A Hell Of A Life by Maureen Stapleton

Maureen Stapleton was one of our finest actors, one of the few who won the acting 'triple crown' of Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award (twice) - as well as a BAFTA and Golden Globe over her career in theatre and films.

She grew up in Troy, New York, and saw everything the five movie theatres offered, falling in love with classic stars she was soon to meet. At 17, she left for New York where she saw everything Broadway has to offer. Her apartment was the crash pad for fellow actors she auditioned with - Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, and Marlon Brando, who became her close friends. Perseverance landed her the starring role in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, winning her a Tony. Tennessee became a close friend, as did Neil Simon who cast her in several plays including Plaza Suite and The Gingerbread Lady (giving her a second Tony). Working with Lillian Hellman brought her a role in Toys In The Attic, and the 1981 revival of The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor.

She made a career playing older women - at 25 offered roles playing a middle-aged mother with a teen-age daughter - which, unpretentious and easy-going, she accepts. There are long-time love affairs and two husbands, and she is very candid about her part in their demise. Renowned for swearing like a sailor, she was also a hard drinker (never while working) and was wise enough to check herself into rehab - Brando causing scenes when he would visit.

Although she had a varied film career, this is mainly about the stage. She gives a cursory glance at roles in Lonelyhearts with Monty Clift, The Fugitive Kind with Brando, her Oscar-nominated role in Airport, the film version of Plaza Suite, her second Oscar-nominated role in Woody Allen's Interiors (my favourite performance), even her Oscar-winning role as Emma Goldman in Reds. Although this was written in 1995, she chose to mention 1987's Nuts with Barbra Streisand instead of the 1985 box-office hit Cocoon.

Her world was acting, peopled with friends like Colleen Dewhurst, Eli Wallach, George C. Scott, George Abbott, Walter Matthau - for fans of theatre and playwrights, this is a treat. She had a storied career. And this is her story.

My other theatrical autobiography reviews:

Drama, An Actor's Education by John Lithgow

All About Me by Mel Brooks

Al Pacino in Conversation

I Said Yes To Everything Lee Grant

1995 / Hardcover / 285 pages