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Beware of the Actor! The Rise and Fall of Nicol Williamson
"Superb. Thoroughly researched, very judicious on the films, and a sympathetic and sensitive appraisal of the man without ever being sentimental or sycophantic. A fine tribute to a remarkable talent and clearly a fascinating personality, it certainly made me want to re-view some of the movies, particularly The Bofors Gun and The Reckoning. An absorbing, mysterious tale; it reads almost like a novel in the way the narrative grips and holds you." Neil Sinyard, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Hull and author of twenty books on film
"This biography of Nicol Williamson really gets to the heart of the man and made me love him all over again. It's not only informative but heart-breaking, and Martin Dowsing has done him proud." Paul Moriarty, actor and Nicol Williamson's understudy in the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1974-75
“A welcome and well-researched account of the life and work of perhaps the greatest British actor of his generation.” Peter Gill, playwright and theatre director
“Startlingly honest, balefully funny at times, and respectful of the huge talent that inspired it, this is an extraordinarily rich and detailed biography. Nicol was the most unforgettable character I knew and worked with, and this account vividly illuminates his genius and his demons.” Leslie Megahey, director on Nicol Williamson’s one-man show Jack – A Night on the Town with John Barrymore
Nicol Williamson became famous overnight for his performance in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence in 1964 at London’s Royal Court Theatre, going on to gain a reputation as perhaps the best – and most difficult – British actor of his generation and ending the ‘60s with a Hamlet which became as legendary as it was controversial. The following year he was invited to perform at the White House – the first actor ever to receive such an invitation – but Williamson’s spectacular early success was not to last. Despite a number of impressive leading roles, his film career was less successful, although his portrayal of Merlin in Excalibur remains a popular favourite. Later, his appearances dwindled and finally ceased altogether. Nicol Williamson was an incendiary talent who once burned brightly – did he simply burn himself out or were there other reasons for his downfall?
Over the course of 4 years, Martin Dowsing interviewed and corresponded with more than 50 people who knew Williamson, including many of his colleagues, his family and his closest friends. The author was also granted exclusive access to an unbroadcast 4-hour career-spanning interview with Williamson filmed in 2005.
This book reveals how Williamson’s bizarre career path was shaped by his unique outlook on life, his enormous personality and his own personal demons.
The book includes an afterword by Nicol's son, Luke Williamson. Other contributors to the book include his first wife, Jill Townsend; actors Elaine Bromka, Michael Culver, Penny Fuller, Ian Hogg, Glenda Jackson, Jane Lapotaire, Paul Moriarty, Steffan Rhodri, Clive Swift and David Warner; directors Robert Bierman, the late Jack Gold, Piers Haggard, Terry Hands, Robert Knights, Richard Lester, Peter Levin, Walter Murch, John Tydeman; Tony Garnett, Nicholas Meyer and many more.
"This biography of Nicol Williamson really gets to the heart of the man and made me love him all over again. It's not only informative but heart-breaking, and Martin Dowsing has done him proud." Paul Moriarty, actor and Nicol Williamson's understudy in the Royal Shakespeare Company, 1974-75
“A welcome and well-researched account of the life and work of perhaps the greatest British actor of his generation.” Peter Gill, playwright and theatre director
“Startlingly honest, balefully funny at times, and respectful of the huge talent that inspired it, this is an extraordinarily rich and detailed biography. Nicol was the most unforgettable character I knew and worked with, and this account vividly illuminates his genius and his demons.” Leslie Megahey, director on Nicol Williamson’s one-man show Jack – A Night on the Town with John Barrymore
Nicol Williamson became famous overnight for his performance in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence in 1964 at London’s Royal Court Theatre, going on to gain a reputation as perhaps the best – and most difficult – British actor of his generation and ending the ‘60s with a Hamlet which became as legendary as it was controversial. The following year he was invited to perform at the White House – the first actor ever to receive such an invitation – but Williamson’s spectacular early success was not to last. Despite a number of impressive leading roles, his film career was less successful, although his portrayal of Merlin in Excalibur remains a popular favourite. Later, his appearances dwindled and finally ceased altogether. Nicol Williamson was an incendiary talent who once burned brightly – did he simply burn himself out or were there other reasons for his downfall?
Over the course of 4 years, Martin Dowsing interviewed and corresponded with more than 50 people who knew Williamson, including many of his colleagues, his family and his closest friends. The author was also granted exclusive access to an unbroadcast 4-hour career-spanning interview with Williamson filmed in 2005.
This book reveals how Williamson’s bizarre career path was shaped by his unique outlook on life, his enormous personality and his own personal demons.
The book includes an afterword by Nicol's son, Luke Williamson. Other contributors to the book include his first wife, Jill Townsend; actors Elaine Bromka, Michael Culver, Penny Fuller, Ian Hogg, Glenda Jackson, Jane Lapotaire, Paul Moriarty, Steffan Rhodri, Clive Swift and David Warner; directors Robert Bierman, the late Jack Gold, Piers Haggard, Terry Hands, Robert Knights, Richard Lester, Peter Levin, Walter Murch, John Tydeman; Tony Garnett, Nicholas Meyer and many more.
