Straight face

"In this autobiography - written throughout his long battle with cancer - Nigel gives the most compelling, entertaining, and intimate portrait of his life." "A naturally private man, he uncovers the many tensions which lay behind keeping his straight face - from the childhood unease he experienced with an eccentric father to his harsh schooling in South Africa and the intrusive media 'outing' in the run-up to the Oscar ceremony for The Madness of King George." "When he left South Africa for England as a young man, his success as an actor was never assured and owed much to a determination which saw him through the rigours of repertory stage management, understudy roles, and cleaning jobs until he won his biggest theatrical break in Joan Littlewood's production of Oh, What a Lovely War. His major triumph in the RSC's Privates on Parade led to even greater international success as Sir Humphrey Appleby in television's Yes, Minister." "Success in relationships was late arriving too. It was only when Nigel met production manager Trevor Bentham in 1978 that he finally found the happiness and stability he longed for, and to which he attributes the rest of his phenemonal career." "Completed only a few days before he died, Nigel Hawthorne's honest and witty autobiography is a moving testament to this most courageous, brilliant and self-effacing of actors."--Jacket.