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Madeline Kahn
William V. Madison
其他書名
Being the Music, A Life
出版
Univ. Press of Mississippi
, 2015-04-29
主題
Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts
Performing Arts / Film / General
Performing Arts / Theater / General
ISBN
1617037621
9781617037627
URL
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=CvAaBwAAQBAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBook
SAMPLE
註釋
Best known for her Oscar-nominated roles in the smash hits
Paper Moon
and
Blazing Saddles
, Madeline Kahn (1942–1999) was one of the most popular comedians of her time—and one of the least understood. In private, she was as reserved and refined as her characters were bold and bawdy. Almost a Method actor in her approach, she took her work seriously. When crew members and audiences laughed, she asked why—as if they were laughing
at her
—and all her life she remained unsure of her gifts.
William V. Madison examines Kahn's film career, including not only her triumphs with Mel Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich, but also her overlooked performances in
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
and
Judy Berlin
, her final film. Her work in television—notably her sitcoms—also comes into focus. New York theater showered her with accolades, but also with remarkably bad luck, culminating in a disastrous outing in
On the Twentieth Century
that wrecked her reputation on Broadway. Only with her Tony-winning performance in
The Sisters Rosensweig
, fifteen years later, did Kahn regain her standing.
Drawing on new interviews with family, friends, and such colleagues as Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett, Gene Wilder, Harold Prince, and Eileen Brennan, as well as archival press and private writings, Madison uncovers Kahn's lonely childhood and her struggles as a single woman working to provide for her erratic mother. Above all, Madison reveals the paramount importance of music in Kahn's life. A talented singer, she entertained offers for operatic engagements long after she was an established Hollywood star, and she treated each script as a score. As Kahn told one friend, her ambition was “to be the music.”