Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott | 
 enlarge | Author: David Sheward
Publisher: Applause Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 236994
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 430
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 1557836701
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
UPC: 073999688191
EAN: 9781557836700
ASIN: 1557836701
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Product Description
George C. Scott (1927-1999) born in Wise, Virginia, created some of the 20th century's most memorable performances on stage and screen - the cunning prosecutor in Anatomy of a Murder, the manipulative gambler in The Hustler, the buffoonishly warmongering chief of staff in Dr. Strangelove, and, of course, the brilliant and rebellious Patton. He also played Willy Loman, Richard III, Mussolini, Scrooge, Fagin, and countless others. But his offstage life was as filled with drama and controversy as any of the lives he portrayed with such intensity. He refused the Oscar for Patton, battled with TV networks to include realistic elements in his series East Side/West Side, invested (and lost) his own money on Broadway and in the scandalous film The Savage is Loose, married five times (twice to Colleen Dewhurst) and had a tempestuous affair with Ava Gardner, traveled to Vietnam at the height of the war to write an article for Esquire magazine, and weathered a damaging sexual harassment suit. In the first complete biography of this great star, David Sheward documents Scott's artistry as well as his roller-coaster career. Featuring interviews with numerous colleagues including Nathan Lane, Karl Malden, Piper Laurie, and Eva Marie Saint, as well as friends and family members, Rage and Glory pays tribute to one of our finest and fieriest actors.
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 Yet Another Great Talent Dogged by Inner Demons! November 28, 2008
David Sheward's book missed the mark with its title. Rather than RAGE AND GLORY, it should have been titled RAGE AND MORE RAGE. No actor was better able to project that emotion than George C. Scott. In a roller-coaster career topped by winning the gold for PATTON, he portrayed a number of fascinating yet repellent characters brimming with rage, avarice and many other unlikeable characteristics. Tragically his personal live was as unhappy and self-destructive as many of the roles he played. Sheward takes a long-overdue look at this unique individual.
Scott's beloved mother died early; his father was distant and uncommunicative. Growing up with a chip on his shoulder, Scott discovered alcohol and the die was cast. Wanting the security of marriage, he went through a series of wives yet each marriage floundered as Scott ran away from the responsibility that went with the marriage. Intensely shy yet bubbling with barely surpressed anger, he made few friends.
His record in Hollywood and Broadway was as mixed, some hits and many misses. Yet whatever he was in, Scott was always eminently watchable and, especially in movies, often stole the spotlight from the film's star. THE HUSTLER, for example, was Paul Newman's film but Scott's Bert Gordon character was the one that held your attention. His memorable line at the movie's end - "You owe me MONEY!" grabbed the viewer by the collar. Likewise Scott's loony-goony General Buck Turgidson in DOCTOR STRANGELOVE was a hoot.
Sheward does a workmanline job of chronicling Scott's tempestuous life and career. Though he apparently had input from almost 50 Scott family members and friends, he seems to have relied awfully heavily on previously published books, magazines articles, etc.
After reading RAGE AND GLORY, I had one thought: "What glory?" Scott certainly triumphed in the awards category with Oscars, Obies, Tonys, etc. but did they bring him happiness? Sheward's book makes me wonder if this talented yet troubled man ever knew happiness. You'd like to hope so.
Movie fans will want to add RAGE AND GLORY to their collection. It tells you everything you wanted to know about George S. Scott and more. Recommended.
 Lightweight Look at a Heavyweight November 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
On page 295 of Mr. Sheward's bio of the great George C. Scott, mention is made of Scott's desire to star in an unrealized film of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" -"the best-selling book on an Indian massacre of 1876." Well, Custer's Last Stand happened in that centennial year...but not Wounded Knee. That atrocity happened in 1890. A trifling error...perhaps.
On page 275 of the book here under discussion, according to the author Scott - in preparation for the make-up applications for his role in "Beauty and the Beast" - had a "death mask" made. Well, since George C. was alive at the time, the correct phrase would be "life mask." Only dead people can have death masks made of their features. Many, most people on some level realize this. A trifling error, perhaps.
On page 104, the author writes with regards to Stanley Kubrick's approach to film: "Singular in his vision, Kubrick was most concerned with the grand sweep of his overall design. ...the director was most intrigued with the look of his films, and not as focused on the acting, music or script." Now, anyone who knows anything at all about Kubrick knows that this take on his approach to cinema is absolute nonsense. Kubrick cared about EVERYTHING with regards to his movies - even down to poster design and the sound systems of the theatres wherein his films played. A trifling error, perhaps.
Perhaps not, though. These few trifling errors are ones I was able to catch. However, not being an authority on the life of George C. Scott makes one wonder, therefore, how much else in this book is fallacious. How many other errors slipped under the radar? I think I also got a sense of a book written more for profit than privilege when Scott's magnificent performance in "The Hustler" is touched upon and not a word is said of his interactions with either of his costars Paul Newman or Jackie Gleason. From then on the book seems cobbled together by press clippings, movie and theatre reviews and somewhat shallow interviews with some of the players in Scott's life. The book, basically, has none of the "rage and glory" of the book's very title: it ends up being little more than a linear laundry list. The great actor deserves better and will hopefully get a truly in-depth treatment in the future, something along the lines of Peter Manso's Herculian take on "Brando." I hope so, anyway.
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