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How to Grow Old Disgracefully
Gingold's vigorous acting career spanned 78 years, from childhood appearances on the British stage with young Noel Coward, and Shakespeare at London's Old Vic Theatre, to her outrageous comedy performances in West End and Broadway revues. 16 pages of photos.
- GenresBiographyNonfictionFilm
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 8, 2017
If you’re a fan of classic films, say, Vincente Minnelli’s 1958 musical, Gigi, or classic stagings of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, you already know Hermione Gingold, the earthy actress with the husky voice and nonstop sense of irony. Otherwise, Gingold is likely a mystery, perhaps a relic from twentieth century stage and film, but she shouldn’t be. Known for her range of roles, from the wickedly humorous to the poignant, in her day Gingold had no peer. The English actress of stage and screen wrote her memoir, How to Grow Old Disgracefully at the end of her life, when she was suffering from heart trouble and requiring round-the-clock care. In those final months, she set about the task of her book with an aim to “delve deep into my past and tell it as it was and is, and to hell with scruples.” The result was an account that certainly doesn’t hold back, and reading How to Grow Old, it would seem that when it came to her choices in both in life and art, Gingold was never particularly worried about the consequences.
She was both determined and adventurous from the start. Named by her mother for the character of Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, the actress appeared to approve of little else her mother did after that. One can see why: “My mother told me people used to look at me in my pram and exclaim, ‘What a very ugly baby!'” She grew up wealthy and privileged in London’s Maida Vale, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese stockbroker and the detached, society-focused mother. As Gingold observed, “You could write the feelings of love I have for my mother on the head of pin and still have room for the Lord’s Prayer.”
Read the rest of this review at LitStack, http://litstack.com/litstack-rec-how-...
She was both determined and adventurous from the start. Named by her mother for the character of Hermione in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, the actress appeared to approve of little else her mother did after that. One can see why: “My mother told me people used to look at me in my pram and exclaim, ‘What a very ugly baby!'” She grew up wealthy and privileged in London’s Maida Vale, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese stockbroker and the detached, society-focused mother. As Gingold observed, “You could write the feelings of love I have for my mother on the head of pin and still have room for the Lord’s Prayer.”
Read the rest of this review at LitStack, http://litstack.com/litstack-rec-how-...
October 9, 2022
This is a very funny book: often arch, frequently curmudgeonly, and occasionally downright weird, it's more-or-less an autobiography of Hermione Gingold, a British actress who became an American movie star of sorts in late middle age. (She is perhaps best known for her performances in Gigi and The Music Man, both on film.)
Miss Gingold is as unreliable a narrator as you can ever expect to come across, so it's never entirely clear how much is true and how much is put on. For example, she professes not to have any idea why everyone thought her delivery of the line "Baaaalzaaac" in the song "Pick a Little, Talk A Little" from The Music Man was funny. She writes at length about a feud with Hermione Baddeley (famous for playing Mrs. Naugatuck on the TV series Maude)--was there really a feud? Who knows. There's a killingly funny story near the beginning about a random encounter with a stranger in a restaurant. Did it really happen? Who cares, it's a hoot.
The point is, the book is not necessarily useful as an account of a career, but entirely revelatory of a personality created and lived. It's a fast, enjoyable read, with moments that linger long afterward (in a good way).
Miss Gingold is as unreliable a narrator as you can ever expect to come across, so it's never entirely clear how much is true and how much is put on. For example, she professes not to have any idea why everyone thought her delivery of the line "Baaaalzaaac" in the song "Pick a Little, Talk A Little" from The Music Man was funny. She writes at length about a feud with Hermione Baddeley (famous for playing Mrs. Naugatuck on the TV series Maude)--was there really a feud? Who knows. There's a killingly funny story near the beginning about a random encounter with a stranger in a restaurant. Did it really happen? Who cares, it's a hoot.
The point is, the book is not necessarily useful as an account of a career, but entirely revelatory of a personality created and lived. It's a fast, enjoyable read, with moments that linger long afterward (in a good way).
July 16, 2019
Excellent! Funny, honest & very well written!
July 18, 2020
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, author is funny and eccentric.
March 17, 2023
A great book for theatre lovers
February 18, 2024
A pithy eccentric ride through miss ginolds life.as many acidic comments and one liners that match dorothy parker.well worth the time to read.
June 11, 2022
A fun read. Gingold definitely wasn't meant to be a mother, although she had 2 sons (and she despised kids!). But, she was lover of many men....and theatrical, tv and movie audiences. Who could forget that voice?
June 10, 2007
Named my pet bird after her.
October 25, 2014
Absolutely hilarious, dishy and fun, with a touch of melancholy.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews