Against Type: The Biography of Burt Lancaster

by Gary Fishgall

A biography of Burt Lancaster which tells of his early years, from his childhood in East Harlem to his first job as a circus acrobat, his three marriages, his numerous affairs, and the progress of his career after he had arrived in Hollywood at the age of 33, with no formal training as an actor.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068480705X
• ISBN13: 9780684807058
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Solid research but lacks poetry

I enjoyed reading Against Type, but wish the author had been more expressive and inspired. Gives good overview of Lancaster's career. Fishgall covers most of the bases but I would have liked more of Burt's impact on pop culture.

A Professional Job

Gary Fishgall is very good on the professional life of actors. He's written about James Stewart, Burt Lancaster, and Gregory Peck. Fishgall seems not very much interested in [physical activity] and social name-dropping, which is fine with me. He gives the bare facts of the actor's social life without the juicy and sordid detail for which many people read star biographies.On the actor's professional life and accomplishments, Fishgall is excellent. He covers childhood and youth thoroughly as it relates to the future career. He discusses every professional job the actor ever had. You learn not only about the big successes, with which you may already be familiar, but also the small successes and the failures. Nothing relating to the professional life is left out. You learn what the subject thought about his coworkers and what they thought about him.I have now read two of Fishgall's bios and plan to read the third. This is just the kind of information I find fascinating. If you enjoy any of Fishgall's bios, you may also enjoy Vincente Minnelli's "I Remember It Well." Minnelli's story-telling mode is very similar to Fishgall's. He dwells on his professional life and downplays the personal.

Increases appreciation of one of Hollywood's Greats

Chronicles the professional life and accomplishments of one of Hollywood's most loved stars, Burt Lancaster. I was disappointed with the lack of insight into the personal life of Lancaster, but as a biography of his professional life it was excellent. It was fascinating to read of the diametrically opposite views that co-stars and directors had for him, ranging from ardour to hate. This is an unbiased portrait of a great star