Alongside his career as an entertainer, Paul has gained a reputation as a respected writer on the arts with a special interest in film and photography.
Books (selected):
MARLON BRANDO: A PORTRAIT (Plexus, 1991). This biography of the ground-breaking
American actor traces his career from its beginnings to his affectionate parody of his Godfather
persona in Andrew Bergman’s comedy The Freshman (1990). It also deals with his personal
life climaxing with the dramatic events surrounding the shooting of his daughter
Cheyenne’s boyfriend by her half-brother Christian Brando. The book is fully illustrated
throughout. Here is a link to details of the book.
“Undoubtedly the best biography written about Brando” – Film Review
“Fantastic shots of the boy, man, and superstar that Brando has now become...essential reading for all Brando fans"
- The Independent
JEAN VIGO by P. Salles-Gomes (Faber and Faber, 1999). This re-edition of the standard biography of the visionary French film-maker Jean Vigo (1905-1934) contains a special afterword written by Paul to bring the story of Vigo’s legacy up to date. More details here.
WILLY RONIS (Phaidon, 2002). This monograph on the French humanist photographer (1910-2009) was commissioned by Phaidon as part of their Phaidon 55 series. The format called for a critical and biographical essay followed by 55 of the given photographer’s images each with a detailed commentary. This particular book benefited from Paul’s long friendship with Ronis with whom he collaborated closely on its production. More details here.
NEVER APOLOGISE: THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF LINDSAY ANDERSON (Plexus, 2004). Paul forged a strong friendship with the film and theatre director Lindsay Anderson (1923-1994) and interviewed him on several occasions, both in public and for print media. In Anderson’s final years, he and Paul began working together on a collection of the material he had written for newspapers and magazines throughout his career. Sadly, Anderson died before the work could be completed but Paul resumed the project a few years later and the final book was published to mark the tenth anniversary of the director’s death. As well as editing the collection, Paul wrote a lengthy biographical introduction to the book and also crafted a commentary in Anderson’s own words drawn from their tape recorded conversations and other notes. More details are available here.
David Storey (1933-2017), who scripted Anderson’s debut feature This Sporting Life from his own novel and many of whose plays (including The Contractor and Home) were directed by Anderson at the Royal Court and the National Theatre, reviewed the book in the Guardian. Read the review here.
Philip French (1933-2015), the distinguished film critic of the Observer, also reviewed Never Apologise on its publication. You can read his review here.
LINDSAY ANDERSON REVISITED – Paul contributed a personal essay to this collection of academic studies of aspects of Anderson’s work (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Journalism (selected):
Paul has contributed to a number of major newspapers and other publications including The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Independent, The Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Catholic Herald, Drama Magazine, Sight and Sound, Art Quarterly, Vogue Homme, The Australian and many others. Among those he has interviewed for print media are Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Louis Malle, Miou-Miou, Yves Montand, Claude Miller, Jeremy Brett, William Kennedy, Frank Conroy, Edmund White, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jane Lapotaire, Frank Hauser, Lindsay Anderson, Luc Besson, Sydney Pollack, Juliette Greco, Willy Ronis, Lewis Morley, Tobias Wolff and many others. As a book reviewer for the Irish Times, his subjects included David Mamet, Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Jean Genet, Edmund White, Scott Fitzgerald and John Berendt.