Callan, Michael Feeney

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Callan, Michael Feeney

PERSONAL: Born in Dublin, Ireland.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Robson Books, Chrysalis Building, Bramley Rd., London W10 6SP, England.

CAREER: British Broadcasting Corporation, London, England, story editor for The Professionals; director of television series, including My Riviera.

WRITINGS:

Target: The Bronze Heist (novelization of television series), Severn House (London, England), 1978.

Cinderella's Dead (novel), R. Hale (London, England), 1978.

The Falcon Ring (novel), R. Hale (London, England), 1981.

Diamonds (novel; based on television series by John Brason), Severn House (London, England), 1981.

Jockey School (novel; based on television series by Alan Janes), British Broadcasting Corporation (London, England), 1982.

Lovers and Dancers (novel), Hamlyn (Feltham, England), 1981.

Sweet Sixteen (novel; based on the television series by Douglas Watkinson), British Broadcasting Corporation (London, England), 1983.

Capital City (novel), Thames Mandarin (London, England), 1989.

Did You Miss Me? (novel), Crysis (Dublin, Ireland), 2002.

Writer for television series, including The Burke Enigma; The Professionals, ITV; and Masterpiece Theater, British Broadcasting Corporation.

BIOGRAPHIES

Sean Connery, Stein & Day (New York, NY), 1983, revised edition, Virgin (London, England) 2003.

Julie Christie, W.H. Allen (London, England), 1984, St. Martin's Press (new York, NY), 1985.

Pink Goddess: The Jayne Mansfield Story, W.H. Allen (London, England), 1986.

Richard Harris: A Sporting Life, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1990.

Anthony Hopkins: The Unauthorized Biography, Scribner (New York, NY), 1994.

Richard Harris: Sex, Death, and the Movies—An Intimate Biography, Robson Books (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: As a writer and director for television and film, Michael Feeney Callan has worked with a number of prominent stars. He has parlayed these relationships into a career as a biographer, producing studies of Sean Connery, Julie Christie, Jayne Mansfield, and two books on Richard Harris. In Richard Harris: Sex, Death, and the Movies—An Intimate Biography Callan bases his work in part on his own access as Harris's official biographer. Callan traces the actor's journey from an untamed youth who lacked interest in anything beyond rugby and his immediate pleasure to his emergence as a legendary star of theater and film. In addition, "Callan's meticulous account focuses sharply on a plagued craftsman who acted passionately and carelessly to dismantle the very things he loved," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Indeed, Callan himself sometimes experienced Harris's deep displeasure for his writings, but, fortunately for the biographer, the rifts were never strong enough to end the project.

Anthony Hopkins: The Unauthorized Biography, as the title implies, does not have the benefit of collaboration with the subject. Nevertheless, it is a detailed and often intimate study of Hopkins, an actor and a man whose struggles with alcoholism almost destroyed him. At the same time, noted Michael Pearce in American Theatre, "Callan's book reveals nothing splashy enough for the tabloids." Instead, it concentrates on Hopkins as a powerful and focused actor who nevertheless could find himself overwhelmed by personal battles, such as his feuds with director John Dexter or actress Diana Rigg. Callen also describes Hopkins's battle with alcoholism, which cost him his first marriage and for many years delayed the Hollywood success he craved. In the end, Hopkins overcame his addiction with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous and went on to a highly successful film career culminating in his most challenging role, Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Callen recounts both the struggles and the triumphs in a book that "is well done, never gossipy or snippy," according to Booklist contributor Brian McCombie.

In addition to his biographies, Callen is also a novelist. Again drawing on his work in television, he has produced a number of novelizations of successful British television series, such as Diamonds and Jockey School. Did You Miss Me?, a departure, is an original novel that reveals the complex psychology motivating a seemingly simple woman living a conventional life. When an unusual African couple moves into her provincial town, she finds herself rethinking many assumptions and confronting her own loveless marriage and her children, who have become strangers to her.