A Life in Letters

by John Gielgud

A captivating compilation of two hundred intimate letters provides a candid portrait of one of the finest actors of the twentieth century, chronicling his eight-decade career, his personal life and love affairs, his homosexuality, his thoughts about his contemporaries and colleagues, and his most personal feelings. Reprint.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor/director/producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937. He was known for his beautiful speaking of verse and particularly for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec Guinness likened to "a silver trumpet muffled in silk". Gielgud is one of the few entertainers who have won an Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting theatrical document, because Gielgud's life was so LONG and his basic sense of what acting should be was for all intents and purposes a 19th century one, which made his ability to reinvent himself late in life (ARTHUR and so on) something of a pleasant surprise, to him as well as to audiences. He was a voluminous correspondent - everybody was in those days - and the letters are much as you’d expect: witty, articulate, catty, full of delicious dish about his contemporaries, way more than I ever wanted to know about his peculiar obsession with men’s corduroy trousers (on and off their owners), and tinged with an I suppose justifiable aura of ego. Also some flashes of jaw-dropping snobbery of various types and stripes, and a little good old-fashioned colonial racism just for good measure. Even knowing it was Other Culture/Other Times, it’s pretty startling to find the great Ethel Waters (whom in fact he much admired) described not as ‘an actress,” or “a black actress,” or even god help us “a coloured actress,” but as merely “a Negress.” At least Marian Anderson merits the word “singer”, although all things considered I doubt she’d have been overwhelmed by the compliment. To be fair, he was equal-opportunity in this regard – he also didn’t think much of Jews, Italians, Arabs, women or Alec Guinness. But if you can take these cultural speed-bumps in stride, it's a very entertaining journey through the history of 20th century theatre with a largely delightful companion, and it’s sad, as he gets to be 93 94 95, to hear the energy and joie de vivre drain out of his epistolary voice; he outlived everyone he cared for and who cared for him, and you can hear his growing feeling that longevity is not necessarily the blessing one imagines when young.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi


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John Gielgud wrote letters almost every day of his adult life. Whether at home in London and later in Buckinghamshire, or acting abroad or on location, he delighted in sitting down each morning and recounting what had been going on and what he felt about events around him. He was still writing just a few days before his death aged 96 in May 2000.

His letters are treasured by the recipients and the problem for the editor has been in selection. He wrote in an increasingly idiosyncratic hand and remarked that even he needed a magnifying glass at times to see what he had actually written.

Through the letters, which begin with those to his mother, we meet a man who delights in gossip, in describing what he sees and experiences. Here for the first time - and not previously available to biographers - are Gielgud's love letters. They show that he was not shy is expressing the intimacies of personal relationships. Gielgud had a reputation for speaking his mind, and this is evident as he writes about his contemporaries, including the great actors of the period: Olivier, Richardson, Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans and the like.

Here is great letter-writing before the age of e-mail. GIELGUD'S LETTERS are a revelation - full of inside information and gossip.

[Katharine Holden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating.

[maria medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and fascinating insights

[Jeff Howells · Rating 3 out of 5]

These aren't the most revelatory collection of letters I've ever read. There's not a great deal of 'gossip, news or scandal' contained within the covers (unlike, for example, Philip Larkin's letters) although it's clear from the book that Gielgud did like to visit the odd 'blue cinema' and go cruising on holiday. Other than that it's just really interesting to see the correspondence between the acting greats of that era. We have letters here to Richardson, Olivier, Ashcroft and a whole raft of others are discussed. Sadly you can't see that happening now (say a stack of emails between Day Lewis and Branagh turning up).
Personally I was surprised by two things: firstly how much time he spent touring America as an actor - I thought he was primarily a British stage actor and only went to America for films. Secondly that he was also a Director. There is not much of a discussion of his films (although it's arguable that in later years all he did was extended cameos) but the editor of these letters does set out what plays he was appearing in - as it's not always clear. This was a decent read and I will now try and search out a biography of him to find out more.

[Michael Joe Armijo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Visit to 'How It Was' via letters...
I liked reading this (though I didn't finish it--as I lost interest half way through) because it took me to a time when people had to write letters. Sir John Gielgud was a famous ACTOR...especially on the London State initially...and it's amazing to read about all of the other actors, friends and family that crossed his paths. It's a reminder that over time...a Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie will be nothing but a distant memory and no one in 100 years will really know of them as readily as they do today. Thank God for books...they take us back to another time...and I do want to go back and finish this book ONE DAY...it's just that a better book came along. I nned to stop myself from getting sidetracked. :(

[Beau Daignault · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look inside the daily life of the great actor– as only personal letters may provide.

Mr. Gielgud, funny, erudite, frequently naughty and filled with gossip– theatrical and otherwise– falls prey as age creeps in taking friends and foes alike, to the sadness of remaining, alone, bearing witness to the utter decay of all he had known.

My volume– the First U.S. Edition– has a funny typo on both the dust jacket spine and the book spine: “...Lettters.” Humorous that the proofreaders added an extra letter to a volume of letters.

[M. Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of correspondence spanning 87 years (1912-1999). Delightful, amusing, poignant, a bit embarrassing in spots (he could be the typical English snob at times), insightful, and then not so. Interesting to read his opinions of the theater, his gossip about other actors and personalities, and his experience as a gay man in the early-mid 20th century.