[CR] Tony Benn seems to have been an incredible headache. [MF] Yes, he was. [CR] She asks this question: Should Michael be tougher on Benn and the other trouble makers? But she fears that if you do, t...
[CR] Do you think John Smith would have done as well as Blair? [MF] Yes—better in some ways. He had better links with the Labour Party. There are some things he [Blair] seems to be careless about.
Writing biography is a shameless profession, an exercise in bad taste, a rude inquiry.
Whoopee! Michael said as his barbecued fish arrived. Look at that! Amazing. A meal was never just a meal; with Michael Foot it was a celebration. Nearly every mouthful got its own cry of satisfaction....
Whatever misgivings Cooper had about entering the ring with Brennan, he also realized that Walter was too good an actor and had too refined a sense of ensemble acting to do anything other than make Co...
Tony? Michael spoke into phone in an unusually quiet manner. Michael Foot here. How are you? Can I wish you a happy new year?. I’m ringing about someone who’s writing a biography of Jill and I wondere...
Tony sometimes talks as if he is the only just man. ... He’s a very persuasive speaker. You think he believes every word of it and I think he does, actually. That’s why he comes across. There’s no fak...
The next day, Michael introduced a new subject: One of the reasons I’ve never been in favour of writing autobiography is because you can’t tell the truth. I agreed. All the great autobiographers have...
Queria a liberdade de experimentar outras vidas assim como experimentava vestidos. Incomodava, porém, a ânsia por segurança, por acomodação ao confortável, próprias à classe média.
On the question of the bomb, said Michael, returning to the issue that trumped just about any other in his mind, people say you should have done more when you were in the bloody government. I’m not sa...
No other supporting player won three Academy Awards, and you would be hard-pressed to name another character actor whose performances frequently overwhelmed those of ostensible leads like Joel McCrea...
March 3: Associated Press columnist Bob Thomas reports Joan Crawford’s comments on Monroe’s appearance at a Photoplay awards dinner: It was like a burlesque show. Someone should make her see the light...
January 23: Niagara is released, making Marilyn a star. She plays Rose Loomis, a femme fatale. The picture features her 116-foot walk to the falls.
January 17: Marilyn and Joe are photographed laughing over pages of Maurice Zolotow’s biography of her and are later photographed at Le Pavilion.
How did Brennan achieve this mythic status, this power over not just audiences but also his fellow actors? Today, the question remains unanswered, and this figure key to understanding the power of Hol...
Brennan had the best lines in the script. Dispensing justice from his saloon bar, he declares, Don’t spill none of that liquor, Son. It eats right into the bar.
April 21: A Ticket to Tomahawk is released. Marilyn plays Clara, one of four showgirls. She makes four appearances (with dialogue) in group scenes and musical numbers.
A letter from Brian Brivati, Gaitskill’s biographer, led Michael to describe an incident at Porto Fino. On holiday there, Michael and Jill ran into Gaitskill, who was accompanied by one of Michael fri...
To study Brennan is also to understand what it took to remain at the very top of a precarious profession for more than thirty years. Through Brennan and his pictures, we see Hollywood in the early sta...
Those hostile to biography rank professional biographers just above serial murderers.