{"product_id":"the-final-curtain-obituaries-of-fifty-great-actors-9781911397625","title":"The Final Curtain: Obituaries of Fifty Great Actors","description":"\u003cp\u003e Michael Coveney has been writing theatrical obituaries alongside reviews for several decades and makes a telling, sometimes surprising, selection of the best performers of our time, from Laurence Olivier to Alan Rickman, Peggy Ashcroft to Helen McCrory, Richard Briers to Ken Dodd. Most of these obits appeared in the Guardian, several in the Observer, the Financial Times and the Evening Standard. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The fifty articles are arranged in chronological order of each actor's demise and constitute a vivid history of postwar theatre through the lives of the actors, 'the abstract and brief chronicles of the time' as Hamlet called them. There are happy\/sad juxtapositions of shooting stars Robert Stephens and Alan Bates; tragic niece and aunt, Natasha Richardson and Lynn Redgrave; classical queens Diana Rigg and Barbara Jefford; and versatile showtime hoofers Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Coveney\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Whitechapel, London and educated at St Ignatius College, Stamford Hill, and Worcester College, Oxford. He has written about theatre as editor of \u003ci\u003ePlays and Players\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and was staff critic, successively, on the \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e. His books include \u003ci\u003eMaster of the House: The Theatres of Cameron Mackintosh\u003c\/i\u003e (Unicorn, 2022); \u003ci\u003eThe Citz; The Aisle is Full of Noises; Questors, Jesters and Renegades\u003c\/i\u003e and critical biographies of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mike Leigh, Ken Campbell and Maggie Smith.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Unicorn Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50535422787858,"sku":"9781911397625","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c320ffd1-5d9d-4b28-9f3a-27aca270125f.jpg?v=1731435658","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-final-curtain-obituaries-of-fifty-great-actors-9781911397625","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}