Burt Lancaster: An American Life

I enjoyed this book a great deal. While I was familiar with most of Lancaster's films, his private life was a mystery. One thing I do have to say for the author: she's thorough. Not to the point of boredom, but all her bases are covered. There's just enough information on Lancaster's background, and I found the story of his parents as fascinating as his. The accounts of his physical feats during his "circus" years were remarkable, as were his inner conflicts over some of the parts he played. Of special interest was the Hect collaboration and foray into producing. My only dislike of the book (and this echoes another reviewer) was Buford's teasing of the bisexuality theme. Why make oblique references to this unless you're going to give us some facts? Was he or wasn't he? There should be more to substantiate this, given the fact that a)This was Hollywood and everyone knew everyone else's business, and b) Lancaster is dead and, according to even the most die-hard Hollywood standards, this makes for fair game. But when all is said and done, this is a great read. I highly recommend this, along with Gerald Clarke's bio on Truman Capote.

I hadn't paid very much attention to Burt Lancaster until just a few months ago. I didn't know what an outstanding actor he was. After reading this book, I feel I know him even more. This book is very detailed and thorough. It's obvious Kate Buford put enormous amounts of time and research into it. She did a great job. If you, like me, want to discover the real Burt Lancaster, this is the book to buy.

Burt Lancaster was an American original in every sense of the term. Born and raised in the melting pot atmosphere of New York City's East Harlem, Lancaster initially wins the respect of peers with his athletic prowess. He plays basketball in high school and college, then becomes a professional acrobat. He experiences tough times during the Depression as he seeks work in a series of faceless small towns as an acrobat. It was to his ultimate career benefit that World War Two came along, giving Lancaster a steady job as well as a launching pad to the career which would make him a fortune and an international celebrity. He becomes a USO performer and, upon his discharge, lands a part in a New York play. The play closed early, but Lancaster attracted a Hollywood talent scout's interest and was signed to a contract by Hal Wallis of Paramount.Lancaster became one of the fortunate few actors to become a full-fledged star in his first film. While his first film officially was the quickly forgotten "Desert Sun" at Paramount with Lizabeth Scott and John Hodiak, he was fortunate that his first ever released film was the much better received "The Killers," an adaptation of a famous Ernest Hemingway short story. Director Robert Siodmak knew that he had immediately struck gold with the explosive dynamism of leading man Lancaster and his high voltage leading lady, the sizzling Ava Gardner. Siodmak would work with Lancaster later in the noir thriller "Crisscross" opposite brunette bombshell Yvonne DeCarlo and in the sea adventure "The Crimson Pirate."Author Buford has heavily researched Lancaster's busy life, chronicling the fact that the actor's expensive lifestyle fored him into an exhausting cinema workload that would have killed a less powerful man. Interesting insights are provided into the creative process leading up to Lancaster's Oscar-winning performance in the 1960 adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' powerful novel about a basically sincere while profoundly debauched clergyman, "Elmer Gantry." Lancaster and the film's director, Richard Brooks, were equally combustible types. They spent a lot of time shouting at each other, but eventually hammered out a winning screenplay, for which Brooks received an Oscar.Another fascinating segment of the book deals with Lancaster's efforts in the producing field. As a partner in Hecht-Hill-Lancaster he shared in the triumph of a Hollywood first, a "Best Picture" Oscar for an independent production, removed from Tinseltown's then solidly dominant studio system. The film was "Marty" and it made its Oscar-winning star, Ernest Borgnine, into a major international leading man after an earlier seasoning period as a villain. Another ultimate triumph for the independent team was "Sweet Smell of Success." It is now renowned as one of the most biting and brilliantly original film noir efforts ever made, but, like so many classics, such as Hitchcock's "Vertigo," it took awhile for the film public to warm up to its gr

My friends and family are fighting over who gets to read this biography next. And each of us -- when we get it -- can't put it down. Buford writes such a compelling narrative, you are swept up in the 20th century tide of events Lancaster tried so hard to match in his movies. Yes, Lancaster is a mysterious character and there is never a definite answer to many of those mysteries. But that is the kind of person he was and Buford is right to leave it at that. IN any case, there is plenty of riveting and deeply moving stuff in here. A great American story, told at last, in a way Burt would probably have liked. Or at least respected. A great guy who lived life fully right to the very end.

Lancaster's story seemed to be all our stories. Hard life, tough choices, inner demons, great loyalty -- a real life played out all the way to the end. Buford describes the "last act" of Lancaster's life so movingly -- he played his hand out right to the end, unlike so many Hollywood stars who petered out young and fast.