Luck and Circumstance

August 15, 2011
Lindsay-Hogg , whose mother was actress Geraldine Fitzgerald, delivers an entertaining view of his film and theatrical experiences, as he tells his childhood as a search for truth and answers, “with twists and feints and clues” against familial “lies and deception.” His mother, who appeared in both film (Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory) and on stage (notably at Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre) was, as Lindsay-Hogg describes, a seductress who had affairs with Robert Capa and Henry Miller, and married Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg and Stuart “Boy” Scheftel. Driven by ambition, Lindsay-Hogg at age 24 directed 1960’s England’s music program Ready, Steady, Go, and later recorded videos for rock and roll bands like the Beatles (“Let it Be”) and the Rolling Stones. He offers clever accounts of directing TV’s Brideshead Revisited (casting, locations, script work, and working with such actors as Jeremy Irons) and on Broadway (Whose Life Is It Anyway? and Agnes of God with Tom Conti and Geraldine Page). Questions of rumored paternity haunt him—the possibility that Orson Welles was more than a mentor is lastly revealed by socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, once his mother’s confidante. The book is both a story of a boy’s pursuit for honesty and a talent finding his own way to fame

July 15, 2011

A famous director recalls his boyhood and working life as the son of the beautiful Warner Brother's movie star Geraldine Fitzgerald.

At age 15, Lindsay-Hogg knew exactly what he wanted out of life. Following his first stint in the theater in 1956, when he spoke one line in The Taming of the Shrew, he set his sights on a career in theater, film and television. After querying his mother on possible stage names, she casually mentioned how some people thought Orson Welles was his real father. His mother denied it, but just enough to create a mysterious script for the author's life. True to his dream, the author forged a career in the entertainment world where recurring hints of his connection to Welles resurfaced at odd times during his life. In the '60s, he directed a British rock 'n' roll show and developed an unusual technique for filming the bands. He went on to work with many of the greats, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Supremes. Lindsay-Hogg began working for BBC television during the '70s, "working with the stars of the time on dramas written by equally stellar playwrights." The author's story is a riveting insider look at popular culture, from his boyhood in Santa Monica, while his mother was under contract to Warner Brothers, through his direction of The Normal Heart in 1985. Lindsay-Hogg's descriptive vignettes reveal tasty tidbits about the famous musicians, actors and cultural icons of the time.

An unusual story of a life lived among a galaxy of stars, told with enough insight and intelligence that even those who dismiss celebrity memoirs should enjoy this jaunt through the glitz.

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April 1, 2011

Son of actress Geraldine Fitzgerald (e.g., Dark Victory), surrounded by Hollywood's elite from an early age, and then introduced to theater when his mother worked on Broadway, famed director Lindsay-Hogg (Brideshead Revisited) should have a fascinating memoir to offer. At its heart is the sneaking suspicion, set off by an offhand comment about his mother's affair with Orson Welles, that he is actually Welles's son. For all your movie-mad (especially old-movie-mad) readers.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.