- GenresTheatre
372 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 29, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 21, 2022
Another reviewer here described this book as "workmanlike" and that pretty much hits the nail on the head. The author relies heavily on the printed record (reviews, interviews, etc.) and interviews with about 10 people, so he can only get so far in depth. But it's enough to get a feel of what a dynamo this man was both on stage and off it. Probably not a book for the casual reader but it is a good resource for movie/theater historians. Williamson clearly was one the greatest actors of his generation and this book is a welcome start to what will hopefully be more research on him.
October 1, 2022
If you have ever been moved by a performance by Nicol Williamson, you will be moved by this book. An unactorish actor, Williamson was a marvel to behold on the screen and the stage from the 60’s through the early 90’s. But why did he drop off the map after this?
The book recounts how after one of Williamson’s stage performances, the actor Rod Steiger visited him backstage, and asked, “How come you’re not in all the big movies?” “Because no one asks me,” Williamson answered. And Dowsing’s biography, in addition to highlighting Williamson’s career in the movies and stage, tries to answer this question. Why wasn’t anyone asking? The answer has partially to do with his difficult nature; and how for the most part, he was unwilling to do an acting job unless he believed in the role.
I first became intrigued by Williamson in the 1987 thriller Black Widow, in which he plays a stuffy academic with great charm and pathos. My fascination continued with The Wilby Conspiracy, in which he stole the show from Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine, which can't be easy to do. And as I watched more of his movies, I continued to be impressed by how much he gave to each of his roles. In Return to Oz, he conveyed the smugness of a town doctor with just the right glance to Dorothy’s mother; a stuffy glance that says, “both you and I know she’s crazy, don’t we.” And in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can with Jill Clayburgh, it's a wonder that neither he or Clayburgh took home an academy award. The acting fireworks fly in that one!
An actor who leaned strongly toward pathos and humor, Williamson chided the idea of reciting lines of Shakespeare as if they were holy scripture. I have seen many Shakespeare plays and have often been irritated by the effort actors take to sound highfalutin. Whereas when I watched Macbeth from 1983, I found his emphasis on clarity rather refreshing.
One also reads in the book about how a lot of big name actors, if signed on to play a villain, do it with a sort of twinkle in their eyes, as if to tell the audience, hey, it’s still me; but not Nicol, who played villains with a sense of evil that could be unsettling, as in A Curious Suicide.
And yet as he neared the latter part of his life, and should have had Hollywood in the palm of his hand, Williamson was oftentimes unemployed. Instead of mesmerizing audiences with his performances, he was going on road trips throughout Europe with his Dutch friend Kees, or spending time at his home in Lindos, Greece. But he never lost his flair for the dramatic. On one Thanksgiving, at the house of some friends, the meal was running behind, and Williamson rather dramatically announced that he “may or may not return,” before heading out the door. But because all the restaurants were closed, he ended up returning! But this speaks really to how he should have been acting more. But he turned down roles in In the Name of the Father, when that film’s two top stars, Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson, were at their hippest, and also the role in Braveheart that went to Patrick McGoohan. In both cases Williamson did not feel the characters had anything redeeming about them.
The book is filled with many interesting anecdotes, one involving Anthony Perkins while on the set of A Curious Suicide, and another involving Mick Jagger at a restaurant, in which Williamson’s blue-collar upbringing comes through, and his refusal to play the celebrity game. And we learn of how he did not care where his name appeared on the marquee, whether he received top billing or not.
And if one were asked who was the first actor to be invited to perform at the White House, they might guess someone like Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, or John Wayne. But oddly, it was Nicol Williamson, invited in 1971 by Richard Nixon. The book recounts entertainingly his visit, despite almost everyone he knew telling him not to go. But even though he differed in his political viewpoints from Nixon, he went anyway.
Dowsing writes with a brisk, casual style, and I hope this book finds its way into more hands, and that the world does not forget what a unique, magical presence Williamson had as a most unactorish actor.
The book recounts how after one of Williamson’s stage performances, the actor Rod Steiger visited him backstage, and asked, “How come you’re not in all the big movies?” “Because no one asks me,” Williamson answered. And Dowsing’s biography, in addition to highlighting Williamson’s career in the movies and stage, tries to answer this question. Why wasn’t anyone asking? The answer has partially to do with his difficult nature; and how for the most part, he was unwilling to do an acting job unless he believed in the role.
I first became intrigued by Williamson in the 1987 thriller Black Widow, in which he plays a stuffy academic with great charm and pathos. My fascination continued with The Wilby Conspiracy, in which he stole the show from Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine, which can't be easy to do. And as I watched more of his movies, I continued to be impressed by how much he gave to each of his roles. In Return to Oz, he conveyed the smugness of a town doctor with just the right glance to Dorothy’s mother; a stuffy glance that says, “both you and I know she’s crazy, don’t we.” And in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can with Jill Clayburgh, it's a wonder that neither he or Clayburgh took home an academy award. The acting fireworks fly in that one!
