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John Coates: The Man Who Built The Snowman
by Raymond Briggs Marie BeardmoreJohn Coates is best known as the producer of The Snowman, When the Wind Blows, Wind in the Willows, Willows in Winter, and Famous Fred, and as the man behind the Beatles film Yellow Submarine. This intimate biography takes the reader on a journey through Coates's early life, his years as an army officer in the 11th Hussars in World War II, and his postwar life as a distributor for Rank films throughout Asia, before returning to England and eventually taking over TV Cartoons. With a foreword by Raymond Briggs and an epilogue by Coates himself, this abundantly illustrated work also includes a DVD of selections from Coates's work.
John Denver: Mother Nature's Son
by John CollisJohn Denver was America's biggest-selling solo star of the '70s. In commercial terms he was on a par with Sinatra in the '40s, Elvis in the '50s and the Beatles in the '60s. He experimented with a variety of styles and won fans from such diverse worlds as folk, pop and country music. Beneath the often tranquil surface of his music and his clear, clean tenor voice, however, lurked a darker side to Denver's character. The writer of 'Annie's Song', one of the most straightforward and personal expressions of love, became a wife-beater. The man who cavorted with the Muppets was an alcoholic. The committed environmentalist had his own plane, the most polluting form of transport. John Collis has delved deep to discover exactly who John Denver was. By unravelling the complexities of the singer's personality and background, he reveals Denver as a complicated, contradictory man, much more intriguing than the sometimes placid surface of his music might suggest. Millions of people around the globe found something in his music that touched their souls; Collis, by charting Denver's career and development as an artist, explores his legendary contribution not only to the world of music but also to the society of which he was a protagonist and a victim.
John Duffey’s Bluegrass Life: Featuring the Country Gentlemen, Seldom Scene, and Washington, D.C.
by Stephen Moore G. T. KeplingerIt has been 22 years since we lost the great John Duffey, the father of modern bluegrass music. He still looms large in the minds of those who knew him and those who saw him perform. Those who came to love bluegrass since never got the chance to experience his power first-hand. Hopefully, this book will give them an understanding of the unique larger-than-life character that was John Duffey. Fortunately, there are plenty of recordings and some videos still available to give a clue. John’s creative influence is heard and felt in the two main bands that he fronted, The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene. These bands created the Washington sound, a newer, more cosmopolitan approach to a genre that had been invented by rural southern and Appalachian musicians in the 1940s. John co-founded The Country Gentlemen in 1957, stayed with them until 1969. In 1971, he was coaxed back into performing to help found The Seldom Scene. John remained with the Scene until his death in December 1996. I have been fortunate to have been a band mate of John’s in both of those bands. There are so many Duffey stories that need to be retold lest they be lost. This book will help fill the void and make him come alive in the minds of the reader.” -- Tom Gray, BLUEGRASS MUSIC HALL OF FAMER Stephen Moore has co-authored four books, Helen Hayes: A Bio-Bibliography, Johnny Holliday: From Rock to Jock, Hoop Tales: Maryland Terrapins, and Cerphe's Up. A research technologist at Georgetown University, he plays in the Maryland rock cover band The Razors. G.T. Keplinger is a long-time bluegrass fan, historian, and archivist. His MFA thesis project was a documentary on The Seldom Scene. An Associate Professor of film at Stevenson University, he lives in Towson, MD with his wife, two children, and their long-haired dachshund.
John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps
by Ernest MathijsFew studies of Canadian cinema to date have engaged deeply with genre cinema and its connection to Canadian culture. Ernest Mathijs does just that in this volume, which traces the inception, production, and reception of Canada's internationally renowned horror film, Ginger Snaps (2000). This tongue-in-cheek Gothic film, which centres on two death-obsessed teenage sisters, draws a provocative connection between werewolf monstrosity and female adolescence and boasts a dedicated world-wide fan base.The first book-length study of this popular film, John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps is based on the author's privileged access to most of its cast and crew and to its enthusiasts around the world. Examining themes of genre, feminism, identity, and adolescent belonging, Mathijs concludes that Ginger Snaps deserves to be recognized as part of the Canadian canon, and that it is a model example of the kind of crossover cult film that remains unjustly undervalued by film scholars.
