George Cole: The World Was My Lobster

I was excited when I saw this book on Amazon and couldn't wait to read it. I'm half way though and like so many reviewers before me I'm disappointed. I was hoping for more details on his life, he does mention finding out by accident that he was adopted and that he went looking for his extended family which didn't end very well. I would have liked more information on how Alastair Sim influenced his career and helped him develop as an actor, but the man that by other accounts was a father figure to him barely gets a mention. His first marriage is only mentioned in brief at the start and he states that his first family won't be mentioned again. If they have requested to be left out of the book then fair enough all he had to do was say that. If you want to know what film/play he was in, when and who with then this is the book for you but if you want a book about his life, I suggest you look elsewhere.

This is pretty poor stuff, as there is very little left once you remove the overlong descriptions of plots and the details of productions. We are told at the start that there will be nothing about Cole's first marriage, which extends to the children of that marriage (we know there were two), and we are not told what became of them. The chapter on Minder is a ludicrous 50 pages, including endless descriptions of individual episodes; I've never actually seen it, and my enthusiasm wasn't kindled. There's very little about the man himself, who comes across as a cold bore. Throw the book away and stick to the filmss.

Gave up after four chapters. I've had more entertainment watching paint dry!If you want a list of films/plays, basic story line and who was in them. This is your book.If you want to be entertained with anectodotes and stories of his life you won't find it here.I deleted it after four boring chapters as I felt my life ebbing away with every page!

I did not know how versatile George Cole was, I know about Minder from watching the TV series in the 80's, sorry George, I didn't know about it in the late 70's, and from watching Blot On The Landscape after I had read the book, but from someone that has spent over 70 years making people happy this is a great book.

This us the life story of a remarkable man, a brilliant comic actor who could also play serious roles with equal skill, a veteran of WW2, someone who could make you laugh helplessly with barely a glance. Most people will know George Cole from Minder, but there was so much more to the man than that single, admittedly brilliant role. Go buy the book you will not want to put it down until you are finished.

Very good book and good price

A must for all "Minder" fans as well as those of George. Lovely black and white photos of George's career, including some with Dennis Waterman. George seemed to be a very polite man and I learned a lot about his career. Thank you George. You are truly missed.

Not wild about this. I got bored half-way through with what appears to be mostly just a recitation of all the parts George played in the order of their appearance - gossipy show-biz it ain't. Also, I don't know the target readership for this, but I could do without such gems as, for example, "Folkestone is a seaside town in the south of England". A lot of people already know that.