Beginning

by Kenneth Branagh

Overview

In "Beginning," Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh charts the ups and downs of a life in acting - a young career that has made him the most acclaimed actor of his generation. Opening with his childhood in working-class Belfast, in a neighborhood of drinkers and dreamers, Branagh describes the fires of early ambition that drew him to the stage and to the plays of Shakespeare. At age twenty-four he founded his own actor's troupe with the goal of performing those plays; at twenty-eight, he directed and starred in the movie of "Henry V," the role that won him international fame.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393331165
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/1990
Pages:	260
Sales rank:	788,470
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kenneth Branagh, who lives in London, is the author of three previous books: an autobiography, Beginning (Norton), and the tie-in volumes to Much Ado About Nothing (Norton), and Henry V.

Editorial Reviews

Branagh acknowledges that it is presumptuous to write an autobiography at age 28, but he also notes that since youth has not deterred him from achieving his other goals, he might as well attempt this as well. He tells of his Irish family, his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company and his later decision to leave that prestigious institution and form his own troupe, the Renaissance Theater Company. He has performed to critical acclaim all the major Shakespearean roles on stage, become a television star and directed and acted in a highly praised movie, Henry V . Branagh writes as he apparently lives, rushing from project to project. His book has charm because of the delight he takes in the theater and in working with such great actors as Derek Jacobi and Paul Scofield. In his role as an author, Branagh, rightly, is likely to garner yet more acclaim. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly