Director. Visionary.
Sam Wanamaker is best known as the man who spent the last twenty five years
of his life campaigning to reconstruct Shakespeare’s Globe near its original
site in London.
Born in the USA, he trained as an actor in Chicago and began his career
during the golden age of radio drama, before moving on to Broadway. A vocal
left wing activist, Wanamaker moved to the UK during the turbulent era of the
House Un-American Activities Committee and the anti-Communist witch hunts.
Having crossed the Atlantic, he carved a successful international career as
actor, producer and director. He directed the very first production at the
Sydney Opera House.
With his staunch sense of purpose, he made as many enemies as friends:
charismatic and persuasive, he was also stubborn and domineering. But above
all, he was a man of great vision, and it was that vision that inspired many
to help make his dream of Shakespeare’s Globe come into being. Sadly, he was
to die four years before its Gala Opening in 1997.
The fascinating life of Sam Wanamaker is explored for the first time in
this biography by his friend and collaborator, Diana Devlin.
