars
Dame Edna Everage & the Rise of Western Civilisation
