Public Places: My Life in the Theater, with Peter O'Toole and Beyond

Sian Phillips and Peter O'Toole were one of the theaters most fabulous couples--a marriage perhaps rivaled only by that of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in terms of glamour, power, and public fascination. In her exceptional memoir, Phillips reveals in thoughtful detail their tumultuous life together. She describes the mad and impulsive times with the infamous hellraiser alongside the tempestuous, insecure, and often lonely periods in their marriage. When OToole's career took off with "Lawrence of Arabia," Sian found life increasingly difficult in her parallel roles as wife, mother, and actress, and watched as her own career became progressively sidelined. Against all expectations, though, their union endured for twenty years. When it ended, incredibly, even to herself, Sian plunged straight into another marriage, to a much younger man. Ultimately she emerges alone--triumphant and unrepentant--and the story she recounts here ranks alongside the very best in show business.