A Spectacle of Dust: the Autobiography Free

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I n the year or so leading up to his death from cancer this year, Pete Postlethwaite had been working on an autobiography, and this has now appeared, sympathetically ghostwritten by Andy Richardson. It is an extrovert, tender, charming and unselfconscious book, with some extraordinary, hell-raising and hair-raising anecdotes. Reading it revived the sadness I had on hearing about his death, particularly the last, remarkable chapter about his final illness, recounted as it was happening, like a sort of liveblog. Despite his A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography evidently being the gentlest and most caring parent imaginable, and being himself a kindly and lovable man, Postlethwaite came to prominence playing agonised and sometimes scary father figures. In Davies's autobiographical Distant A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiographyhe was reportedly so compelling that Davies sometimes needed to sit on his lap, child-like, between takes. Steven Spielberg called him "the best actor in the world", and in one throwaway line, Postlethwaite reveals that Spielberg wanted him, not Tom Hanks, to star in Saving Private Ryan. Postlethwaite fancied a British tour of Macbeth instead. Postlethwaite can, however, be a bluff and unrevealing narrator. This is particularly the case with regard to his love affair A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography the Liverpool Everyman's sparkling up-and-comer Julie Walters. The affair began as they acted together as part of the Everyman's Van Load touring company in the 70s and finished just as her career was taking off with Willy Russell's Educating Ritaleaving his own career, at that time, A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography behind. Without describing his feelings much, or really at all, Postlethwaite sadly concludes that he was "incompatible" with the emotionally maturer Walters and signs off on the subject: "It was wonderful to see how successful Jules became; she enjoyed an inexorable rise. I wished her all the best. I was thrilled for her, genuinely so. Is there a quiver of remembered heartbreak there? His delicacy probably springs from respect for his current partner Jacqui Morrish, for Walters's privacy, and simply from a sense that this is not as important as the work. Yet some of what he called his relative emotional immaturity comes across in his jaw-dropping off-stage high jinks. Postlethwaite liked a drink: seven or eight or nine pints were not uncommon in an evening, and there were times when he was getting through a Constable-sized haywain of weed. At the time he was renting a cottage outside Stratford where he and director Nick Hamm would drop acid. Maybe our young RSC players stick to Diet Coke nowadays, but that was the way they rolled back A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography the 80s. There is no talk of therapy or substance-abuse counselling, though Postlethwaite quietened down when he got together with Morrish. He seems to have come unstuck just once: during a production in Aberystwyth of, bizarrely, the ultra-trad repertory piece A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography Trainby Arnold Ridley the playwright who later became famous playing the ageing Private Godfrey in Dad's ArmyPostlethwaite succumbed to a ganja-induced paranoid anxiety attack on stage. He thought everyone was out to get him, stormed out of the theatre and his part had to be taken over, then and there, by a young Bill Nighy. Quite a night. I wish I had been there — in fact, I wish I had seen Postlethwaite's blistering performances on stage as well as on screen. This book reminded me what we're all still missing. Biography books. A Spectacle of Dust by Pete Postlethwaite — review. The autobiography of Pete Postlethwaite, once called 'the best actor in the world' by Steven Spielberg. Pete Postlethwaite Peter Bradshaw. A Spectacle of Dust by Pete Postlethwaite - review | Books | The Guardian

At one point during his autobiography, the late Pete Postlethwaite recalls various attempts to describe his distinctive face. One critic said he looked like he had a clavicle stuck in his mouth, another that he resembled an unmade bed. It's characteristic of the Warrington-born performer's humility that he dwells on these slights while brushing off Steven Spielberg's remark that he was the best actor in the world; what the director really meant, he jokes, was that "Pete thinks he's the best actor in the world". Not a bit of it. What emerges strongly from the book is its author's reverence for the craft of acting, from the moment he visits Liverpool's Everyman theatre in the early Sixties. Much of his later Hollywood work warrants only a passing mention but those rep years are covered in evocative detail, including one disturbing episode in which he suffers an on-stage breakdown after becoming convinced that audience and actors alike are ganging up against him. He lives with Julie Walters for six years but their separation coincides with her overnight success on stage in Educating Rita. Cinema A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography Postlethwaite after a devastating A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography as the brutal patriarch in Distant Voices, Still Lives. The studio wanted Michael Caine or Sean Connery to play the proud father jailed alongside his son, but Postlethwaite, who had campaigned against the imprisonment of the Guildford Four, said he needed the role more, and proved it by staying in character for a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with the director. The opening analysis of how his King Lear at the Everyman went awry serves notice A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography luvvie gushing will be thin on the ground. One of the understandable distractions in that production came from Postlethwaite's discovery during rehearsals that he had cancer. Indeed, the most memorable thing about A Spectacle of Dust is its poignant sense of time running out, A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography its author becomes all too aware that "the shadows are lengthening". The closing chapter is deeply wrenching, with Postlethwaite distributing the last of his love, time and energy among the family and friends who surround him: "It's like being backstage on the last night of a successful play. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Food for London. Digital Edition. The Londoner. The Reader. Matthew d'Ancona. Ayesha Hazarika. Rohan Silva. Ellen E Jones. Laura Weir. Tottenham Hotspur. Crystal Palace. West Ham. Transfer News. Premier League. Champions League. Rugby Union. Horse Racing. A List. ES Magazine. GO London. Things to do. Healthy at Home. ES Best. ES Shop. Travel Offers. Voucher Codes. Property news. Area guides. Click to follow ES Lifestyle. Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in. Register with your social account or click here to log in. I would like to receive trends and interviews from fashion, lifestyle to travel every week, by email. Update newsletter preferences. Comments Log in or register to comment. Thanks for subscribing! Yes, submit this vote Cancel. You must A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography logged in to vote. Report Comment. Yes, flag this comment Cancel. This comment has been flagged. Delete Comment. Yes, delete this comment Cancel. This comment has been deleted. Comment posted! Review: Autobiography Pete Postlethwaite: A Spectacle of Dust -

Pete Postlethwaite is one of the best-loved and widely admired performers on stage, TV Sharpe, The Sins and in cinema. This is the story of a diverse and multi-talented actor's eventful life, told in his own candid and vibrant words. It is an extrovert, tender, charming and unselfconscious book, with some extraordinary, hell-raising and hair-raising anecdotes. The closing chapter is deeply wrenching, with Postlethwaite distributing the last of his love, time and energy among family and friends who surround him. Pete Postlethwaite was born in Warrington in At the age of 24 he trained at the Bristol Old Vic, beginning a A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography career on stage and screen. He died in Januaryaged My Life with Wagner. Evelyn Waugh: A Life Revisited. The Hairy Dieters: Fast Food. Guide To Better Acol Bridge. The Hairy Dieters: Good Eating. Engineering in the Ancient World. Carl Rogers: A Critical Biography. The Carl Rogers Reader. Your cart Close. Go Search. Vibrant and candid memoirs of the late, great British character actor, Pete Postlethwaite. Pete Postlethwaite Pete Postlethwaite A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography born in Warrington in Readers also viewed. Left loading Find a book you'll love, get our newsletter name email. YES I have read and consent to Hachette Australia using my personal information or data as set out in its Privacy Policy and I understand I have the right to withdraw my consent at any time. This website uses cookies. Using this website means you are okay with this but you can find A Spectacle of Dust: The Autobiography more and learn how to manage your cookie choices here. Close cookie policy overlay.