An actor who leaned strongly toward pathos and humor, Williamson chided the idea of reciting lines of Shakespeare as if they were holy scripture. I have seen many Shakespeare plays and have often been irritated by the effort actors take to sound highfalutin. Whereas when I watched Macbeth from 1983, I found his emphasis on clarity rather refreshing.
One also reads in the book about how a lot of big name actors, if signed on to play a villain, do it with a sort of twinkle in their eyes, as if to tell the audience, hey, it’s still me; but not Nicol, who played villains with a sense of evil that could be unsettling, as in A Curious Suicide.
And yet as he neared the latter part of his life, and should have had Hollywood in the palm of his hand, Williamson was oftentimes unemployed. Instead of mesmerizing audiences with his performances, he was going on road trips throughout Europe with his Dutch friend Kees, or spending time at his home in Lindos, Greece. But he never lost his flair for the dramatic. On one Thanksgiving, at the house of some friends, the meal was running behind, and Williamson rather dramatically announced that he “may or may not return,” before heading out the door. But because all the restaurants were closed, he ended up returning! But this speaks really to how he should have been acting more. But he turned down roles in In the Name of the Father, when that film’s two top stars, Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson, were at their hippest, and also the role in Braveheart that went to Patrick McGoohan. In both cases Williamson did not feel the characters had anything redeeming about them.
The book is filled with many interesting anecdotes, one involving Anthony Perkins while on the set of A Curious Suicide, and another involving Mick Jagger at a restaurant, in which Williamson’s blue-collar upbringing comes through, and his refusal to play the celebrity game. And we learn of how he did not care where his name appeared on the marquee, whether he received top billing or not.
And if one were asked who was the first actor to be invited to perform at the White House, they might guess someone like Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, or John Wayne. But oddly, it was Nicol Williamson, invited in 1971 by Richard Nixon. The book recounts entertainingly his visit, despite almost everyone he knew telling him not to go. But even though he differed in his political viewpoints from Nixon, he went anyway.
Dowsing writes with a brisk, casual style, and I hope this book finds its way into more hands, and that the world does not forget what a unique, magical presence Williamson had as a most unactorish actor.
April 2, 2018
Martin Dowsing’s excellent biography captures a golden age of film and theatre while offering unique insights into why Nicol Williamson, in spite his prodigious talent and early theatrical success, never quite became a star. Fortunately for us, the qualities that hindered the actor enhance his biography.
Williamson was temperamental, mercurial, petulant, and so unreliable that you couldn’t even count on that. He might throw tantrums, or even punches during one production, only to be kind, considerate, punctual and good humoured during the next. He also had a marked tendency to walk out of projects (sometimes leaving the theatre stage mid-act) when something annoyed him, which didn’t take much. On disembarking at an airport in Arizona, he took such an immediate dislike to the driver sent for him that he reneged right then and there on the tv western he’d committed to and flew to New York.
Though Beware of the Actor contains many such anecdotes, Dowsing manages to maintain a respectful, even sympathetic tone, eventually convincing the reader to see Williamson as a man whose gifts came with demons beyond his control.
There is an impressive amount of research here, and the author interviewed dozens of Nicol Williamson’s friends and associates, all with stories to tell, making Beware of the Actor! an enjoyable read.
Williamson was temperamental, mercurial, petulant, and so unreliable that you couldn’t even count on that. He might throw tantrums, or even punches during one production, only to be kind, considerate, punctual and good humoured during the next. He also had a marked tendency to walk out of projects (sometimes leaving the theatre stage mid-act) when something annoyed him, which didn’t take much. On disembarking at an airport in Arizona, he took such an immediate dislike to the driver sent for him that he reneged right then and there on the tv western he’d committed to and flew to New York.
Though Beware of the Actor contains many such anecdotes, Dowsing manages to maintain a respectful, even sympathetic tone, eventually convincing the reader to see Williamson as a man whose gifts came with demons beyond his control.
There is an impressive amount of research here, and the author interviewed dozens of Nicol Williamson’s friends and associates, all with stories to tell, making Beware of the Actor! an enjoyable read.
April 9, 2018
This is a really fascinating book about an actor that I didn't previously know a great deal about.
Nicol Williamson was clearly a complex and uncompromising man and the author manages to present a sympathic yet unbiased account of his life and career.
There are numerous interesting anecdotes and insights that help paint a picture Nicol as well as the world of film and theatre throughout the 1960's and onwards.
Thoroughly recommended!
Nicol Williamson was clearly a complex and uncompromising man and the author manages to present a sympathic yet unbiased account of his life and career.
There are numerous interesting anecdotes and insights that help paint a picture Nicol as well as the world of film and theatre throughout the 1960's and onwards.
Thoroughly recommended!
August 18, 2018
A workmanlike and engaging biography of a fascinating and difficult actor - the author treads a delicate line between justifying Williamson's often unacceptable behaviour and retaining sympathy for him as a human being. The book doesn't uncover the origins of his neuroses, but that is hardly to be expected. Interesting to read that Williamson was considering a remake of 'Theatre of Blood', in the Vincent Price role - now that would have been something to see...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews