Backing into the Spotlight

A Memoir

€3,99
  • 'Backing
  • into
  • the
  • Spotlight
  • is
  • a
  • hilarious
  • and
  • an
  • unashamedly
  • non-PC
  • memoir
  • .
  • .
  • .
  • Now
  • in
  • his
  • eighth
  • decade,
  • Whitehall
  • is
  • a
  • fine
  • raconteur,
  • gloriously
  • unreconstructed
  • and
  • still
  • deeply
  • suspicious
  • of
  • modernity'
  • Daily
  • MailStanding
  • in
  • front
  • of
  • a
  • full-length
  • mirror
  • in
  • my
  • dressing
  • room
  • at
  • ITV
  • studios,
  • waiting
  • to
  • go
  • on
  • to
  • the
  • set
  • of
  • Backchat*,
  • I
  • had
  • a
  • brief
  • conversation
  • with
  • my
  • reflection.*'Michael,
  • what
  • the
  • f***
  • do
  • you
  • think
  • you're
  • doing?'Theatrical
  • agent
  • Michael
  • Whitehall
  • spent
  • a
  • career
  • pushing
  • others
  • into
  • the
  • spotlight.
  • He
  • had
  • been
  • involved
  • behind
  • the
  • scenes
  • with
  • the
  • careers
  • of
  • many
  • prominent
  • actors,
  • including
  • Colin
  • Firth,
  • Richard
  • Griffiths,
  • Daniel
  • Day-Lewis,
  • Tom
  • Courtenay,
  • Ian
  • Ogilvy,
  • Judi
  • Dench,
  • Edward
  • Fox,
  • Michael
  • Fassbender,
  • Angela
  • Thorne
  • and
  • Nigel
  • Havers.But
  • then,
  • much
  • to
  • his
  • surprise,
  • his
  • son
  • Jack
  • becomes
  • a
  • successful
  • comedian
  • and
  • actor
  • and
  • decides
  • that
  • his
  • new
  • comedy
  • partner
  • should
  • be
  • his
  • father.
  • Whitehall
  • Snr.
  • finds
  • himself
  • reluctantly
  • appearing
  • on
  • stage
  • and
  • then
  • television,
  • cast
  • as
  • the
  • archetypal
  • grumpy
  • old
  • man
  • and
  • thrust,
  • in
  • his
  • early
  • seventies,
  • into
  • a
  • whole
  • new
  • career
  • in
  • front
  • of
  • the
  • camera.
  • Minor
  • fame
  • comes
  • at
  • a
  • sedate
  • pace:
  • one
  • of
  • the
  • highlights
  • being
  • a
  • record
  • £300,000
  • win
  • for
  • charity
  • with
  • Jack
  • on
  • Channel
  • 4's
  • The
  • Million
  • Pound
  • Drop.In
  • this
  • enchanting
  • memoir
  • Whitehall
  • looks
  • back
  • on
  • his
  • life,
  • from
  • growing
  • up
  • in
  • suburban
  • London
  • in
  • the
  • 1940s
  • and
  • '50s
  • with
  • his
  • saintly
  • father
  • and
  • social
  • climbing-mother,
  • who
  • coined
  • the
  • phrase
  • la
  • carte'
  • to
  • describe
  • people
  • who
  • were
  • posher
  • than
  • she
  • was
  • and
  • whose
  • company
  • she
  • craved,
  • to
  • falling
  • into
  • a
  • career
  • as
  • a
  • successful
  • theatrical
  • agent
  • and
  • producer.
  • As
  • he
  • says,
  • 'Actors
  • can
  • be
  • egotistical,
  • greedy
  • and
  • vain,
  • but
  • they're
  • not
  • half
  • as
  • bad
  • as
  • agents
  • and
  • producers.'Charming,
  • gossipy
  • and
  • above
  • all
  • very
  • funny,
  • Backing
  • Into
  • The
  • Spotlight
  • is
  • no
  • ordinary
  • show
  • business memoir.
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