John Ford (On Directors)
by Brian SpittlesJohn Ford is a monumental figure in Hollywood and world cinema. Throughout his long and varied career spanning the silent and sound era, he produced nearly 150 films of which Iron Horse (1924), Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Searchers (1956) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) are classics of cinema. Ford was also an influential figure in developing, and extending Hollywood's traditions. Stylistically Ford was instrumental in developing new camera techniques, atmospheric lighting and diverse narrative devices. Thematically, long before it became conventional wisdom, Ford was exploring issues that concern us today, such as gender, race, the treatment of ethnic minorities and social outcasts, the nature of history and the relationship of myth and reality. For all these reasons, John Ford the man and his films reward thought and study, both for the general reader and the academic student. Ford's pictures express the world in which they were made, and have contributed to making what Hollywood is today. This book illustrates the excitement, importance, influence, creativity, deviousness and complexity of the man and his films.
John Gielgud: An Actor's Life
by Gyles Brandreth‘A sense of delight permeates Gyles Brandreth’s John Gielgud: An Actor’s Life … Brandreth combines neat reportage, deft evocation and lovely tales about a man he knew and relished.’ – The Times‘A delightful memoir which tells you all you need to know and collects all the anecdotes.’ – Daily MailJohn Gielgud was born in April 1904. When he died in May 2000, he was honoured as ‘the giant of twentieth-century theatre’. In this updated, acclaimed biography, Gyles Brandreth draws from over thirty years of conversations with Gielgud to tell the extraordinary story of a unique actor, film star, director and raconteur.In 1921 Gielgud made his first appearance at the Old Vic in London and through the next eight decades he dominated his profession – initially as a classical actor, later in plays by Harold Pinter and Alan Bennett. In his twenties he had appeared in silent movies; more than half a century later, he emerged as a Hollywood star, winning his first Oscar at the age of seventy-eight.With wonderful anecdotes, and contributions from Kenneth Branagh, Alec Guinness, Paul Scofield, Donald Sinden, Judi Dench and Peter Hall, John Gielgud: An Actor’s Life is a compelling, humorous and moving account of a remarkable man.
John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography
by Sheridan MorleySir John Gielgud's career as an actor was perhaps the most distinguished of any of his generation, and, in a lifetime that spanned almost a century, he appeared in hundreds of theatrical productions and films, receiving virtually every honor given, including an Academy Award.Now, in this wonderfully insightful biography, fully authorized and written with first-ever access to Gielgud's personal letters and diaries, bestselling biographer Sheridan Morley not only traces the actor's fascinating career, but provides a fresh and remarkably frank look into John Gielgud the man, showing how his success as an actor in many ways came at the expense of his personal happiness.Born into a theatrical family, John Gielgud took to the stage as naturally as a duck to water, and almost from the beginning, those who saw him perform knew that they were experiencing something extraordinary. A determined actor, intent on learning and polishing his craft, he worked incessantly, taking on one role after another, the greater the challenge, the better.During his long and remarkable career, he took on every truly great and demanding role, including all of Shakespeare's major plays as well as many contemporary and experimental productions. At ease in both great drama and light comedy, he was blessed with a great range and a seemingly infinite capacity to inhabit whatever character he attempted.Basically a somewhat shy man offstage, however, Gielgud for the most part limited his friendships to those with whom he worked, and as a result the theater -- and later, film -- made up just about his entire life. That he was flesh and blood, however, was reflected in the fact that he did enter into two long-term relationships, the first with a man who eventually left him for another, but with whom Gielgud maintained a strong tie, and the second with a handsome, mysterious Hungarian who lived with him until he died, just a few months before Sir John.True scandal came into Gielgud's life only once. In 1953, just weeks after Gielgud had been knighted by the Queen, he was arrested in a public men's room and charged with solicitation. The British press had a field day, but Gielgud's friends and fellow actors rallied to his support, as did his thousands of fans, and the result was the eventual change of law in England regarding sex between consenting adults.While these and many other aspects of his personal life are discussed for the first time in this distinguished biography, it is Gielgud's career as an actor, of course, that receives the greatest attention. And while British audiences had the pleasure of seeing him perform in the theater for his entire life, Americans came to know him best for his work in the movies, and most especially for his Oscar-winning performance as Hobson the butler in the Dudley Moore film Arthur.As dramatic and captivating as one of Sir John's many performances, this authorized biography is an intimate and fully rounded portrait of an unforgettable actor and a remarkable man.
John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars (Screen Classics)
by Eve GoldenCharming and classically handsome, John Gilbert (1897--1936) was among the world's most recognizable actors during the silent era. He was a wild, swashbuckling figure on screen and off, and accounts of his life have focused on his high-profile romances with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, his legendary conflicts with Louis B. Mayer, his four tumultuous marriages, and his swift decline after the introduction of talkies. A dramatic and interesting personality, Gilbert served as one of the primary inspirations for the character of George Valentin in the Academy Award--winning movie The Artist (2011). Many myths have developed around the larger-than-life star in the eighty years since his untimely death, but this definitive biography sets the record straight.Eve Golden separates fact from fiction in John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars, tracing the actor's life from his youth spent traveling with his mother in acting troupes to the peak of fame at MGM, where he starred opposite Mae Murray, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, and other actresses in popular films such as TheMerry Widow (1925), The Big Parade (1925), Flesh and the Devil (1926), and Love (1927). Golden debunks some of the most pernicious rumors about the actor, including the oft-repeated myth that he had a high-pitched, squeaky voice that ruined his career. Meticulous, comprehensive, and generously illustrated, this book provides a behind-the-scenes look at one of the silent era's greatest stars and the glamorous yet brutal world in which he lived.
John Grierson
by Gary EvansJohn Grierson, founder of both the British documentary film movement and the National Film Board of Canada, was one of the twentieth centurys most influential personalities in film culture. He gave the word "documentary" to the English language.
John Hartford, Pilot of a Steam Powered Aereo-Plain
by Andrew VaughanIn 1971, John Hartford turned his back on a thriving Hollywood career and returned to his bluegrass roots to make one the finest albums of the decade. Circumstance and fate brought him a set of wonderfully skilled musicians that played with fire and passion and in such harmony that the sum of the musical parts was always going to be beyond anything Hartford could have imagined. Not only was Aereo-Plain a remarkable record in its own right, filled with great songs and astounding musicianship, but it stretched the boundaries of bluegrass and opened the doors to a new genre of country and folk music, newgrass. Of course, as with most pioneering albums, Aereo- Plain was a commercial disaster, but now more than forty years later it remains one of the most influential records in acoustic music history. The long hair and beard John Hartford revealed on the album's cover signaled his rejection of the clean cut TV performer who had become internationally known both for his classic song "Gentle on My Mind," and regular TV appearances alongside the Smothers Brothers and Glen Campbell. About the Author Andrew Vaughan is respected Nashville-based writer and an authority on country music. As a music critic, his work has appeared in Billboard, Music Week, Mojo, Q, the London Times, the Guardian, Folk Roots, and many other magazines. He was founding editor of Country Music International magazine and a regular guest on BBC Radio, BBC TV and VH1 as an expert on country music and country rock. In 1999, Andrew moved from London to Nashville, where he quickly became one of the best-connected writers on the music scene. He is the author of several books including Shania: Feel Like a Woman (Andre Deutsch) and The Eagles: An American Band (Sterling Books). He has been a record industry consultant and editorial director for the American Music Channel since 2002.
John Huston
by Axel MadsenThe first major biography of the famous and controversial director John Huston, whose thirty-seven films--including The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, and The African Queen--are considered classics and garnered him fifteen Academy Award nominations and two wins.
