Backing into the Spotlight

A Memoir

By: Michael Whitehall

Narrated by: Michael Whitehall, Jack Whitehall, Hilary Whitehall

Read by Michael Whitehall, featuring Jack Whitehall and Hilary Whitehall.

Standing in front of a full-length mirror in my dressing room at ITV studios, waiting to go on to the set of Backchat, I had a brief conversation with my reflection.

'Michael, what the f*** do you think you're doing?'

Theatrical agent Michael Whitehall spent a career pushing others into the spotlight. He had been involved behind the scenes with the careers of many prominent actors, including Colin Firth, Richard Griffiths, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Courtenay, Ian Ogilvy, Judi Dench, Edward Fox, Michael Fassbender, Angela Thorne and Nigel Havers.

But then, much to his surprise, his son Jack becomes a successful comedian and actor and decides that his new comedy partner should be his father. Whitehall Snr. finds himself reluctantly appearing on stage and then television, cast as the archetypal grumpy old man and thrust, in his early 70s, into a whole new career in front of the camera. Minor fame comes at a sedate pace: one of the highlights being a record £300,000 win for charity with Jack on Channel 4's The Million Pound Drop.

In this enchanting memoir, Whitehall looks back on his life, from growing up in suburban London in the 1940s and '50s with his saintly father and social climbing mother, who coined the phrase 'à la carte' to describe people who were posher than she was and whose company she craved, to falling into a career as a successful theatrical agent and producer. As he says, 'Actors can be egotistical, greedy and vain, but they're not half as bad as agents and producers'.

Charming, gossipy and above all very funny, Backing into the Spotlight is no ordinary show business memoir.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2017 Michael Whitehall (P)2017 Little, Brown Book Group

Charming, funny, enjoyable a bit unrelateable

Great and engaging performance with a peek at Whitehall’s charmed life. Definitely entertaining but I worry that it is a bit unrelateable for some.

Charming and Witty

Michael Whitehall is the perfect narrator to bring to life his humor and perspective in this book. A genuine look into the people and experiences that shaped the author, peppered with his trademark wit.

Lots of Fun

its 6:53 in the morning and I've just finished listening to this book despite my intention to get back to sleep sometime before I had to get up and out for work. I resent this slightly. It's Michael Whitehall's fault for being so winning. He's got great charisma and is a gifted narrator. The book wanders a little, here and there, but who cares. Lots of references and names dropped may be lost on an American audience but you get the point, even if you've never heard of Sir Rupert Skirting-Board or Penelope Chipping Cleghorn or whatever. I came for the personality and the voice and stayed for that and enjoyed it all. I'm glad Michael stuck his head over the parapet and became an entertainer.

Entertaining

The Whitehall family are just funny people! You will be entertained throughout this story of Whitehalls life.

omg

I loved it omg, so good. Def was a good read.
We’re some of the stories in his first book? Yeah, sure but who cares. Such a life filled with happiness and exploration. Makes you appreciate the journey which is life.

Hilarious!

I could listen to Michael over and over and probably will. His story is so funny and his delivery so smooth. I'm glad that England is finally sharing him with the United States. We need more like him here.

best audiobook out there

Michael Whitehall has the perfect voice for this medium. he should do the narration to every story out there. I would seriously pay to hear him read anything. not to mention the fact that the story is quite interesting and well told. love it.

So enjoyable!

I recently started watching Travels with My Father and while Jack is hilarious (and a stud), the real star of the show is Michael. His deadpan, "no. f***g. WAY" atitude makes me so happy. This book is a joy to listen to and had me smiling and laughing out loud. I agree with others that MW could have a third act career as an audio book narrator, despite his son saying that his narration could "break a terrorist". I wish his first book Shark Infested Waters was also avaliable!

Such fun listen

I loved the stories of Mr. Whitehall’s life and it was wonderful to hear it in his voice. Loved the cameos from Mrs. Whitehall and Jack.

Fantastic Narration!

Magnificent voice performance by Michael Whitehall. I enjoyed listening to him and his stories.