Black Sheep: The Authorised Biography of Nicol Williamson

by Gabriel Hershman

Once hailed by John Osborne as 'the greatest actor since Brando', latterly known as a ruined genius whose unpredictable, hellraising behaviour was legendary, Nicol Williamson always went his own way. Openly dismissive of 'technical' actors, or others who played The Bard as if 'their finger was up their arse', Williamson tore up the rule book to deliver a fast-talking canon of Shakespearean heroes, with portrayals marked by gut-wrenching passion. According to one co-star, Williamson was like a tornado on stage – 'he felt he was paddling for his life'. Fiercely uncompromising, choosy about the roles he accepted, contemptuous of the 'suits' who made money from artists, and a perfectionist who never accepted second best from himself or others, Nicol sometimes alienated those around him. But even his detractors still acknowledge his brilliance. After an extraordinary career on both stage and screen, Williamson was burnt out as an actor by the age of 60. Yet, as Gabriel Hershman explains in this authorised biography, a premature end was perhaps inevitable for an actor who always went the extra mile in every performance.

Genres: Biography

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2018

About the author

My biographies of British stars Ian Hendry, Albert Finney and Nicol Williamson (available for pre-order) are all available to buy here.
Please do review them if you like them. That makes it possible to keep writing such books. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gabriel-Hers...

Reviews

[Stephen Roper]

This excellent book about a remarkable, talented, tortured man who was by turns warm kindhearted frightening and scary individual. This book told his story well with reference to these contradictory facets of his personality. I have worked with people with alcohol problems for a number of years before I retired and Nicol's is sadly familiar. Self medicating with alcohol to manage psychological pain or traumatic past events is commonplace. Nicol Williamson was a fantastically gifted human being inspite of his flaws and this book captures that with honesty and truth. I think Nicol would appreciate that.

[Tannishtha Banerjee]

The book captures the multiple facets of Nicol Williamson's life that incorporates myriad other lores of the time and space he existed in. For a phenomenal artist like Nicol, there's little point to think that his tale would be uni-dimensional and, the book factually traces the vicissitudes of his persona and, poetically delves into a journey to discover his deeper being— a side of Nicol that was the blend of a lonely philosopher, an aspiring but frustrated family man, a sweet father and a personality who often struggled to understand his own paradoxes. The author talks about these by presenting their viewpoints who Nicol kept himself surrounded with, narratives from those who had been with him for and on various occasions, and rare units of his life (like the poems Nicol wrote, the interviews he gave etc.). It's a Küntslerroman-minus-fiction of a legendary actor who transcended the boundaries of on-stage and on-screen professionalism to seek acting (and music in a parallel fashion) as a medium that reflected his own interiority— something that in itself can give both alienation effect and a merging ground for the audience. The book very well reciprocates this to its readers as done by the telling of stories revolving around Nicol, the person manifesting himself in Nicol, the actor and the interesting accounts, great and small, related to his films, personal life and perspectives. Now, whether this versatile genius was a flat or round character beyond stage and screen is something that the author leaves for the subjective interpretation of the reader. Mr. Hershman's book, thus, is an all-round repertoire presenting the singular personality Nicol Williamson always was– someone who never chose to come under any specific category of existence. Nicol-fan or otherwise, this is a must-read for anyone who wishes to study a life that bore traces of Beckett's Absurdism and the inevitable playfulness of the era, together.

[Sean Sadler]

Short review for the time poor
This is a conventional biography told chronologically
The Author I felt seeks to place Nicol Williamson in that top pantheon of male actors who became successful in the 1960’s [ alongside the likes of Albert Finney, Tom Courtney,Michael Caine,Alan Bates etc]
I was too young to see Williamson on stage,of his Films the most memorable for me were The Human Factor, The Reckoning and Excalibur, while I recognise NW as a talented actor the book failed to convince me about how his stature or talent was far,far above his contemporaries.
As with many NW life ,work and relationships were impacted by alcoholism and as such his capacity to work became more limited and he faded from view long before he died I believe.
Overall though the book is compact and reasonably well written it lacks verve and dynamism, a book to borrow rather than buy.