A Moment Towards the End of the Play

Known and loved for his TV appearances in "Brass" and as the embodiment of Edward VII, Thomas Beecham and Winston Churchill, Timothy West has led a charmed life as an actor: never quite making it to star status, but also rarely out of work, moving effortlessly between television and stage, film and recordings. With his wife, Prunella Scales, and now his son, Samuel, the West family have provided many hours of entertainment. This is Timothy West's autobiography, written in his sixties. His early years read like a map of a now vanished landscape: box-office at Frinton, assistant stage manager at Newquay, weekly rep at Hull, a two-year contract at Salisbury - and meanwhile coping with a small child and a manic depressive first wife. But soon the parts get meatier, and the venues get better: he plays in the West End, joins the Royal Shakespeare Company, tours the country with Prospect doing the classics, performs Dickens and Dostoyevsky on television, and has a stint running the Old Vic, which includes coping with Peter O'Toole and his disastrous ideas for Macbeth. As Tim tells it, it all seems to happen a bit by accident, a bit by surprise.