A Star Danced

by Gertrude Lawrence

A popular English actress tells her story, telescoping present and past, and bringing the whole into focus so that at the end the pieces fall into place, past and present meet, and the reader has a gay story of success, from a poverty-ridden childhood, carried off with a certain gallantry and casualness, as the little family flitted ahead of the bailiff; then the bit parts in pantomime and road shows. Her chance came while she was in the provinces, during the last war, and a group of Tommies ante-ed up to pay her way back to London -- and Charlot's Revue. Madcap pranks cost her a job -- but some bad luck (for Bea Lillie) proved good luck for little Gertie, and a team was made. Success did not turn her head -- glamorous names dot the pages, but in an off-hand and not a ""see what a big girl I am"" sort of way. Romances -- most of them ill-starred -- resulted in one marriage, some broken engagements, and -- within recent years, a second marriage to an American. And it is with this that her past and her present merge -- a present which has recently included a six-weeks' entertainment tour of English camps and the Allied front in France.

Genres: Memoir, Biography

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1945

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gertie Lawrence, the original Anna in "The King and I," is the most wonderful raconteuse. I would bet that she didn't write this memoir herself, but to have told the tales so that they flow and dance and entertain in this book so well is a talent all in itself. The story of her life from birth in London through the moment at 11 she paid six shillings to make calling cards announcing "LITTLE GERTIE LAWRENCE Child Actress and Danseuse" to her life just after the success of "Private Lives" alternates with her work entertaining the troops in Britain, France, and Belgium as the Germans were being driven back by Allied forces. Having been abandoned by a manager who flew the coop with the takings, leaving her to work as a barmaid to pay her hotel bill (she drew a pint like a pro!), to the glamour of working with George and Ira Gershwin on "Oh, Kay!," she captures her determination to survive in this life of ups and downs with a flair that only an authentic born-to-the-business performer could muster. Brava!

[Lkrauss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story of a talented singer/dancer in a more forgiving time.

[Sharon March · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book very interesting. As a huge Noel Coward fan Gertrude Lawrence was always bring mentioned in his diaries so that is why I was hooked in to read this.

[Sally · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK read. Focused on her childhood and start to becoming a star.... was hoping for more on her later life story.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover alone makes this book worth owning. Such an awful lot of fun!

[Barbara Osterdock]

I own this Book.