Ian Kelly Website http://www.iankelly.net/index.ht…

Books

Ian Kelly

Ian Kelly is a multi-award winning actor and author, whose most recent work, a new biography of Giacomo Casanova, received universally rapturous reviews and was named Sunday Times Biography of the Year. Stage and screen appearances in 2010-2011 include The Pitmen Painters on Broadway, and the role of Hermione's father in the last of the Harry Potter films.

Ian Kelly's first book Cooking for Kings: A Life of Antonin Careme the First Celebrity Chef, was published by Short Books in the UK and Walkers Books in the US. He wrote and presented Regency Banquet, the Channel 4 documentary based on the book, as well as the Richard and Judy series Tasting the Past, and the publication in New York of his book coincided with the Off-Broadway premiere of his play, based on Careme's life.

Ian Kelly's Beau Brummell, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US. It was described by Stephen Fry as 'a magnificent, fantastic read: all the wonders of that incomparable age touched on with mastery'and by The Times as 'biography simply as good as it gets.' It was bought by the BBC and adapted as a TV film. The US publication was timed to coincide with the Anglomania Fashion Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kelly's performance in the title role of Ron Hutchinson's Beau Brummell, Off-Broadway.

His two latest projects align his unique twin-careers as social historian and actor, and have been acquired by Picador. The first is a biography of Samuel Foote, the 'Oscar Wilde of the 18th century' - a joint project with Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Pitmen Painters), to be followed by a biography of William Shakespeare, the actor.

News

  • US rights to Ian Kelly's SHAKESPEARE: THE ACTOR to Bloomsbury USA

    George Gibson at Bloomsbury USA has acquired North American rights to Ian Kelly's biography SHAKESPEARE: THE ACTOR, to be published in the UK by Picador. This will be the first biography of William Shakespeare from the point of view of his life as a performer, throwing a fresh light upon the life as lived, and also the works themselves, by recognizing centrality of performance in Shakespeare's life and writings.

  • Picador acquires two from Ian Kelly

    Picador has acquired two non-fiction projects from biographer and actor Ian Kelly. Publisher Paul Baggaley acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Ivan Mulcahy of Mulcahy Conway Associates. The first book is focuses on Samuel Foote, an 18th century dramatist, actor and theatre manager. The title is yet to be confirmed and the book is due out in early 2010. The book is a collaboration between Kelly and Lee Hall, as Hall is writing a play based on the same character and on Kelly's book. The second is a biography of William Shakespeare which looks at his time spent as an actor. The book is provisionally titled Shakespeare: The Biography of an Actor and is due to be published in 2014. Baggaley said: "I believe Ian Kelly has found two projects which will bring his great talents as a writer of popular history with a feel for the dramatic in every way to reach a wide readership. Ian will bring his flair for recreating a colourful milieu to two of the most fascinating periods of social history and of the stage. Picador is delighted to have such a talented and promotable popular historian to the list."

  • Ian Kelly's Casanova named The Sunday Times biography of the year

    The Sunday Times has named Casanova, by Ian Kelly, the biography of the year: 'Much more than a serial seducer, Casanova was a great European intellectual, a romantic, a trickster and a writer of tremendous skill and energy. He was probably, as he would be the first to admit, the most interesting man who ever lived, as this vivid and vibrant biography suggests.'

    http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non…

  • Excellent reviews for Ian Kelly's Casanova

    Excellent reviews for Casanova have appeared in The Times, The Telegraph, The Indpendent, The Daily Mail, The Financial Times and The Spectator. All available online.

  • Ian Kelly's Casanova is BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week

    Ian Kelly's magisterial new biography Casanova: Actor, Spy, Lover, Priest has been selected as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week

© Mulcahy Conway Associates Ltd, 2012