Henry Carter Hull

There has never been a show business book quite like The Show Won't Go On , the first comprehensive study of a bizarre phenomenon: performers who died onstage. From the comedy magician who dropped dead on live television to the amateur thespian who expired during a play called The Art of Murder , the book is a celebration of lives both famous and obscure, as well as a dramatic and accurate recounting of events leading to the moments they died doing...

For decades, Robert Altman fascinated audiences with pioneering films-among them M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player, and Gosford Park-that combined technical innovation with subversive, satirical humor and impassioned political engage­ment. His ability to explore and engage so many different worlds with a single, coherent vision changed the landscape of cinema forever. This signature "Altmanesque" style is, in the words of Martin Scorsese: "as recognizable...

Strolling Player is the story of a Salford-born, homework-hating bookie's son who broke the social barriers of British film and dodged typecasting to become a five-time Oscar nominee. This riveting account of the life and career of Albert Finney examines how one of Britain's greatest actors built a glittering career without sacrificing his integrity. It's also the story of an actor who went his own way, did his share of roistering and yet outlived...

Basil Rathbone is synonymous with Sherlock Holmes. He played the Victorian sleuth in the fourteen Fox/Universal films of the 1930s and '40s, as well as on stage and radio. For many people, he is the Holmes. Basil Rathbone grew to hate Sherlock Holmes. The character placed restrictions on his career: before Holmes he was an esteemed theatre actor, appearing in Broadway plays such as The Captive and The Swan, the latter of which became his launch...

To The Actor is Michael Chekhov's acting methodology written in clear and practical steps. His technique has been a cornerstone of dramatic teaching for the past 80 years. Chekhov's students included notable actors such as Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Quinn, Clint Eastwood, and Dorothy Dandridge. Actors such as Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, and Anthony Hopkins, have stated his work to be a notable contribution to the success of their acting careers. Michael...

"Based on the actual KGB strategy of planting "illegals" into American life during the Cold War, The Americans (FX 2013 -- 2018) focuses on Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Kerri Russell), Soviet spies posing as middlebrow travel agents in the Virginia suburbs. Groundbreaking and unsettling, The Americans spins its stories of espionage, violence, and politics around narratives of marriage, romance, bromance, and family. Exploring the...

"' 'A wonderful account of a life filled with far more ups and downs than its subject's languid demeanour ever suggested.' Miles Jupp Even if the name doesn't ring a bell, you'd recognise David Tomlinson's face -- genial and continually perplexed, he was Mr Banks in Mary Poppins , Professor Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug. To many, he's the epitome of post-war British comedy. But at times his life was more tragedy...

"A guidebook to the world of professional humoring... Randazzo pulls off the rare trick of being funny while discussing comedy." -- Michael Ian Black, The New York Times Book Review It takes guts to be a comedian, and it takes smarts to make a living off it. In this insider's guide, former Onion editor Joe Randazzo delivers a funny and insightful blueprint for those looking to turn their sense of humor into a vocation, and solicits advice and stories...

While the Three Stooges were the longest active and most productive comedy team in Hollywood, their artistic height coincided with the years Curly was with them, and this is his definitive biography. From 1932 to 1946 Curly was the zaniest of the Stooges, becoming famous for his high-pitched voice, his "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk" and "why, soitenly," and his astonishing athleticism. He was a true natural, an untrained actor with a knack for improvisation, yet...

The stage crew at St. Genesius Prep-or Backstagers, as they like to call themselves-are ready for whatever the theater world can throw their way: the madness of tech week, inevitable prop malfunctions, and all the paranormal activity that goes on behind the scenes. Luckily Jory, Hunter, Sasha, Beckett, and Aziz are up for the job! But lately, someone-or something-seems set on ruining their production of Phantasm. It all started when an actor brought...