Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life

by Stephen Michael Shearer

Book Overview

The internationally acclaimed actress Patricia Neal has been a star on stage, film, and television for nearly sixty years. On Broadway she appeared in such lauded productions as Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest , for which she won the very first Tony Award, and The Miracle Worker. In Hollywood she starred opposite the likes of Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, and Tyrone Power in some thirty films. Neal...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813123917
• ISBN13: 9780813123912
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 508 Pages
• Weight: 2.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Subject Was Neal

Shearer's bio on the excellent Patricia Neal is a well researched, heart felt and beautifully executed work. Long a fan of Ms. Neal's, I thought I knew all there was to know about this superlative actress, but I was quite wrong. Gossipy when it has to be, and never over the top, this is a must read book for all fans of Ms. Neal's and/or any of her great films such as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, HUD and THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES. Here, the subject is Neal and it is covered to perfection. A fine read.

An Interesting Read About A VERY Interesting Person

Stephen Michael Shearer has endeavored to tell the story of movie icon Pat Neal in a no-nonsense, "loose the frills" way. By now, there isn't a movie buff around who does not know about the Patricia Neal/ Gary Cooper romance. Unlike others who might make it seem holy or even downright tawdry, the author gives us the facts and dates and skips the frills and sermons. Good. However, especially in dealing with such an interesting subject as Ms. Neal, the author should be taken to task for not probing a bit below the surface. He gives us facts (and there is little to doubt the accuracy) but not reasons. One case in point: When Pat Neal's husband - Roald Dahl - began having affairs, their children sided with their father to the point where it was suggested that Ms. Neal "not bother to come home for the Christmas holidays". Disturbing and interesting but the reader walks away without ever discovering where the friction was between mother and children (at the end, they all seemed to have resolved their differences but how and what was the original cause?) The book is an easy read and fairly interesting if you can look past some of the glossing over of facts in favor of dates.

New Patricia Neal Biography

An Unquiet Life is well written and provides extensive information about the Hollywood and Broadway scenes in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. The photographs, from Miss Neal's personal collection as well as those from other sources, are superb. This new biography serves as a companion piece to Miss Neal's wonderful autobiography, As I Am, and they should be read together.

Celebratory Portrait of a Revered Actress Far Too Often Overlooked

I just saw Patricia Neal's superlative performance in Elia Kazan's still-amazing "A Face in the Crowd" for the first time on DVD this past week and was reminded what a searing screen presence she could be. Author Stephen Michael Shearer, a former actor and longtime friend of Neal's, has seen fit to write a comprehensive biography of the actress just as she turns eighty this year. Her work is definitely worth revisiting, and what's more, her life is thick enough with professional triumphs and personal traumas to justify the rather expansive 441-page length. It's obvious why Shearer has taken such an interest in the actress's fascinating life, and he can certainly be guilty of providing a fair amount of fawning to go along with his sharp insights, especially in the early parts of the book. With her striking beauty and throaty bluegrass-tinged voice, Neal achieved success early, first hitting big on Broadway in Lillian Hellman's "Little Foxes" prequel, "Another Part of the Forest", and then scooped up by Hollywood in 1949. In short order, she co-starred as headstrong Dominique Francon in the lavish, highly flawed adaptation of Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and immediately embarked on a five-year affair with screen legend Gary Cooper, very married and a quarter century older. While it was not quite the level of the Ingrid Bergman-Roberto Rossellini scandal happening at almost the same time, Neal still faced not only a cold-blooded industry but also an unwanted abortion and ultimately a nervous breakdown despite strong early impressions in 1950's "The Breaking Point" (said to be Hemingway's favorite adaptation of his work) and the 1951 sci-fi classic, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (uttering her famous words -"Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"). Neal married famed children's author Roald Dahl after the Cooper affair ended. As she started to raise a family, she made a comeback in Kazan's masterwork which led to her feline turn as the interior decorator in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and her Oscar-winning performance as the sensual, worldly wise housekeeper Alma in "Hud". Despite her impressive professional success, the most interesting, obviously devastating parts of the book occur after her career peak in "Hud" when she tragically suffered three burst cerebral aneurisms while pregnant. Dahl was her constant, goading caretaker but also the source of escalating personal pain as he embarked on an extramarital affair that finally ended their marriage after thirty years in 1983. Shearer covers these years in great detail, but I think his portrayal of Neal's obviously complex relationship with Dahl could have delved somewhat deeper into the impact of the strokes and the death of their first child on both parties. The author also remains light on the facts that could have precluded Neal's medical condition at the time, even though her long-term recovery is covered in painstaking detail here. Afterward, she was able to turn in stellar work in 1968's "The Subject Wa