Audiobooks narrated by William Hootkins

American Legacy: Epic dramas of US politics: Four BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas

"Four gripping historical dramas centred around key figures who shaped America in the 20th century Award-winning writer Mike Walker has created many acclaimed docudramas and historical dramas for Radio 4, including The Stuarts, Tsar, Caesar! and Plantagenet. This collection includes four nuanced dramas featuring a trio of controversial men who stamped their mark on American history: J Edgar Hoover, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Richard Baines Nixon. Among the casts are William Hootkins, Bob Sherman, Lorelei King, Nathan Osgood and Alex Lanipekun. J Edgar Hoover - This four-part drama charts the rise and fall of the notorious FBI director. Beginning in 1919, when a young Hoover uses his reputation for anti-Communist zealotry to further his ambitions, it takes in his single-minded pursuit of criminals including 'Public Enemy Number One' John Dillinger; his struggles with Bobby Kennedy and his relationship with his longtime deputy and close companion Clyde Tolson. LBJ - Inspired by real historical events, this two-part drama looks at the Kennedy administration, LBJ and the Vietnam War through the eyes of fictional journalist Lyle Weaver. Offered a job working as speechwriter to Vice-President Johnson, idealistic Lyle can't resist the chance to become an insider, helping to drive change. But the White House is riven by power struggles and, forced to take sides, he fails to consider the personal cost of being one on LBJ's people. The Product - Vietnam, 1968. When their helicopter is shot down, a soldier and a reporter are stranded in the jungle. Battling together to reach safety, they share stories, and realise that they were part of opposing campaigns in the historic 1960 election which saw JFK narrowly defeat Nixon. Reflecting on a victory won through propaganda, dollars and dirty tricks, they recall the candidates they each supported - and consider the legacy of their choices. American Faith: Richard Milhous Nixon's Road to Watergate - An epic, intimate drama recounting the life and extraordinary career of one of America's most fascinating and enigmatic Presidents: from his upbringing as a Quaker shopkeeper's son to his involvement in the 1970s Watergate scandal that rocked the nation and forced his resignation. NB: Contains strong language and attitudes from the era in which these stories are set which would not be considered acceptable today. © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Mike Walker (Author), Alex Lanipekun, Bob Sherman, Colin Stinton, Full Cast, Lorelei King, Nathan Osgood, William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon & other adventures: A BBC Radio Collection

"The godfather of the hard-boiled detective novel, Dashiell Hammett is widely acknowledged as one of America's greatest mystery writers. This collection brings together the BBC radio adaptations of his works for the first time, including the iconic The Maltese Falcon featuring his most famous character: Sam Spade. The Maltese Falcon San Francisco, 1928. When his partner is murdered on an assignment, private detective Sam Spade is drawn into a dangerous case involving a treacherous femme fatale and the priceless black statuette of a falcon... Tom Wilkinson and Jane Lapotaire star in this thrilling dramatisation of Hammett's most famous novel. Secret Agent X-9 New York, 1934, and Secret Agent X-9 is about to embark on his most deadly mission yet. Falsely accused of murder, he struggles to stay one step ahead of the law in his relentless pursuit of his arch enemy, 'The Top'. Dramatised from a comic strip co-created by Dashiell Hammett, this tale of mystery, murder and mayhem stars Stuart Milligan, Connie Booth and William Hootkins. Nightmare Town Arriving in the desert boom town of Izzard, Arizona, sharp-edged tough guy Steve Threefall meets the beautiful, terrified Nova Vallance - and encounters danger, intrigue and a dark mystery... Read by Stuart Milligan. The Man Who Killed Dan Odams An escaped killer fleeing cross-country stumbles upon an isolated farm in Montana, inhabited by a woman and her young son... This mysterious and brooding noir western is read by Stuart Milligan. The Maltese Falcon Sam Spade - Tom Wilkinson Brigid O'Shaughnessy - Jane Lapotaire Mr Gutman - Peter Vaughan Joel Cairo - Nickolas Grace Effie - Mia Soteriou Miles Archer - William Hope Iva - Liza Ross Wilmer - Peter Acre Tom Polhaus - Norman Jones Lt Dundy - Harry Towb DA Bryan - Don Fellows Newspaperman - Robin Summers Taxi driver - Keith Edwards Man with key - Arnold Diamond Dramatised by Michael Bakewell Directed by Jane Morgan First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 December 1984 Secret Agent X-9 X-9 - Stuart Milligan Grace Powers - Connie Booth The Top - William Hootkins Evelyn Powers - Rachel Power Deacon/Alden Powers - Peter Marinker Matthew/Steward/Luke - Michael John Paliotti Captain Brady/Bartholomew - John Guerrasio Jude - Bruce McGregor Cop 1 - Clive Rowe Harper-Carp - Kerry Shale Waitress/Sister Agnes - Miranda Pleasance Other parts played by the cast Dramatised by Mark Brisenden from the comic strip created by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond Produced by Chris Wallis First broadcast BBC Radio 5 Live, 1-22 January 1994 Nightmare Town Read by Stuart Milligan Abridged by Neville Teller Produced by Elizabeth Allard First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5-8 November 2001 The Man Who Killed Dan Odams Read by Stuart Milligan Abridged by Neville Teller Produced by Elizabeth Allard First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 November 2001"

