Actors Acting

Acting Thespians...

You want to know what to do about acting and how to go about being an actor. You want to know how to develop for yourself a de­pendable set of actor's tools-and how to use them. How to de­velop your natural advantages and how to put them to work for you. How to become a good craftsman, and how to develop that craftsmanship to a point of artistry-and make a living while doing it

Although directed to actors, anyone who is ever called upon to "stand up and say a few words" can profitably adapt this site to his uses.

Much of the material vitally concerns the needs of every singer, entertainer, lecturer, teacher, business or professional man-every­one, in fact, who ever has to face the public.

"All the world's a stage. . . ." Let's find out something about how to act on it-or any other stage.

This is a site about acting, not actors. The incidental use of names well known on the stage, in motion pictures or television is simply to underscore a point about acting.

Some surprises, a few shocks and many important self-discoveries are in store for you.

By the time you've mastered the material in this book you'll know your old self better, and you'll meet a new self that will develop as you go along.

You will be more effective.

You will project new power.

You will have a stronger personality.

You will gain poise.

You will acquire authority.

You will broaden your horizons.

You will be more interesting.

You will speak better.

You will know how to concentrate.

You will be able to think on your feet.

You will add to your natural charm.

You will be more attractive.

You will be more feminine if you're a woman, more masculine if you're a man. In other words, you will reach a new peak of sex appeal.

You will develop your character, dependability and persever­ance.

You will establish and justify new self-confidence.

You will both feel and reveal added vitality.

You will find out that everything about you-your strength and your weakness-can be used to your advantage.

Stardust is made of many things.

Tony Curtis started out as a tousled kid from the Bronx who turned into a glamour boy. From the superficialities of this second phase, he grew into a forceful actor.

Rita Hayworth was a black-haired, chunky little girl who made a mediocre living as a dancer, until she gradually developed a new self that won her international homage as the embodiment of desirable femininity.

In 1947, there was no Rock Hudson. But there was a Roy Fitegerald, who worked in his father's electrical-appliance store and at other odd jobs after getting out of the Navy. In a period of transition he worked co-operatively with the perceptive agent who saw exciting possibilities in him, and he worked with the late great coach Sophie Rosenstein, of Universal-International Studios. In short, he worked, worked, worked twenty-four hours a day to become the Rock Hudson of today.

Stardom has no physical limitations.

Spencer Tracy is short on stature but long on stellar power. So are Alan Ladd and James Cagney.

John Wayne, Gary Cooper and Gregory Peck tower over the six-foot mark-and hit the six-figure mark in salary.

Stocky Edward G. Robinson's everyday appearance is reduced to a negligible fact when he becomes a lovable hero or a hateful villain, wondrously sensitive or appallingly brutal, intelligent or bestial, according to the requirements of the role he's portraying.

Rotund Charles Laughton can transform himself into contrasting characters covering a tremendous range.

Jimmy Durante's big nose never lost him a fan. Nor did Joe E. Brown's big mouth. Nor Martha Raye's, either.

The late Humphrey Bogart's lisp might have been a liability to a lesser man. He, however, used it as a subtle instrument of char­acterization.

Ernest Borgnine is no Mr. America, but that didn't keep him from winning an Academy award. Tab Hunter is what the girls call a dreamboat, but Frank Sinatra is by no conventional standards a handsome man. Their

Stardust is made of entirely different things.

Katharine Hepburn never could have won a beauty contest

Elizabeth Taylor could. Debbie Reynolds is a doll-faced cutie. Academy award winner Joanne Woodward is nothing of the kind.

Sometimes it's the off-beat qualities that sprinkle you with star-dust

Richard Widmark is way off-beat Yet his fan mail stacks up favorably with that of Sir Laurence Olivier, a star renowned as a classic hero.

Stardust sprinkles Leslie Caron with an enchanting, elfin charm. It gives an irresistible sparkle to June Allyson's eyes.

Remember this: In show business there is a place for every type.

After acquiring self-knowledge and training under expert guid­ance, real stars learn to stylize their liabilities into assets and to develop their natural assets into symbols of an ideal.

So can you.

From: "How to Act"
By: Robert Graham Paris

Actors Thespian ...

Acting...

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