Favourite non-fiction books:
GOODNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE by Gene Fowler, the bio of John Barrymore.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING also by Fowler, about him hanging around with Barrymore, W.C. Fields, and John Decker in the waning days of all these men.
THE GREAT TIMES, THE GOOD TIMES, a bio of Maurice Barrymore, who may have been the true genius of the Barrymore family.
PETER HALL'S DIARIES covering the time when he and Olivier were setting up the National Theatre.
THE ACTOR'S LIFE, CharltonHeston's diaries from early in his career up to the late seventies. My copy is autographed by the big man from when I worked with him.
BROADWAY BABIES SAY GOODNIGHT by Mark Steyn. Interesting book about musical theatre.
NOT SINCE CARRIE, by Ken Mandelbaum, about musical flops.
LETTERS FROM AN ACTOR by William Redfield, about his time during the Gielgud/Burton HAMLET and just one of the best, dishy books about acting period.
THEN CAME EACH ACTOR, an interesting book and very opinionated (all of which I don't agree with) about Shakespearean actors from Elizabethan times on up...written Bernard Grebanier.
RICHARD III, best bio of the king by Paul Murray Kendall.
GUIDE TO SUPERNATURAL FICTION by E. F. Bleier. Fascinating study of most of the great supernatural fiction.
BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA by Noel Black. Brilliant accounting of the history and events leading up to The Black Hole incident inCalcutta in the 1700's.
HYPE & GLORY by William Goldman, about his adventures as a judge for the Miss America Pageant and at the Cannes Film Festival.
THE SEASON by William Goldman.
ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE by William Goldman. Best screenwriting book ever.
THE COMPLETE JACK THE RIPPER by Donald Rumbelow.
