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Angela Lansbury: A Life on Stage and Screen
Traces the life and career of the popular actress from childhood, through her early film career and conquest of Broadway, to her success on the hit television series "Murder, She Wrote"
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
299 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 1, 2022
A fun read about an amazing actress. It is always enjoyable to read about the behind the scenes activities of a familiar movie or TV show. Makes my want to catch a few episodes of Murder She Wrote and then watch the movie, National Velvet. She didn't always have it easy but she always made the best of the situations that came along. She was in London for awhile when they were bombing during WWII. That has to impact a person for their entire life. She experienced several challenging events in her young life causing her to grow up faster than she might have otherwise. These events shaped the woman she became.
November 22, 2023
A very thorough accounting of Angela Lansbury's accomplishments on stage, film and tv. She was always regarded as a talented artist, even in her teenage years. Her talent flowed from her mom, also an actress, and had oportunities even as a child because of her mom's roles. Her father died when she was about nine, also putting responsibilities on her to care for her 3 siblings. Her family was fortunate to have the opportunity to evacuate England, to America, as WW 2 threatened their safety. In her early years as an actress, she unfortunately was only offered support roles, even though many could see her ability to perform her character with great skill. Angela was content to stay home, instead of following the glamorous night life, and pursue her love of cooking and gardening. In later years more opportunities came her way on film, stage and tv. A very talented and hard working woman.
February 6, 2021
Poorly-written, repetitive book that basically goes through old magazine articles and books to pull quotes from Lansbury and friends. There appears to be no original sourcing, all secondary from print publications, and the acknowledgments pages thanks only librarians or film archives. There's almost nothing about her private life, this book focuses 95% on a show-by-show listing of all the movies, TV shows, and theatrical productions she has done. But there's almost no insight into any of them and often the most minor things are included while major things are glossed over.
The writing style of the authors is incredibly annoying, adding their speculative opinions overpraising the star or often stating "perhaps" Lansbury was reacting a certain way instead of basing it on facts. Quotes are pulled from unnamed magazine interviews, then blended together in a way that often makes no sense--mixing a 1966 quote with a 1996 quote. A lot of things are stated over and over again, as if they thought we'd forget what they wrote earlier in the book. But worst is the whining of the authors about how unappreciated Lansbury was throughout her career and how she never really got the film roles she deserved.
Sure, I learned a few things about her early career, but nothing that's interesting is fleshed out in the book. Conflict is avoided to make Lansbury always look good, despite the fact that there are co-stars critical of her, she had a falling out with her mother, and she turned down two gigantic movie roles that earned Oscar nominations for the actresses that played them.
So much is skipped over. Four paragraphs is devoted to Beauty and the Beast. How can you take a book about Lansbury seriously when only four paragraphs are given to the thing she'll probably be best remembered for decades from now? And the authors barely discuss Bedknobs and Broomsticks--it was no Disney classic but these snobs look down their noses at anything they feel not worthy of their subject.
It ends up being written like a long college term paper where the writers think they're doing a good job praising their subject by packing it with all the quotes they found in old articles. Instead they seem to completely miss the most interesting parts of her life or the productions she was involved in. If they turned this in for a grade it would earn a D.
The writing style of the authors is incredibly annoying, adding their speculative opinions overpraising the star or often stating "perhaps" Lansbury was reacting a certain way instead of basing it on facts. Quotes are pulled from unnamed magazine interviews, then blended together in a way that often makes no sense--mixing a 1966 quote with a 1996 quote. A lot of things are stated over and over again, as if they thought we'd forget what they wrote earlier in the book. But worst is the whining of the authors about how unappreciated Lansbury was throughout her career and how she never really got the film roles she deserved.
Sure, I learned a few things about her early career, but nothing that's interesting is fleshed out in the book. Conflict is avoided to make Lansbury always look good, despite the fact that there are co-stars critical of her, she had a falling out with her mother, and she turned down two gigantic movie roles that earned Oscar nominations for the actresses that played them.
So much is skipped over. Four paragraphs is devoted to Beauty and the Beast. How can you take a book about Lansbury seriously when only four paragraphs are given to the thing she'll probably be best remembered for decades from now? And the authors barely discuss Bedknobs and Broomsticks--it was no Disney classic but these snobs look down their noses at anything they feel not worthy of their subject.
It ends up being written like a long college term paper where the writers think they're doing a good job praising their subject by packing it with all the quotes they found in old articles. Instead they seem to completely miss the most interesting parts of her life or the productions she was involved in. If they turned this in for a grade it would earn a D.
December 16, 2022
This was just an okay book. I find it risky to read biographies and autobiographies because details are often revealed that inevitably tarnish one's opinion of the individual. There was a small modicum of that here but, thankfully, it wasn't much and so my original opinion of Ms. Lansbury remains mostly intact.
The primary reason I only gave this book two stars is due to the poor writing. Embarassingly sychophantic at times, the authors show a distinct lack of professionalism. Frequent tangents about people or topics of little relevance, plus an inconsistent narrative that jumps back and forth between time periods made for a frustrating and sometimes confusing read. So it certainly isn't one of the best biographies I've ever seen and, as it's fairly old, it also ends over two decades before Ms. Lansbury's passing. Given these issues, I imagine anyone interested in the life and career of Angela Lansbury would be better served looking for a more recent and better written biography.
The primary reason I only gave this book two stars is due to the poor writing. Embarassingly sychophantic at times, the authors show a distinct lack of professionalism. Frequent tangents about people or topics of little relevance, plus an inconsistent narrative that jumps back and forth between time periods made for a frustrating and sometimes confusing read. So it certainly isn't one of the best biographies I've ever seen and, as it's fairly old, it also ends over two decades before Ms. Lansbury's passing. Given these issues, I imagine anyone interested in the life and career of Angela Lansbury would be better served looking for a more recent and better written biography.
March 17, 2017
Love the lady, did not like the book. I found it unorganized and an ocword read.
February 15, 2020
This book is written like a long encyclopedia report.
October 30, 2022
Excellent Book.
February 21, 2023
This book jumped all over the place. Very hard to follow the order of the events of her life.
February 22, 2009
Not as Good as Balancing Act but has alot of knowledge of the lady.
June 13, 2020
All of the necessary info was there; it just wasn't particularly compelling. There were a lot of quotes from Ms Lansbury, but I'm sure her story would be more interesting told from her point of view.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews