The playwright gives a play its plot, characters, dialog and form, but its sense of living reality is conveyed by the art of the actor. This fascinating collection of perspectives on acting is taken from biographies and autobiographies of American, British and Italian actors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. John Wilkes Booth, an actor and the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, is recalled by his brother, the great actor Edwin Booth, and by acclaimed actress Clara Morris. -- Lee Smalley

Latest episodes of the podcast Little Masterpieces of Autobiography: Actors by George Iles

• Preface
• Joseph Jefferson, Part 1
• Joseph Jefferson, Part 2
• Edwin Booth
• Charlotte Cushman
• Clara Morris, Part 1
• Clara Morris, Part 2
• Sir Henry Irving
• Henry Brodribb Irving
• EllenTerry
• Richard Mansfield
• Tommaso Salvini, Part 1
• Tommaso Salvini, Part 2
• Adelaide Ristori