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A major and definitive biography of the beloved actor, drawing on 150 exclusive interviews with stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Alan Ayckbourn, Brian Cox, Bill Nighy and Jeremy Clarkson

‘This book reveals the wonderful man behind some of the greatest roles on stage and screen.’ Daniel Radcliffe

‘He was sublime as an actor.’ Dame Judi Dench

‘He was a remarkable stage performer . . . You couldn’t really term it acting – more an act of spontaneous combustion.’ Sir Alan Ayckbourn

‘He was a great, great man. We all loved him very much.’ Dame Helen Mirren

The son of working-class Irish immigrants, Michael Gambon left school with no qualifications and began his working life as an apprentice toolmaker. He went on to become one of the greatest actors of his generation, captivating audiences across stage and screen.

Jasper Rees, Sunday Times bestselling author of Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood, interviewed Gambon more than any other living journalist. With exclusive access to the Gambon archive and his family, and drawing on more than 150 interviews with actors, writers, directors and friends, Rees tells the extraordinary story of the man behind the performances.

From Laurence Olivier’s fledgling National Theatre to The Life of Galileo, A View from the Bridge and Skylight; from collaborations with Harold Pinter and Alan Ayckbourn to The Singing Detective and the Harry Potter films, Gambon’s career spanned some of the defining productions of the last fifty years.

But behind the performances was a complicated, intensely private and mischievous man, famous for his tall tales and as surprising offstage as he was mesmerising on it.

Funny, moving and revelatory, Jasper Rees’s masterful and definitive biography peels back the layers of Gambon’s myth to reveal the humanity of an acting colossus.

Praise for Sir Michael Gambon:

‘Michael Gambon was perfection . . . he was like the internet, because some things on the internet are true, but most of it isn’t true. That’s broadly speaking what I thought it was like talking to Michael.’ Jeremy Clarkson

‘He could be utterly committed and believable and truly “in” the scene and yet there was a part of him standing aside going, “no you idiot, what do you think you’re doing?” . . . He was a great, great man. We all loved him very much.’ Dame Helen Mirren

Praise

Press reviews for Jasper Rees’s Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood
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‘Let’s Do It is a biography that feels as unflinching and true as it is entertaining and affectionate. Rees pulls off the trick of writing a brilliant tribute while also – somehow, almost – bringing Victoria Wood back to life in all her complicated glory’
Guardian

‘You can almost feel him riffling files, rewinding tapes, so carefully is it pieced together. Yet the reward is a 360-degree biography that transforms a beloved entertainer into a real human being’
Sunday Times

‘This superb biography ensures we can’t forget how revolutionary she was’
Oldie

‘Impeccable’
Daily Telegraph

‘A joyous read’
Mail on Sunday

‘Joyous and revealing… If you’re a diehard Wood fan (as I am) you’ll find this account of her life wholly engrossing, and it also stands as a wonderful tribute to a pioneering entertainer and her exacting comic genius’
Bookseller

‘A joy. It paints a rounded portrait of a genuinely nice and kind woman who could also be difficult, scathing, even ruthless’
Daily Mail

‘Rees’s research is wide-ranging and detailed… his analysis is acute and often beautifully articulated’
i Newspaper

‘An immersive, authoritative book’
Spectator

‘A smashing biography’
Sunday Express

‘Packed with enlightening anecdotes and revealing interviews with her family and closest friends. A real treat’
Independent

‘This biographer is the safest of hands… It does not feel intrusive because it is so richly fed with the memories of those who properly loved her’
The Times

‘Impeccable’
Daily Telegraph

Praise from friends and fans of Victoria Wood:
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‘This utterly absorbing and beautiful book, written with such insight and kindness, moved me hugely’
Julie Walters

‘I would love people to read this beautiful book about the woman I will be forever grateful for in leading the way for me and other women in comedy and for making my life a jollier one’
Miranda Hart

‘Jasper Rees has found the perfect words to convey Victoria’s brilliance, in this meticulously researched, immersive and entertaining biography’
Alison Steadman

‘This book is absolutely brilliant. So meticulously researched but also full of warmth and fun’
Lucy Porter