John Huston as Adaptor: John Huston As Adaptor P (SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema)
by Douglas McFarland; Wesley KingJohn Huston as Adaptor makes the case that adaptation is the salient element in Huston's identity as a filmmaker and that his early and deep attraction to the experience of reading informed his approach to film adaptation. Thirty-four of Huston's thirty-seven films were adaptations of literary texts, and they stand as serious interpretations of literary works that could only be made by an astute reader of literature. Indeed, Huston asserted that a film director should be above all else a reader and that reading itself should be the intellectual and emotional basis for filmmaking.The seventeen essays in this volume not only address Huston as an adaptor, but also offer an approach to adaptation studies that has been largely overlooked. How an adaptor reads, the works to which he is drawn, and how his literary interpretations can be brought to the screen without relegating film to a subservient role are some of the issues addressed by the contributors. An introductory chapter identifies Huston as the quintessential Hollywood adaptor and argues that his skill at adaptation is the mark of his authorial signature. The chapters that follow focus on fifteen of Huston's most important films, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The African Queen (1951), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Under the Volcano (1984), and The Dead (1987), and are divided into three areas: aesthetics and textuality; history and social context; and theory and psychoanalysis. By offering a more comprehensive account of the centrality of adaptation to Huston's films, John Huston as Adaptor offers a greater understanding of Huston as a filmmaker.
John Lasseter (Contemporary Film Directors)
by Richard NeupertCelebrated as Pixar's "Chief Creative Officer," John Lasseter is a revolutionary figure in animation history and one of today's most important filmmakers. Lasseter films from Luxo Jr. to Toy Story and Cars 2 highlighted his gift for creating emotionally engaging characters. At the same time, they helped launch computer animation as a viable commercial medium and serve as blueprints for the genre's still-expanding commercial and artistic development. Richard Neupert explores Lasseter's signature aesthetic and storytelling strategies and details how he became the architect of Pixar's studio style. Neupert contends that Lasseter's accomplishments emerged from a unique blend of technical skill and artistic vision, as well as a passion for working with collaborators. In addition, Neupert traces the director's career arc from the time Lasseter joined Pixar in 1984. As Neupert shows, Lasseter's ability to keep a foot in both animation and CGI allowed him to thrive in an unconventional corporate culture that valued creative interaction between colleagues. The ideas that emerged built an animation studio that updated and refined classical Hollywood storytelling practices--and changed commercial animation forever.
John Lennon: The Life
by Philip NormanFor more than a quarter century, biographer Philip Norman's internationally bestselling Shout! has been unchallenged as the definitive biography of the Beatles. Now, at last, Norman turns his formidable talent to the Beatle for whom being a Beatle was never enough. Drawing on previously untapped sources, and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, Norman presents the comprehensive and most revealing portrait of John Lennon ever published.This masterly biography takes a fresh and penetrating look at every aspect of Lennon's much-chronicled life, including the songs that have turned him, posthumously, into a near-secular saint. In three years of research, Norman has turned up an extraordinary amount of new information about even the best-known episodes of Lennon folklore—his upbringing by his strict Aunt Mimi; his allegedly wasted school and student days; the evolution of his peerless creative partnership with Paul McCartney; his Beatle-busting love affair with a Japanese performance artist; his forays into painting and literature; his experiments with Transcendental Meditation, primal scream therapy, and drugs. The book's numerous key informants and interviewees include Sir Paul McCartney, Sir George Martin, Sean Lennon—whose moving reminiscence reveals his father as never seen before—and Yoko Ono, who speaks with sometimes shocking candor about the inner workings of her marriage to John.“[A] haunting, mammoth, terrific piece of work.” -New York Times Honest and unflinching, as John himself would wish, Norman gives us the whole man in all his endless contradictions—tough and cynical, hilariously funny but also naive, vulnerable and insecure—and reveals how the mother who gave him away as a toddler haunted his mind and his music for the rest of his days.
