Against Type

Burt Lancaster's Hollywood career extended from the final days of the Golden Age to the advent of the mini-series, and he co-starred with leading personalities of several eras, such as Gary Cooper and Kevin Costner, Barbara Stanwyck and Susan Sarandon. This biography tells of Lancaster's early years, from his childhood in seedy East Harlem to his first job as a circus acrobat, his three marriages, his numerous affairs, and the progress of his career after he had arrived in Hollywood at the age of 33, with no formal training as an actor.