Actors: A Celebration: Profiles, Conversations, Memoirs

In her first book, Actress to Actress , stage and film actress Gam (King of Kings , No Exit ) examined her female colleagues. Now she turns her attention to the men in her field. In interviews with certain of her subjects (Jack Lemmon, Jeremy Irons and Derek Jacobi among them), her perceptive questions and ``insider'' perspective occasionally enable Gam to mine intriguing nuggets on the art and craft of the actor. Unfortunately, she doesn't really explore her subjects in depth and, for the most part, this slim volume remains little more than a glancing assemblage of sketches, most of them unenlightening. Also, the book's structure is awkward and disorienting: a profile of character actor Roddy McDowell seems oddly out of place in a section titled ``Super Stars of Film,'' while ``The New Breed of Star'' includes among its ostensible newcomers such veteran actors as Maximilian Schell, Warren Beatty and Keir Dullea. , all well past their ``new breed'' days. Photos. not seen by PW. (August)