Sybil Thorndike

Sybil Thorndike, A Star of Life
By Jonathan Croall

Sybil Thorndike was one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century. Loved and admired as a great actress, she was also a feminist, a socialist and a pacifist, who fought throughout her long life for a better and more peaceful world.

With unique access to her family's archive, and using hundreds of unpublished letters, Jonathan Croall - author of the much-praised Gielgud: A Theatrical Life - has produced an engaging, sympathetic and critical account of the vicar's daughter who became a celebrated actress and public figure.

'Croall has written a fine biography, enlivened by Thorndike's copious correspondence to family and friends. The book inevitably suffers by comparison with Michael Holroyd's recent study of Ellen Terry since, while Thorndike was by all accounts the greater actress, she did not define her era in the same way.'

Michael Arditti, Daily Mail, 14 Nov 08. Read the full review here.

'It's a beautiful book about a beautiful person... It makes for a very rich and varied read'

Peter Hall

 ‘superb biography’ ‘Jonathan Croall’s magisterial biography (the equal of his Gielgud [2001]) not only persuades us of her individual pre-eminence but conveys as well the sense of a career’s encapsulating a history of much twentieth-century British theatre. And not just in Britain but also in such far-flung outposts as the Middle East, South Africa and Australia’ 

The Australian Book Review (February)

'A riveting and wonderfully sympathetic account of a great actress and a remarkable woman, which vividly captures her life offstage as well as in the theatre' ­

Polly Toynbee

To read an additional review by Alan Strachan in The Spectator (19 Nov 2008) click here.

'...here is Jonathan Croall's handsomely produced and meticulously researched biography to remind us of the rich and glorious life of a great actress and a hugely attractive human being...its subject's charm and vitality radiate such illuminating force that I found it far more engaging and enjoyable than Michael Holroyd's recent trawl through the torridly eventful sage of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving.' - Rupert Christiansen, The Literary Review, February 2009

For an excerpt, click 'read inside' on the left hand side.

Jonathan Croall was an editor in publishing and newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of several books including The Coming of Godot: A Short History of a Masterpiece. He currently edits the programmes at the Old Vic.