In this candid memoir, actor and director Lou Antonio recounts his five decades in television, film and theater, from live television to Broadway to Emmy-nominated Movies of the Week. Antonio describes with humor and insight the changes in audience tastes and technical developments during his career, and the unforeseen challenges of pursuing a life in the performing arts. Anecdotes abound of his work with Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, George C. Scott, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, and others.

As a stage actor Lou Antonio has performed in 70 plays and has acted and directed in more than 200 hours of television. He is co-artistic director of the Actors Studio and teaches acting and directing there.

Lou Antonio
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 255
Bibliographic Info: 104 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6815-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2804-2
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Preface 1

Part One: New York, Mostly 3

 1. When You Begin a Beginning 5

 2. The Cement City 13

 3. Some Strasberg, and Then Some 18

 4. Dribbles and Drabs 23

 5. A West Side Story 27

 6. Selling Soap 31

 7. Getting In, and At the Actors Studio 33

 8. The Fervid Years 37

 9. Overseas and Back Again 40

10. Garson Kanin 45

11. From Burt Lancaster to Summer Stock 50

12. 38 ­At-Bats, Three Strikeouts 55

13. From Streisand to Paxinou to Olivier 63

14. Two Misses and a Hit 68

15. Elia Kazan 72

16. From a Naked City to Andorra 77

17. Franco Zeffirelli 82

18. Keeping Busy Until Dewhurst 86

19. Faustus, Julie and Josh 94

20. Not-So-Lovely Hula Hands 104

21. Cool Hand Luke 108

22. Hello, Hollywood… Hello, Anyone There? 113

Part Two: Hollywood 121

23. Shatner, a Bear, a Nun 123

24. Jerry Lewis to Coppola 130

25. A Mixed Bag 136

26. Who Has the Power, Who Has the Pain? 142

27. Natwick and Hayes Up, Garner on Deck 145

28. Classes at Universal U 150

29. Rabbi Problems, Rich Man Problems 152

30. Dog and Cat Are Neutered 155

31. Cappelletti, Sand and Subways 159

32. Trashing Trash with Rock Hudson 166

33. Give Thy Thoughts No Tongue 170

34. Patty, Ricky, Sugar, Booze 172

35. I Got Plenty of Nothing 175

36. Legends 178

37. E.T. and Burton on Broadway 185

38. Lee Remick, North and South 191

39. Peter the Great, Dunaway Less 194

40. Candice Bergen: Motherhood to Madam 200

41. Academy Award Winners and Whiners 204

42. In to Africa 211

43. Bean Balls, and Still at Bat 217

44. Sonia Braga, Birthing and Breeding 219

45. May the Pod People Perish 222

46. Sour Power 225

47. They’re Either Too Young or Too Old 226

48. Cassidy Catches Ledger 230

49. Shatner, Bergen, Fox—Doing It 233

50. In and Out of It, Out and Into It 236

Index 243