He is best known for his Academy Award® Nominated performance as Jack Lipnick, the Louis B. Mayer infused character in the Coen Brothers film Barton Fink.
But Michael Lerner has been entertaining us on stage and screen since the late 1960’s. He has made guest appearances on classic television shows like the Brady Brunch, The Odd Couple and M*A*S*H and has also appeared as a guest star on an episode of the popular HBO series Entourage. His movie resume is just as impressive. From roles in Godzilla to Eight Men Out, from Elf to The Mod Squad, and from The Postman Always Rings Twice to Harlem Nights.
To coincide with the release of his latest film Mirror, Mirror and the New York Antiquarian Book Fair Lerner’s library will be auctioned off at Bonhams on April 16th. Highlights include an exquisite set of rare illustrated books with hand-colored plates, a selection of natural history volumes featuring works from the Duke of Gloucester’s personal collection and a comprehensive group of Aesop’s Fables from across the centuries.
I had a chance to catch up via phone with Lerner to talk books and the upcoming auction.
First, why now? Parting with any collection is a feat in and of itself but for Lerner the decision was easy. Turning 70, the desire to simplify his life and his wish to spend more time living in his “favorite city in the world,” London.
Lerner is not only a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, but his first film appearance was in a film by one of his roommates at the Academy. Her name was Yoko Ono and the movie was Film No. 5 (“The Smile”) starring John Lennon!
With a major portion of his collection dedicated to Aesop’s Fables, the release of his latest film Mirror Mirror, “a fresh and funny retelling of the Snow White legend,” seemed like the perfect time to let go.
What is it about books that attracts him; the “feeling, the smell…Every penny I ever made I spent on books and art, I never owned a stock” says Lerner.
He then went on to talk about an experience he had outside a local coffee shop earlier in the week. He was outside reading a book when he glanced over at a man about his age who was reading on a Kindle. “I got angry” said Lerner who has no desire to add a digital component to his reading life.
When asked to recount a favorite book anecdote from his years on stage and screen and in pursuit of books Lerner flashed back to 2002 when he appeared in the play “Up for Grabs” at the Wyndham Theater in London’s West End that starred Madonna. Upon learning that Madonna had an interest in books he proceeded to take her on a scouting trip through London where they stopped at the venerable bookshop Maggs and then visited the shops along Charing Cross Road.
Lerner will hold onto to a few of his favorites, like his favorite Audubon print, the Pelican, and a few pieces and illustrated books by Francis Barlow but he hopes that by distributing his library among the public as opposed to a library’s Special Collections people will have an interest in owning an item from his library so they can experience the same “feeling and smell” that has fueled his passion for books for over 50 years.
Previously on book patrol:
Yoko Ono Collects Rare Books: The Book Patrol Interview