Description
The Life and Legacy of British Actress Susan Fleetwood (1944-95)
Born in St Andrews in 1944 into a military family, Susan Fleetwood’s itinerant childhood stretched from Egypt to Norway before she earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at just sixteen years old, her talent having been recognised and nurtured by a sister at the convent school in Kent she attended in her early teens. Overcoming her mild dyslexia by painstakingly colour-coding her scripts, she graduated from RADA with highest honours in 1964, embarking on a career defined by fierce artistic integrity and an unyielding commitment to her craft.
The elder sister of Fleetwood Mac co-founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood, Susan chose her own path into the spotlight. In 1964, she co-founded the radical Liverpool Everyman Theatre alongside director Terry Hands, her long-time partner and collaborator. After four hectic years there, she moved on to spend a celebrated decade with the Royal Shakespeare Company and also performed extensively at the National Theatre under Sir Peter Hall, earning two Laurence Olivier Award nominations for her brilliant portrayals of classical heroines.
Equally at home in film roles, Susan mesmerised audiences in Andrei Tarkovsky’s final masterpiece The Sacrifice (1986), brought comic polish to Merchant-Ivory’s Heat and Dust (1983) and delivered memorable performances in Clash of the Titans (1981), Young Sherlock Holmes (1986), White Mischief (1987) and The Krays (1990). On TV she appeared in the series Summer’s Lease (1989), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), 1990s crime series Chandler & Co and the BAFTA-winning adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1995) as well as many one-off appearances in shows such as Minder and The Bill.
Revered by peers as an “actor’s actor,” Fleetwood possessed an astonishing range – from tragic gravitas to comedic brilliance. Tragically cut down after a long and brave battle with cancer in 1995 at the age of just fifty-one, her extraordinary legacy as leading light of late 20th century British theatre continues to be remembered by many. Richly illustrated and drawing on recollections from eminent colleagues across stage and screen, this definitive biography of one of the British stage’s most luminous, dedicated and versatile classical actresses celebrates the life, fiery passion, and enduring spirit of an unparalleled talent.
The text features numerous photos plus interviews, comments, reminiscences and contributions from a veritable galaxy of former colleagues, friends and admirers, including: Joss Acland, Polly Adams, Kathy Alger, Juliet Ayckroyd, Sara Badel, Francis Barber, Peter Barkworth, Rosemary Beattie, Cicely Berry, Martin Best, Michael Billington, Giles Black, Isla Blair, Madeleine Blakeney, Brenda Blethyn, Diana Boddington, Michael Bogdanov, Bill Bryden, Doyne Byrd, Bill Britten, Faith Brook, John Broome, Lin Browne, Gavin Campbell, Madeleine Cannon, Diana Carter, Mary Chater, Robert Chetwyn, Tony Church, Nora Connolly, Charlotte Cornwell, Richard Cottrell, Brian Cox, Dermot Crawley, Julian Curry, Sinead Cusack, Charles Dance, Sam Dastor, Desmond Davis, Felicity Dean, Francis de la Tour, Judi Dench, Sally Dexter, Richard Digby-Day, Blodwen Doyle, Tony Doyle, Philip Dunbar, Sue Dunderdale, Robert East, Robin Ellis, Peter Eyre, Karin Fernald, Fiona Finlay, Moira Flynn, Michael Fitzgerald, Michael Freeman, Roger Gartland, Sally Gaugain, Sir John Gielgud, Bernadette Gillette, John Goodwin, Peter Gordon, Michael Gough, Nicholas Grace, Gawn Grainger, James Green, Roger Gregory, Hayden Griffin, Dilys Hamlett, Terry Hands, Terence Hardiman, Andrew Harvill, Duncan Heath, Vivian Heilbron, Allan Hendrick, Randal Herley, Andrew Hilton, Bill Homewood, Gareth Hunt, Jonathan Hyde, James Ivory, Peter James, Barbara Jefford, Martin Jenkins, Priscilla John, Richard Jukes, Lila Kaye, Michael Keating, June Kemp, Sir Ben Kingsley, Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE, Michael Lattimer, Sally Leaver, Bernard Lloyd, Geraldine Lynn, Carmel McSharry, Dominic Mafham, Doreen Mantle, Peter Marenker, Rosemary Marter, Sara Mason, Roger Michell, Sarah Miles, Richard Moore, Francis Morgan, Cherry Morris, Shona Morris, Bryan Murray, Adrian Noble, Jim Norton, Joseph Roy Parker, Richard Pasco, David Perry, Ronald Pickup, Tim Piggott-Smith, Elizabeth Pursey, Michael Radford, Corin Redgrave, Nick Renton, Ian Richardson, David Rintoul, Tony Robertson, Mary Robinson, Bryan Robson, Struan Rodgers, Norman Rodway, Amanda Root, John Rothenberg, Catherine Russell, David Scase, Paul Scofield, Judith Scott, Roshan Seth, John Shrapnel, Derek Smith, Christopher Strauli, David Suchet, David Summer, Homer Swander, Terry Taplin, John Theocharis, Alex Thomas, Gareth Thomas, Nina Thomas, Paul Tickell, Alex Thomson, Philip Voss, Nigel Walters, Paul Webster, Arnold Wesker, Diana Wickens, Janet Whiteside, Maggie Whiting and Tim Wylton.
Details
Publisher - Woodfield Publishing Ltd
Language - English
Perfect Bound
Contributors
By author
Keith Connelly
Published Date - 2003-12-01
ISBN - 9781873203927
Dimensions - 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.3 cm
Page Count - 236
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