Double-Act: The Remarkable Lives and Careers of Googie Withers and John McCallum

(Paperback)

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Not many can boast of careers that lasted successfully for nearly seventy years, but that is what both Googie Withers and John McCallum achieved. Googie portrayed everything from brazen murderesses to Lady Bracknell, taking in blonde nitwits, wartime Resistance workers, lady farmers and Shakespeare along the way. John not only performed memorably in all the acting media but also was a pioneer producer in Australian television sending Skippy into the far corners of the earth the managing director of a huge theatrical firm, and a film director, playwright and author. Just as remarkable was their 62-year marriage, not all that common in the entertainment world, and the way this worked is as fascinating as their varied and prolific careers. There were plenty of disagreements along the way but underlying all was their profound respect for each others work and a kind of love that was essentially complementary. Together, in professional and personal matters alike, an unbeatable combination. Brian McFarlanes biography does justice to this remarkable pair and reads as an absorbing story.

Reviews

"The Australian writer Brian MacFarlane has done much to make us Brits reappraise our own cinema and now he very usefully reminds us of Googie Withers... a rich account of their private and public lives... there is no scandal to be found in this book... You obtain a sense of how they managed to stay happily together for 63 years. When Googie once ventured to suggest, 'John, I don't think you love me any more,' John replied, 'Googie, darling, of course I love you. I've always loved you. If I didn't, I would have murdered you years ago.'" - Allen Eyles, The Veteran, Autumn 2015 This charming, highly detailed biography by the Australian writer Brian McFarlane is a joy from start to finish, giving us such amazing insights into two very special and simply unique characters - both so different, yet a perfect mix together, both on the screen and stage and in their private lives. Author Mr McFarlane details the lengthy careers of both stars, highlighting their very different personalities along the way and it is nice to learn of their extended family too. In over 230 pages - and being well illustrated throughout, Brian McFarlane does indeed do justice to the remarkable lives of John McCallum & Googie Withers and I certainly recommend this new biography to their fans and all MVM readers. It will not disappoint. - Movie Memories Summer 2015

Author Bio

Brian McFarlane has been variously a secondary schoolteacher, an academic and a writer. Sometimes these careers overlapped, but in the last decade or so he has been a full-time author, writing books, reviews and articles about film, theatre and literature. He is the author and editor of over twenty books, including several on Australian cinema, and on aspects of and people involved in British cinema. Double-Act is his first biography.