Though a graduate of Princeton and former head of drama at Syracuse in London, a professor of theatre at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, Carlton Colyer is no academic. He is living testimony of the total actor and “Renaissance Man” of the real world.

He has been a roustabout with Ringling Brothers Circus, a captain in the United States Marine Corps, a salmon fisherman, a performer on Broadway and off-Broadway stages, on national television and in motion pictures.

His credits include over two hundred plays in which he has played both leads and supporting roles with many of theatre’s great names: Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Jane Fonda, June Havoc, Helen Hayes, Van Johnson, Jack Lemmon, Darren McGavin, Jane Morgan, Vincent Price, Gloria Swanson, Betty White and many more.

More than twenty years ago he transferred his energies from acting and directing to the teaching of acting. His students are adults, gifted teenagers, the underprivileged, the mentally disabled and the emotionally disturbed.

He has written many articles and guides on acting and professional theatre, but there has never been time enough to do a complete book until this one.