George C. Scott created some of the 20th century's most memorable performances on stage and screen-the cunning prosecutor in Anatomy of a Murder, the manipulative gambler in The Hustler, the buffoonishly warmongering chief of staff in Dr. Strangelove, and, of course, the brilliant and rebellious Patton. He also played Willy Loman, Richard III, Mussolini, Scrooge, Fagin, and countless others. But his offstage life was as filled with drama and controversy as any of the lives he portrayed with such intensity. He refused the Oscar for Patton, battled with TV networks to include realistic elements in his series "East Side/West Side," invested (and lost) his own money on Broadway and in the scandalous film The Savage Is Loose, married five times (twice to Colleen Dewhurst) and had a tempestuous affair with Ava Gardner, traveled to Vietnam at the height of the war to write an article for Esquire, and weathered a damaging sexual harassment suit.
In the book Rage and Glory, the first complete biography of this great star, David Sheward documents Scott's artistry as well as his roller-coaster career. Featuring interviews with numerous colleagues including Nathan Lane, Karl Malden, Piper Laurie, and Eva Marie Saint, as well as friends and family members, Rage and Glory pays tribute to one of our finest and fieriest actors.
Please join us for this very special FREE event at The Drama Book Shop's Arthur Seelen Theater on Tuesday, February 3 at 5:00 p.m., 250 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018. 212 944-0595. www.dramabookshop.com
Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott
by David Sheward
Applause Books, 2008
Hardcover, $29.95
About the Author
David Sheward (Queens, New York) is the Executive Editor and Theatre Critic for Back Stage, the weekly publication for the performing artist. He is also the author of It's a Hit: The Back Stage Book of Broadway's Longest Running Hits and The Big Book of Show Business Awards. He appears regularly on the New York City cable television station New York-1 News' "On Stage" program as a contributing correspondent.
Tammy Grimes
(b. 1934) The petite blonde actress was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City before making her professional debut by replacing Kim Stanley as Cherie in Bus Stop (1955). She later appeared in The Littlest Revue (1956) before starring in the title role of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960). Long runs also followed as the prostitute Cyrenne in Rattle of a Simple Man (1963), the Blithe Spirit Elvira in High Spirits (1964), Amanda Prynne in Private Lives (1969), Elmire in Tartuffe (1977), Russian aristocrat Natalya in A Month in the Country (1979), and Broadway diva Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street (1980). She is the mother of actress Amanda Plummer.
Awards:
Tony Award® Best Actress in a Play - Private Lives (1970)
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance - Private Lives (1970)
Tony Award® Best Featured Actress in a Musical - The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1961)
Theatre World Award - Look After Lulu - (1959)
Marian Seldes
Revered stage veteran (actor, director, teacher and author) Marian Seldes, has appeared on Broadway opposite Angela Lansbury in Deuce (a role written specifically for Ms. Seldes by Terrence McNally) and worked with such luminaries as Judith Anderson and John Gielgud. She has had a longstanding association with the works of Edward Albee, leading to a Tony Award for A Delicate Balance. Seldes stared in the long running Equus and set a record for her run in Deathtrap. Her illustrious career has earned her five Tony Award nominations.
Awards and Nominations Include:
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance - Father's Day (1971)
Tony Award® Best Featured Actress in a Play - A Delicate Balance (1971)
Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams (2006)
The Play About the Baby (2001)
The Butterfly Collection (2001)
Ring Round the Moon (1999)
Tony Award® nominations for Best Actress in a Play:
Ring Round the Moon (1999)
Deathtrap (1978)
Father's Day (1971)
Publications:
The Bright Lights: A Theatre Life
Houghton Mifflin, 1978
About the Drama Book Shop
Many bookstores have coffee shops but how many have a theatre in their basement, or resident theatre companies (Backhouse Productions and The Striking Viking Story Pirates)?
The Drama Book Shop, originally founded in 1917, by The Drama League (on a card-table in the lobby of the ANTA Theatre!) has grown to become the world's leading resource for books and other materials relating to theatre, film and the performing arts. Subjects include: plays; acting; directing for film and theatre; speech and dialects; writing for stage and screen; costume, set, lighting and makeup design for stage and screen; production and business; history and criticism; biography, and many others. The bookshop's staff is renowned for their knowledge and dedication. After more than 90 years, the shop is one of the oldest specialty bookshops in the country and one of the most famous bookshops in the world.It is owned and operated by Rozanne Seelen and Allen Lee Hubby.
The Drama Book Shop is located at 250 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10016. Telephone: 212 944-0595. Website: www.dramabookshop.com. E-mail: info@dramabookshop.com. Blog: dramabookshop.blogspot.com, facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1278180910
Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
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