A strange eventful history: the dramatic lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and their remarkable families
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Format:
Book
Edition:
1st American ed.
Physical Desc:
xviii, 620 pages, [24] pages of plates : ill. ; 24 cm.
Status:
Description
PLEASE NOTE: THIS EBOOK DOES NOT CONTAIN PHOTOS INCLUDED IN THE PRINT EDITION. Deemed "a prodigy among biographers" by The New York Times Book Review, Michael Holroyd transformed biography into an art. Now he turns his keen observation, humane insight, and epic scope on an ensemble cast, a remarkable dynasty that presided over the golden age of theater. Ellen Terry was an ethereal beauty, the child bride of a Pre-Raphaelite painter who made her the face of the age. George Bernard Shaw was so besotted by her gifts that he could not bear to meet her, lest the spell she cast from the stage be broken. Henry Irving was an ambitious, harsh-voiced merchant's clerk, but once he painted his face and spoke the lines of Shakespeare, his stammer fell away to reveal a magnetic presence. He would become one of the greatest actor-managers in the history of the theater. Together, Terry and Irving created a powerhouse of the arts in London's Lyceum Theatre, with Bram Stoker-who would go on to write Dracula-as manager. Celebrities whose scandalous private lives commanded global attention, they took America by stormin wildly popular national tours. Their all-consuming professional lives left little room for their brilliant but troubled children. Henry's boys followed their father into the theater but could not escape the shadow of his fame. Ellen's feminist daughter, Edy, founded an avant-garde theater and a largely lesbian community at her mother's country home. But it was Edy's son, the revolutionary theatrical designer Edward Gordon Craig, who possessed the most remarkable gifts and the most perplexing inability to realize them. A now forgotten modernist visionary, he collaborated with the Russian director Stanislavski on a production of Hamlet that forever changed the way theater was staged. Maddeningly self-absorbed, he inherited his mother's potent charm and fathered thirteen children by eight women, including a daughter with the dancer Isadora Duncan. An epic story spanning a century of cultural change, A Strange Eventful History finds space for the intimate moments of daily existence as well as the bewitching fantasies played out by its subjects. Bursting with charismatic life, it is an incisive portrait of two families who defied the strictures of their time. It will be swiftly recognized as a classic. Please note: This ebook edition does not contain photos and illustrations that appeared in the print edition.
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Stony Creek/Willoughby Wallace Adult Non-Fiction
920 HOL
On Shelf
More Details
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780374270803 , 0374270805
UPC:
99933140680
Notes
General Note
First published: London : Chatto & Windus, 2008.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 585-590) and index.
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Holroyd, M. (2009). A strange eventful history: the dramatic lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and their remarkable families. 1st American ed. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Holroyd, Michael. 2009. A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Their Remarkable Families. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Holroyd, Michael, A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Their Remarkable Families. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
MLA Citation (style guide)Holroyd, Michael. A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Their Remarkable Families. 1st American ed. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
c6918caa-6bf7-5745-2851-c4c794e350dc
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Aug 28, 2024 07:28:57 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Aug 28, 2024 07:29:41 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Aug 28, 2024 07:29:03 PM |
MARC Record
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100 | 1 | |a Holroyd, Michael. | |
245 | 1 | 2 | |a A strange eventful history : |b the dramatic lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and their remarkable families / |c Michael Holroyd. |
250 | |a 1st American ed. | ||
260 | |a New York : |b Farrar, Straus and Giroux, |c 2009. | ||
300 | |a xviii, 620 p., [24] p. of plates : |b ill. ; |c 24 cm. | ||
500 | |a First published: London : Chatto & Windus, 2008. | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (p. 585-590) and index. | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Terry, Ellen, |c Dame, |d 1847-1928. |
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Irving, Henry, |c Sir, |d 1838-1905. |
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Craig, Edward Gordon, |d 1872-1966. |
650 | 0 | |a Actresses |z Great Britain |v Biography. | |
650 | 0 | |a Actors |z Great Britain |v Biography. | |
650 | 0 | |a Theatrical managers |z Great Britain |v Biography. | |
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