Eva Le Gallienne

This is the first published resource on the life and seventy-year theatrical career of award-winning actress Eva Le Gallienne. It traces Le Gallienne's acting debut in 1914, her travels to the United States, and the successes and failures of her New York City repertory theatres. Also noted are Le Gallienne's critically acclaimed performances in such plays as Liliom, The Swan, The Master Builder, Hedda Gabler, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Camille, Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Stuart, and The Royal Family.

The book covers not only her Broadway engagements, but also her many lecture and theatre tours. Also highlighted are her receipt of the National Medal of Arts presented by President Ronald Reagan and the National Artist Award presented by the American National Theatre and Academy. The book is divided into six parts--a biography, a chronology focusing on the highlights of Le Gallienne's career, a list of all productions (stage, film, television, radio, and discography), an annotated bibliography of all items written by Le Gallienne, an annotated bibliography of over 300 items written about Le Gallienne in books, magazines, and newspapers, and a list of archival resources.

The section of productions includes such information as titles, authors, directors, producers, venue, casts, designers, length of run, and locations of reviews. This book is an invaluable resource for courses in American Theater, Theater History, American Studies, Introduction to Theater, Women's Theater, Women's Studies, and Introduction to Film.

Review: ?Schanke's biobibliography of her contains a brief biographical sketch and a chronology of significant dates, material of interest to anyone looking for basic biographical information. Also included is a list of productions in which Le Gallienne acted or which she produced or directed. The work also contains an annotated list of her writings, a secondary bibliography, and a guide to archival materials, which would be particularly helpful to scholars interested in doing further research.

The secondary bibliography is quite extensive, including a number of unpublished dissertations. This rather specialized work would be of interest to upper-division undergraduate and graduate libraries with collections in acting and theater history.?-Choice