Handwritten:
"One of those Lears took place at Stratford where the fool
was played by the late lamented Alan Badel. Wasn't he a wonderful
actor, Alan Badel? He had only one fault as an actor; that was his
insistence on giving other actors in the play notes on how to play
their parts, and this intimate and irritating process went on right
through the rehearsal period and well into the production run. So
one evening in Stratford, Paul Hardwick was standing in the wings
waiting to make his entrance on to the stage when he was suddenly
aware of the majestic figure of the leading man next to him.
'Sir John, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here, Sir John.
I'm just about to make my entrance. Sir John, you should be 'round
the other side. Yes, we meet on stage, Sir John . . .'
'Yes, I know,' said Gielgud, 'but I'm hiding from Alan Badel.' " |
Handwritten:
"Dame Judi Dench, (claps) Isn't that wonderful; Alan Badel and
all the rest of us"
"this man"
"men & women"
"All the great actors from Burbage through to Brando, they've always
been praised because they were so real, true to life, so
naturalistic; 'You wouldn't think he was acting.' " |
