The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With Those Who Made Them

by Studs Terkel

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Book cover for The Spectator

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The Studs Terkel Interviews: Film and Theater collects the Pulitzer Prize winning oral historian's remarkable conversations with some of the greatest luminaries of film and theater. Originally published under the title The Spectator, this "knowledgeable and perceptive" (Library Journal) look at show business presents the actors directors, playwrights, dancers, lyricists, and others who created the dramatic works of the twentieth century.

Among the many highlights in these pages, Buster Keaton explains the wonders of unscripted silent comedy, Federico Fellini reflects on honesty in art, Carol Channing reveals that she is far more serious than she lets on, and Marlon Brando turns the tables and wants to interview Terkel. We learn about crucial artistic decisions in the lives of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Edward Albee and hear from a range of film directors, from Vittorio De Sica and King Vidor to Satyajit Ray. We even get to witness Terkel playing straight man to a wildly inventive Zero Mostel. Because Terkel knows his subjects' work intimately, he asks precisely the right questions to elicit the most revealing responses. As the New York Times Book Review noted, "Terkel's knowledge and force of personality make him fully a player alongside his famous guests."


  • ISBN10 1565845536
  • ISBN13 9781565845534
  • Publish Date 16 September 1999
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint The New Press
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 364
  • Language English