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Will She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham - born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress - who was determined to be an actress.
Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men's clubs at six years of age as dancing 'Baby Eileen', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at thirty-two on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George ; it's about family, about class, about youthful ambition, about big dreams and what really goes on behind the scenes.
`Startling, candid and often disquietingly funny - Atkins proves to be a marvellous raconteur... she's never, ever dull' - Miranda Seymour, FT
'Oh, those anecdotes! . . . A rollicking ride through the early career of one of our greatest acting dames' Evening Standard
'Displays the emotional intelligence, acute observation, wry humour and above all honesty that distinguish Atkins's acting . . . exhilarating' Spectator
'Dame Eileen Atkins has gone toe to toe with them all over a career spanning seven decades and countless triumphs' Radio Times
Made a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner.
About the author
Born in 1934 in Tottenham, London, made a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner; her theatre performances include The Height of the Storm, Ellen Terry, All that Fall and she has appeared in television and films ranging from Doc Martin to Cranford to The Crown.
Summary
The acclaimed memoir of one of Britain's most loved actresses, a girl from Tottenham with big dreams who is now Dame Eileen Atkins. `Wit as dry as a martini' Daily Mail `Bliss' Observer `Exhilarating' Spectator
Foreword
The acclaimed memoir of one of Britain's most loved actresses, a girl from Tottenham with big dreams who is now Dame Eileen Atkins. `Wit as dry as a martini' Daily Mail `Bliss' Observer `Exhilarating' Spectator
Additional text
I really hope she's planning to write a few more volumes. She's a gifted storyteller, who writes evocatively about her childhood on a Tottenham council estate in the Second World War, and has a knack for a sharp anecdote. And oh, those anecdotes! . . . A rollicking ride through the early career of one of our greatest acting dames
