There Are No Small Parts

Most books about screen acting, including one of the author’s (100 GREAT FILM PERFORMANCES YOU SHOULD REMEMBER BUT PROBABLY DON’T), concentrate on major stars and major roles. THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS focuses on the wonders achieved by performers in brief roles, sometimes mere cameos. To watch an actor’s complete delineation of a character in a few minutes is to marvel at his/her talent, concentration, and invention. Each of the 100 performances spotlighted in the book aims to evoke not just each actor’s individual impact but how he/she’s imaginative gifts invigorated (and sometimes even stole) their films. From 1935 to 2019, the text surveys great artists who mastered playing for the camera, seizing moviegoers’ attentions and deserving places of honor for their contributions

John DiLeo’s first book was And You Thought You Knew Classic Movies (St. Martin’s, 1999, revised in 2013), hailed by Pauline Kael as “the smartest movie quiz book I’ve ever seen.” His second book was 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember—But Probably Don’t (Limelight Editions, 2002), which Adolph Green called “a valuable and touching work.” TCM host Robert Osborne said, in the HollywoodReporter, that the book “delightfully throws the spotlight on some remarkable film work,” and the Washington Post’s reaction was, “Not only is this helpful criticism, but 100 Great Film Performances can serve as balm for anyone who has ever been disgruntled by the Academy’s choices on Oscar night.” Turner Classic Movies devoted a night of prime-time programming to films featured in John’s third book, Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery (Hansen Publishing Group, 2007). His fourth film book, Tennessee Williams and Company: His Essential Screen Actors (Hansen Publishing Group, 2010),led to his presentations and panels at the Tennessee Williams festivals in Provincetown and New Orleans. Show Business called his fifth film book, Screen Savers II: My Grab Bag of Classic Movies (Hansen Publishing Group, 2012), “a must for movie buffs,” and book number six, Ten Movies at a Time: A 350-Film Journey Through Hollywood and America 1930-1970 (Hansen, 2017), was hailed by Newsday as “a nostalgic trip well worth taking.” John has been a contributing book reviewer for the Washington Post’s Book World and frequently hosts classic-film series, appears on radio programs, lectures on cruise ships, conducts film-history seminars, and has been an annual participant in the Black Bear Film Festival (Milford, PA) where he interviewed Farley Granger (2005), Arlene Dahl (2006), Marge Champion (2010), Keir Dullea (2013), Jane Powell (2015), Rex Reed (2016), Tab Hunter (2017), Jane Alexander (2018), and Lorna Luft (2018) on the festival’s stage. Born in 1961 in Brooklyn, John was raised on Long Island and graduated from Ithaca College in 1982 with a B.F.A. His website is johndileo.com. Find him on Twitter (@JOHNDiLEO) and Instagram (john.dileo.12).

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