Product Description

A REVEALING BEHIND-THE-SCENES PORTRAIT OF THE AWARD-WINNING TV SHOW INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO– AND ITS CREATOR AND HOST JAMES LIPTON

Each week Inside the Actors Studio takes the unique insights and intimate revelations of its celebrated guests into 84 million homes on the Bravo network and 125 countries. Now, with Inside Inside, James Lipton, the 2007 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy, is handing every one of us a backstage pass.

You will witness in unprecedented close-up the wit, wisdom and candor of a galaxy of stars, from Paul Newman to Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Ellen Burstyn, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone and many, many more, and marvel at the comic inventions of Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle – and Will Ferrell as James Lipton on the Inside stage.

With the same candor he demands of his guests, James Lipton reveals a life that began under the tutelage of a poet, his father, and a teacher, his mother; continued in the orbit of three theatrical giants, Stella Adler, Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis; and, as writer and producer, took him to the White House with two presidents, the Great Wall of China with Bob Hope, and a wild flight at the controls of an Alaskan bush plane, on his journey to Inside the Actors Studio.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192800 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
When the Actors Studio faced possible extinction in 1994, Lipton (An Exaltation of Larks) engineered a partnership between the Studio and the New School for Social Research to create a degree-granting program. Thus was born the Actors Studio Drama School, with Lipton as both founder and dean. The school's craft seminars, in which Lipton interviewed leading actors and directors, became the basis for Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio, and since 1994, he has been that series' executive producer, writer and host. Looking back over the show's parade of personalities, he intercuts autobiographical flashbacks with quotes from the TV interview transcripts. These brief selections, excerpted from his sessions with Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Lemmon, Mike Nichols, Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep and many more, may leave some readers wishing Lipton had published the transcripts in full. Raising the curtain on his own memories, he traces the path of his multifaceted career as radio actor (The Lone Ranger), TV actor (The Guiding Light), Broadway lyricist (Sherry!) and novelist (Mirrors). Along the way, theatrical truths emerge and amusing anecdotes abound since Lipton is a witty and engaging writer. The free-associative transitions from interviews to autobiography occasionally read like two different books shuffled together, but that only makes this exaltation of Lipton doubly enjoyable. The 48 illustrations include Al Hirschfeld's caricature of Lipton. (Oct. 18)
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Review
“There are great, colorful stories about every side of show business here.  James Lipton lets it all go; his openness about himself, and artists of all stripes, is refreshing.”
—Paul Newman

"James Lipton is the most penetrating and compassionate interviewer I've ever known, but, more importantly, a terrific guy."
—Anthony Hopkins

“Once in a blue moon there is a person who comes along and excites an artist by his genuine interest in craft.  James Lipton ignites the artist's own interest in himself and his craft - and often rekindles it.  On these pages you'll find out how.”
—John Travolta

“A wonderful book…Lipton knows an awful lot about acting and all of it is in this book.  Interesting, original, valuable.”
—Sidney Lumet

“Every page brings forth revelations, experiences and moments that James Lipton has encountered and embraced, that could not possibly have happened in one single life, but most certainly did and continues to.  He has interviewed a virtual Who’s Who in theater, film and entertainment over the past decade and sprinkles the book with incisive gems from the mouths of these special people.  It’s a wonderful book, a joyful read and I highly recommend it!”
—Martin Landau

"James Lipton brings to us a very considered intelligence and a discerning appreciation of our leading artists in theater and film."
—Gay Talese, author of The Kingdom and the Power and Honor Thy Father

“Jim Lipton writes the way he talks,—with fluency and passion.  His own story is as startling and revealing as his interviews are.  We at the Actors Studio treasure him.”
—Oscar-winning actress Lee Grant

“I don’t know anyone more qualified than Jim Lipton to write a book about actors and their work processes.  I consider this book the most comprehensive look into the lives and thoughts of the gifted people that Jim has interviewed.  It’s wonderful.”
—Martin Bregman

“James Lipton is our cultural insider for all seasons.  As an actor, director, playwright, author, host, and friendly provocateur, he has seen it all and indeed lived it all!”
—Bruce Lundvall, President and CEO, Blue Note Label Group

About the Author
James Lipton is the creator, executive producer, writer and host of Inside the Actors Studio, which is seen in 84 million homes in America on the Bravo network, and in 125 countries, and has received twelve Emmy nominations. He is the author of the novel Mirrors, which he then adapted and produced for the screen, and of the American literary perennial An Exaltation of Larks, and has written the book and lyrics of two Broadway musicals. His television productions include Jimmy Carter’s Inaugural Gala, the first Presidential concert ever televised; twelve Bob Hope Birthday Specials, reaching record-breaking audiences; and The Road to China, the first American entertainment program from the People’s Republic. He is a vice-president of the Actors Studio, is the founder and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama MFA program at Pace University, has received three honorary PhDs, is a recipient of France’s Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Emmy by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Customer Reviews

An uneven, occasionally fascinating read
Many of the people who have reviewed this book seem disappointed that there is so much Lipton and not enough "Inside the Actors Studio." Actually, I had quite the opposite reaction.

I wanted this book for all the inside scoop on "Inside the Actors Studio" yet found myself getting swept up in Lipton's fascinating life and, more importantly, his rich and colorful writing style (I was so taken with his writing that I went out and bought his novel, "Mirrors.")

I wanted to wallow in the words and the saga of this fascinating man, not sure if I wanted to race through it because it was so captivating, or slow down to savor each page.

My own disappointment came when it actually came to the reason I wanted the book in the first place--the story about "Inside the Actors Studio." Lipton's fawning over each guest got to be so nauseating that while I had devoured the first part of the book, it took me a much longer time to get through the end of it. These are actors. Good actors, to be sure, but not gods and goddesses, not heads of state, not nobel laureates. They are simply ACTORS, yet Lipton treats each one as if he were greeting the Pope, the Dali Lama or the Queen of England. It was fawning to the n'th degree and the only reason I stuck with the book to the end was that I had so enjoyed it up to that point.

I also wanted to know who this St. Bernard of Piveau that Lipton gushes about in every show really was, and never got a satisfactory answer to that, other than that he was apparently a French talk show host, another living legend to be fawned over.

I give this book three stars--if it had stayed at the level of the first half, I would enthusiastically give it five stars, but it is a very disappointing second half (for me).

Even the half that isn't Inside is Great
I loved this book!!! James Lipton can write and does indeed write extremely well. The first half is indeed more autobiographical in nature but is a very interesting behind the scenes story of his life and art. Mr. Lipton includes plenty of self-congratulation, but contrary to some reviews, which made the book much more interesting for me.

Most of the last half is about "Inside the Actor's Studio", a TV-series that I never missed once I discovered it. I ran into a dozen or so passes that were quite moving as I read this book. I highly recommend the book for anyone who enjoyed the series and/or finds James Lipton to be an interesting fellow.

Just ignore the title and expect more than just about going Inside "Inside the Actor's Studio". If you only want the TV series part, read chapters 11-17 and view the photo section. Be warned, however, that you will miss some real nuggets.

What I wished he had included (think future edition) is a list of the 200 or so guests who appeared on "Inside the Actor's Studio", in order, in an appendix.

A Most Enjoyable Journey
James Lipton provides the reader with a modestly-written account of his multi-faceted career and his many accomplishments. It is easy to journey with him from his initial efforts to earn money for law school to his accomplishments on radio, in television, on the stage and, finally as a (the?) principal of the Actors' Studio. That's the first half of the book. The second half is a review of many of the actors, actresses, writers and directors who were interviewed by him on "Inside the Actor's Studio" arranged with emphasis less on the individuals and their fame and more on their mettle. For devotees of the program, it is another wonderful journey with Lipton. For those who have not watched his television series on Bravo and who don't know James Lipton, it is an introduction to a most talented and accomplished individual who has a wonderful story to tell. "Inside Inside" is a most enjoyable read.