Tony-Winner Spinetti Performs at NY Public Library Jan 5, 8 and 10

Tony-Winner, Film Veteran, Raconteur, and Beatles Intimate Tells All (or most) in Three Free Performances of Victor Spinetti: A Very Private Diary at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts-January 5, 8, and 10

The Beatles were card-carrying members of his official fan club. A fraught Warren Beatty once sought his help in evading a stage-door crowd of teenage girls ... who overlooked the heartthrob to shriek, "Victor Spinetti!!!" as the two men exited the theater. Without doubt, the irrepressible Welsh actor, writer, and director Victor Spinetti will win the same devotion from New York audiences when he presents his critically acclaimed autobiographical solo show Victor Spinetti: A Very Private Diary at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on January 5, 8, and 10, 2009. A gloom-defying mix of comedy, gossip, personal revelation, and bravura story-telling about an extraordinary life and career, the show is presented free to the public by special arrangement among The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in association with London-based producer Richard Jordan, in cooperation with Victoria Mather, Brian Kirk, Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, and Pleasance.

Victor Spinetti: A Very Private Diary will be presented Monday, January 5 at 6 p.m.; Thursday, January 8 at 6 p.m., and Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 3 p.m. in the Bruno Walter Auditorium in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, located at 111 Amsterdam Avenue (between 64th and 65th streets). Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information, telephone (212) 642-0142 or visit www.nypl.org/lpaprograms.

A Tony Award-winning actor-for 1964's Broadway production of Oh! What a Lovely War-and a prominent stalwart of stage, screen, and television for more than 40 years, Spinetti is recognized most widely, perhaps, for his close association with The Beatles and his unforgettably antic performances in their films (the nerve-shattered television director of A Hard Day's Night, the mad scientist, Dr. Foot, in Help! and the Army Sergeant in Magical Mystery Tour). He adapted John Lennon's In His Own Write for the stage and directed its production at The National Theatre.

Yet beyond the Beatles connection, Victor Spinetti's circle of friends and colleagues has included scores of the largest, most celebrated personalities of the late twentieth century. For every one of them there is a story-or more-impeccably told. "When you drop a name," he says, "the name has to have bounce." Here, then, are some of those that will be caroming around the room during his show: Richard Burton, ElizaBeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Salvador Dalí, Laurence Olivier, Brendan Behan, Sean Connery, Peter Sellers, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Franco Zeffirelli, Joan Littlewood, Richard Attenborough, David Merrick, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Frank Sinatra, Princess Margaret. There will be, of course, many tales of his time with and enduring ties to Boys from Liverpool. (In answer to the incessant question, "What are they like?" Spinetti shares a short, crystalline, four-part parable that is not to be missed.) Victor Spinetti: A Very Private Diary was directed by the legendary British theatre director and broadcaster NEd Sherrin.

About The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses the world's most extensive combination of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. Its divisions are the Circulating Collections, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, Music Division, Billy Rose Theatre Division, and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. The materials in its collections are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances. An essential resource for everyone with an interest in the arts - whether professional or amateur - the Library is known particularly for its prodigious collections of non-book materials such as historic recordings, videotapes, autograph manuscripts, sheet music, stage designs, press clippings, programs, posters, and photographs.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers - the Humanities and Social Science Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library - and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items, including materials for the visually impaired. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The Library serves some 16 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 25 million users internationally, who access collections and services through the NYPL website, www.nypl.org.

Photo: John Lennon and Victor Spinetti on the set of Help!