Burt Lancaster

This work traces the rise of one of the most enduring figures in cinema. According to cinema legend, Burt Lancaster was discovered in an elevator by a stage producer who mistook him for an actor and gave him a part on Broadway. Though the play only lasted for 23 performances it was enough to attract the movie scouts, and a year later he made his screen debut in "The Killers". Lancaster's arrival coincided with the rise of "film noir", to which his physique and personality were eminently suited. He rapidly established himself as one of Hollywood's star performers, and showed a determination to have things his own way - as many directors learned to their cost. Combining box-office success with a desire to make less popular but more worthy films, he refused to conform to type. The range of screen roles he appeared in encompassed movies as diverse as "From Here to Eternity", "Gunfight at the OK Corral", "Sweet Smell of Success", "The Leopard", "Atlantic City" and "Local Hero". When he died in October 1994, shortly before his 81st birthday, he left a legacy of some 70 films spanning over 40 years, and an indelible imprint on the history of the cinema industry.
This biography follows Lancaster through every stage of his ever-shifting career, and the photographs depict this in his many guises. The author is editor of "Who's Who in Hollywood" and "Chronicle of the Cinema" and has written a biography of Audrey Hepburn, "A Star Dance: The Life of Audrey Hepburn". She is also co-author of "Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide".