Garry O'Connor, highly respected for his theatrical biographies, presents a richly drawn, fully dimensional portrait of the great actor Paul Scofield. He interviewed the intensely private Scofield himself, as well as many of the actors and directors he has worked with, including Simon Callow, Trevor Nunn, Richard Eyre and Peter Hall. The result is a masterly biography that paints a revealing portrait of a man who, for the serious film and theatre-goer, is more of an icon than any other living actor. Scofield is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Sir Thomas More in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966). This most private of actors has had an extraordinarily successful career since his stage debut in 1940 and is considered a consummate professional by reviewers and audiences as well as by his peers, many of whom were interviewed for this work. The biographer of numerous other theatrical figures (e.g., Peggy Ashcroft, Ralph Richardson, Alec Guinness, and Sean O'Casey), O'Connor offers a thoroughly researched tome that includes a chronology of Scofield's work in theater, film, radio, and television. His book is valuable as the only available contemporary record and examination of Scofield's professional career, but it is not a satisfactory biography, as the reader is left without the essence of the man. Recommended for large public and academic libraries. Bruce Henson, Georgia Tech. Lib., Atlanta Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Garry O'Connor is a biographer and novelist, noted for his publications on theatrical and literary figures. He has written acclaimed biographies of Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Paul Scofield, Peggy Ashcroft and Alec Guinness. O'Connor has written and presented programmes for radio, including Campion's Ghost for Radio 4, adapted from his novel about John Donne.