John Lennon: A Biography
by Elizabeth PartridgeAward-winning biographer Elizabeth Partridge dives into Lennon's life from the night he was born in 1940 during a World War II air raid on Liverpool, deftly taking us through his turbulent childhood and his rebellious rock 'n' roll teens to his celebrated life writing, recording, and performing music with the Beatles. She sheds light on the years after the Beatles, with Yoko Ono, as he struggled to make sense of his own artistic life - one that had turned from youthful angst to suffocating fame in almost a split second. Partridge chronicles the emotional highs and paralyzing lows that Lennon transformed into brilliant, evocative songs. John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth is the unforgettable story of one of rock's biggest legends.
John Lennon: Young Rock Star (Easy Biographies)
by Laurence SantreyA brief biography of the English rock musician with emphasis on his early years and the formation of the famous Beatles.
John Mulholland's Story of Magic: The Development of the Art of Illusion by the CIA's Master Magician
by John MulhollandMagic has entranced public forums for hundreds of years, predating many other forms of entertainment that we enjoy today. This ancient art, with its captivating illusions and seemingly impossible sleight of hand, is still as relevant today as ever. Originally published in 1935, master magician John Mulholland’s Story of Magic is a delightful tour through the progression of magic, from its origin to the book’s contemporary period. It offers insights and reflections on famous routines and tricks, black-and-white photographs and illustrations to give readers visual reference, as well as informative facts that weave together a timeline of events for those interested in the history of magic. With a brand-new foreword written by renowned master magician and historian Ben Robinson, this timeless classic will enchant readers and educate them on the art of magic.
John Osborne: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern Dramatists #16)
by Patricia D. DenisonFor British playwright, John Osborne, there are no brave causes; only people who muddle through life, who hurt, and are often hurt in return. This study deals with Osborne's complete oeuvre and critically examines its form and technique; the function of the gaze; its construction of gender; and the relationship between Osborne's life and work. Gilleman has also traced the evolution of Osborne's reception by turning to critical reviews at the beginning of each chapter.
John Osborne: Vituperative Artist (Studies in Modern Drama)
by Luc GillemanFor British playwright, John Osborne, there are no brave causes; only people who muddle through life, who hurt, and are often hurt in return. This study deals with Osborne's complete oeuvre and critically examines its form and technique; the function of the gaze; its construction of gender; and the relationship between Osborne's life and work. Gilleman has also traced the evolution of Osborne's reception by turning to critical reviews at the beginning of each chapter.
John Osborne: The Many Lives of the Angry Young Man
by John HeilpernJohn Osborne, the original Angry Young Man, shocked and transformed British theater in the 1950s with his play Look Back in Anger. This startling biography-the first to draw on the secret notebooks in which he recorded his anguish and depression-reveals the notorious rebel in all his heartrending complexity. Through a working-class childhood and five marriages, Osborne led a tumultuous life. An impossible father, he threw his teenage daughter out of the house and never spoke to her again. His last written words were "I have sinned." Theater critic John Heilpern's detailed portrait, including interviews with Osborne's daughter, scores of friends and enemies, and his alleged male lover, shows us a contradictory genius--an ogre with charm, a radical who hated change, and above all, a defiant individualist.
John Paizs's Crime Wave
by Jonathan BallJohn Paizs's 'Crime Wave' examines the Winnipeg filmmaker's 1985 cult film as an important example of early postmodern cinema and as a significant precursor to subsequent postmodern blockbusters, including the much later Hollywood film Adaptation. Crime Wave's comic plot is simple: aspiring screenwriter Steven Penny, played by Paizs, finds himself able to write only the beginnings and endings of his scripts, but never (as he puts it) "the stuff in-between." Penny is the classic writer suffering from writer's block, but the viewer sees him as the (anti)hero in a film told through stylistic parody of 1940s and 50s B-movies, TV sitcoms, and educational films.In John Paizs's 'Crime Wave,' writer and filmmaker Jonathan Ball offers the first book-length study of this curious Canadian film, which self-consciously establishes itself simultaneously as following, but standing apart from, American cinematic and television conventions. Paizs's own story mirrors that of Steven Penny: both find themselves at once drawn to American culture and wanting to subvert its dominance. Exploring Paizs's postmodern aesthetic and his use of pastiche as a cinematic technique, Ball establishes Crime Wave as an overlooked but important cult classic.
John Peel
by Mick WallA tribute biography of the hugely popular DJ and broadcaster John PeelJohn Peel was born in Cheshire in 1939 and, after National Service, he eventually went into broadcasting while travelling in America, where his Liverpool accent convinced them he must know the Beatles, and he was even present when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. In 1967 he returned to the UK and joined Radio One at its start. His late-night radio shows were cult listening for music fans of all ages, and many bands admit that without his support, they would never have made it.While Radio One changed, he remained a constant factor in its schedules, and in 1998 he was awarded the OBE for his services to broadcasting. It was in that year that he also began his multi-award-winning show Home Truths on Radio Four. Mick Wall tells the story of arguably the most influential man in the history of British rock music, speaking to those who knew him well to build up a complete portrait of this hugely popular figure.
John Peel
by Mick Wall'Excellent ... paints an affectionate portrait of this unpretentious, humorous presenter who seems to have been loved by everyone who met him' SUNDAY TIMES'A leisurely stroll through the life of an "irreplaceable man" - [a] thoughtful, well-paced portrait' OBSERVERA tribute biography of the hugely popular DJ and broadcaster John PeelJohn Peel was born in Cheshire in 1939 and, after National Service, he eventually went into broadcasting while travelling in America, where his Liverpool accent convinced them he must know the Beatles, and he was even present when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot. In 1967 he returned to the UK and joined Radio One at its start. His late-night radio shows were cult listening for music fans of all ages, and many bands admit that without his support, they would never have made it.While Radio One changed, he remained a constant factor in its schedules, and in 1998 he was awarded the OBE for his services to broadcasting. It was in that year that he also began his multi-award-winning show Home Truths on Radio Four. Mick Wall tells the story of arguably the most influential man in the history of British rock music, speaking to those who knew him well to build up a complete portrait of this hugely popular figure.
John Prine: In Spite of Himself
by Eddie HuffmanWith a range that spans the lyrical, heartfelt songs "Angel from Montgomery," "Sam Stone," and "Paradise" to the classic country music parody "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," John Prine is a songwriter's songwriter. Across five decades, Prine has created critically acclaimed albums--John Prine (one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time), Bruised Orange, and The Missing Years--and earned many honors, including two Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting from the Americana Music Association, and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by scores of artists, from Johnny Cash and Miranda Lambert to Bette Midler and 10,000 Maniacs, and have influenced everyone from Roger McGuinn to Kacey Musgraves. Hailed in his early years as the "new Dylan," Prine still counts Bob Dylan among his most enthusiastic fans. In John Prine, Eddie Huffman traces the long arc of Prine's musical career, beginning with his early, seemingly effortless successes, which led paradoxically not to stardom but to a rich and varied career writing songs that other people have made famous. He recounts the stories, many of them humorous, behind Prine's best-known songs and discusses all of Prine's albums as he explores the brilliant records and the ill-advised side trips, the underappreciated gems and the hard-earned comebacks that led Prine to found his own successful record label, Oh Boy Records. This thorough, entertaining treatment gives John Prine his due as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation.
John Sayles (Contemporary Film Directors)
by David R. ShumwayJohn Sayles is the very paradigm of the contemporary independent filmmaker. By raising much of the funding for his films himself, Sayles functions more independently than most directors, and he has used his freedom to write and produce films with a distinctive personal style and often clearly expressed political positions. From The Return of the Secaucus Seven to Sunshine State, his films have consistently expressed progressive political positions on issues including race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. In this study, David R. Shumway examines the defining characteristic of Sayles's cinema: its realism. Positing the filmmaker as a critical realist, Shumway explores Sayles's attention to narrative in critically acclaimed and popular films such as Matewan, Eight Men Out, Passion Fish, and Lone Star. The study also details the conditions under which Sayles's films have been produced, distributed, and exhibited, affecting the way in which these films have been understood and appreciated. In the process, Shumway presents Sayles as a teacher who tells historically accurate stories that invite audiences to consider the human world they all inhabit.