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Beside Myself
By Antony Sher
Nick Hern Books £10 99
370 pages
Dateline: 19th May, 2009
"I think my whole life has been a search for different rushes:
the danger of acting - exposure, criticism, success - the huge invasion
of book-writing fever, the slow, tingling crystallisation of a painting
taking shape; these things provided it constantly and coke did, obviously".
In three lines, Sir Antony Sher summarises the multiple facets of a
life containing far more problems than one might imagine from the other
side of the fourth wall or camera.
His frankness is admirable and remarkable, starting with intimations
of homosexuality almost below primary school age. Coming from a well-to-do
White South African family, the future British citizen had some explaining
to do but ironically, his parents probably accepted the youngster's
sexual inclinations more easily than his desire to become an actor.
His future career was by no means certain, as Sir Antony was a talented
artist at school. This is demonstrated by his painting The Audience,
which is a welcome bonus in this new edition of this 10-year-old autobiography,
published to coincide with his 60th birthday.
Having decided to fly to England to study drama, and despite a confident
mother's determination and certainty, one of the greatest actors of
his generation was rejected by both Central and RADA before finally
being taken up by Webber Douglas, much to their credit.
From then on, he enjoyed much stage success, starting in Liverpool
with Willy Russell's John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert. He played
the Beatles' old drummer and as a photos show, looked the spitting image
of his character, a chameleon instinct that was to be repeated again
and again.
From there, his acting went from strength to strength with many highlights.
Perhaps his finest year was 1983 when, as he puts it, he won an Olivier
for playing a King and a Queen, Richard III and the lead in Harvey Fierstein's
Torch Song Trilogy. The competition comes from 1999 with two
Shakespearean kings, Leontes in The Winter's Tale and Macbeth.
Despite becoming one of our very best stage actors, Sir Anthony has
done little screen work, which might be attributed to a lack of classical
beauty, which he readily admits. He launched himself on the world as
Howard Kirk in The History Man, a seminal series which must surely
be due a TV revival. Other than that, an appearance as Disraeli opposite
Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly in Mrs Brown must be the peak.
However, it is in theatres that Sir Antony Sher is so greatly loved
as an actor, working not only in some great Shakespearean productions
but also in an early Mike Leigh, Goosepimples, playing Enoch
Powell in Tarzan's Last Stand and then unforgettably as Cookham
artist Stanley Spencer in Pam Gems' affectionate biographical play.
This all culminated in a meeting with the Queen to accept a knighthood,
but there is also a much darker side to this life. While Sir Antony's
homosexuality did not apparently cause him as much heartache as it must
have to many others, his low self-esteem and a need to succeed driven
by an ambitious mother and tough father caused an addictive personality
to emerge.
Eventually, wine led to whisky and whisky to cocaine in a cycle that
eventually ended in a clinic, drying out and thankfully, Recovery (his
capital "R"). This was all supported by his great collaborator
and love, that fine RSC director Greg Doran with whom he has collaborated
so well.
As well as delving into the darkest moments of a successful life, Sir
Antony Sher tells us so much about how a top actor researches and gets
into parts and many youngsters will take note of David Tennant's words
on the front cover when he says "I wish I'd read this book when
I was starting out".
In addition to the acting, this rare talent has also continued to paint
and found a great ability as a writer, starting with biographical work
about theatrical productions and then moving into novels, the first
of which, Middlepost, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
It therefore almost goes without saying that Beside Myself is
very well written, charting highs and lows even-handedly in what must
be one of the best theatrical autobiographies to be published in recent
years. The only minor disappointment is that the ten years following
its original publication are covered in a mere page and a half.
Perhaps a second volume of autobiography is on the way because this
reader for one would love to know more about Sir Antony's recent work.
He did of course produce the excelent Primo
Time, recollecting the creation and performance of one of the
most engrossing solo shows of that decade.
Philip Fisher
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