MY FATHER AND I

by Joseph Schildkraut ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 6, 1959

Joseph Schildkraut begins the story of himself and of his father Rudolph, one of Europe's greatest actors, with what he considers the culmination of his own professional life--his role as the father in The Diary of Anne Frank. This role was to the author one of emotional and intellectual importance, too, since it revived faith in the Europe that was a part of his own heritage. The book then describes his father's career from the early days as a tatterdemalion, wandering actor to his eminence as a leading man in Vienna, Hamburg and Berlin. Schildkraut senior was a character out of Schnitzler and this part of the book reads like a novel- as do the Schildkraut's early years in America. With the beginning of Joseph's acting career the book takes on the aspect of the pre-expose theatrical memoir--tart yet fond reminiscences of the early days of the Theatre Guild, Eva La Gallienne's Civic Reportory Theatre, etc. Unfortunately, Schildkraut occasionally stoops to the overly intimate confessional tone, and the language sometimes approaches the coy (a fault often inherent in the ""as told to"" autobiography). But otherwise this story of an acting family provides lively fare for the theatre book fan.

Pub Date: April 6, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION