Editorial Content for Putting the Rabbit in the Hat: A Memoir

The HBO award-winning series “Succession” has made household names of actors like Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong. It may seem strange, but the same could be said for Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy, the head of a multi-billion-dollar family-run media conglomerate. Strange because Cox has been trodding the boards for more than a half-century. He has appeared in such hit films as Braveheart, The Bourne Identity and Adaptation, among many others. Then there are all the TV shows.

That’s because Cox is probably better known by his fellow United Kingdom audience, which makes his new memoir, PUTTING THE RABBIT IN THE HAT, a bit of a one-trick pony. The vast majority of people he writes about will be unfamiliar to all but the most ardent theater fans.

"[Cox] is self-effacing and honest about his flaws, more than a few of which he attributes to his troubled childhood."

I often find that books like this serve as a form of therapy for the writer, a chance to look back at certain events and juxtapose them with the way things have turned out. In Cox’s case, these include the death of his father when he was a young boy and the consequent mental effect the loss had on his mother. He sought solace in the escapism of acting, working with various theater groups as a teenager, learning the ropes and “graduating” to performing. He is self-effacing and honest about his flaws, more than a few of which he attributes to his troubled childhood.

There’s a famous line in the movie My Favorite Years in which Peter O’Toole plays Alan Swann, an aging, alcoholic Errol Flynn type who is scheduled to appear on a 1950s-era sketch comedy program (think “Your Show of Shows”). At one point, when one of the staffers reminds him how popular he is, O’Toole cries, “I’m not an actor; I’m a movie star!” Cox also differentiates between the two. Although he is mostly kind in talking about colleagues on the stage and screen, he is not afraid to bring up a hackle or two (he is not a big fan of “method” actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, though he respects them greatly).

Sadly, death is a constant part of the story as many of the friends and coworkers he mentions have passed on. “For years, we baby boomers called the shots,” writes Cox, now 75. “We invented the teenager and still consider ourselves young, even if our creaking backs, locked fingers and crunching knees serve as troubling daily reminders that age is catching up on us.”

Of course, it’s up to the author (there is no co-writer credited) to decide what to include or leave out, but some readers might feel like something is missing. Fans looking for dirt will no doubt be disappointed, especially when it comes to inside dope on “Succession.” Which is most likely why Cox decided to publish the book now.