Dashiell Hammett (Author), Connie Booth, Full Cast, Jane Lapotaire, Stuart Milligan, Tom Wilkinson, William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Fifty Shades of America

"The Land of the Free, the Home of the Brave. This illustrious phrase encapsulates the aspirations of America and its people. In this volume we feature 50 American poets beginning with the Colonist Anne Bradstreet in the 17th century, when American poetry was entirely rooted in its parental British forms. From here our classic poets take us through Centuries of history, through Independence and expansion Westward, across the cities and vast landscapes of their words. Along the journey we also meet the Imagists, the poets from the Harlem Renaissance by way of the Transcendentalists and the Fireside Poets. The giants of the poetic way loom large; Walt Whitman. Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edna St Vincent Millay. Our rambling poetic stroll gives voice to the nation's hopes, its dreams, its failings, its musings. We cannot hope to define America but we do provide the many changing moods and flavours of the times as we discover the essence of its soul.1 - Fifty Shades of America - An Introduction2 - A Nation's Strength by Ralph Waldo Emerson3 - America by Herman Melville4 - The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus5 - America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates6 - Brothers. American Drama by James Weldon Johnson7 - We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar8 - The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes9 - Abraham Lincoln by James Russell Lowell10 - Paul Revere's Ride (The Landlord's Tale) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow11 - England and America by Florence T Holt12 - Americanisation by G K Chesterton13 - In Amsterdam by Eugene Field14 - Broadway, New York, July 1916 by George Sterling15 - New York at Night by Amy Lowell16 - Harlem by Langston Hughes17 - The Natives of America by Ann Plato18 - An Indian Summer Day On the Prairie by Vachel Lindsay19 - Pray To What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Belong by Henry David Thoreau20 - Hymn To The North Star by William Cullen Bryant21 - An Hymn To the Evening by Phillis Wheatley22 - Trees by Joyce Kilmer23 - from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman24 - Sonnet 12 by Alan Seeger25 - The Ancient Arteries of America by Daniel Sheehan26 - A Crowded Trolley Car by Elinor Wylie27 - The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost28 - Yes, I Have a Thousand Tongues by Stephen Crane29 - Thirteen Ways of Looking At a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens30 - The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe31 - Wild Nights, Wild Nights by Emily Dickinson32 - Comment by Dorothy Parker33 - To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet34 - The Boy She Used To Know by Damon Runyon35 - Portrait D'une Femme by Ezra Pound36 - Sonnet 18 - I, Being Born a Woman by Edna St Vincent Millay37 - Evening Song by Willa Cather38 - I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman39 - The Crowd at the Ball Game by William Carlos Williams40 - It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar Albert Guest41 - Hope is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson42 - Colored Hats from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein43 - Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox44 - Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar45 - Chaplinesque by Hart Crane46 - The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver by Edna St Vincent Millay47 - Whispers of Immortality by T S Eliot48 - A Grave by Edith Wharton49 - Bury Me In a Free Land by Frances E W Harper50 - To the Memory of the Americans Who Fell at Eutaw by Philip Freneau51 - Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Kay"

Edna St Vincent Millay, Emily Dickinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar (Author), Ghizela Rowe, Laurel Lefkow, William Hootkins (Narrator)

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The Poetry of America

"America - The Poetry Of - An Introduction. Poetry can sometimes be elusive, the real meaning layered beneath another. In this volume American Poets give voice to their Nation, their hopes and aspirations. Whitman, Emerson and Dickinson are joined by Poe, Holmes, Dunbar and others to pleasure our ears and minds with a rambling stroll through their works. It doesn't define America but it captures her mood and flavours her soul of these early times in the American dream."

Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Cullen Bryant (Author), Lorelei King, Richard Mitchley, William Dufris, William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Psycho

Robert Bloch (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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On The Waterfront

"Terry Malloy is a hoodlum, caught between the beginnings of a conscience and the racketeers for whom he works. Katie is t hat conscience. But she is torn between her love for him and her belief he killed her brother. Together with a slum-reared Catholic priest, Father Pete Barry, Terry and Katie take on the gangster-ridden waterfront unions of Johnnie Friendly. After writing the award-winning film of On The Waterfron, Budd Schulberg developed the story of Terry Malloy into a novel. An exceptionally talented and experienced reader, William Hootkins captures the mood of this stark, realistic, story of brutality, corruption and tender love with great force and energy."

Budd Schulberg (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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The Poetry of Walt Whitman

"Walt Whitman was an immense talent. And a prodigious one at that. Associated with the Free Verse movement his poems are usually on the longer side. Iconic works such as Leaves Of Grass divided opinion on their publication. Some argued it was obscene others such as Ralph Waldo Emerson rallied to his cause. Whitman was born on May 31st 1819 on Long Island. By the age of 11 his schooling was finished and he embarked on a series of jobs that eventually led to various newspaper editorships. He began to write poetry in the 1840s and in 1855 published his first of many versions of Leaves Of Grass. Thereafter he wrote solidly until his death on March 26, 1892. He is buried in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman wrote that "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.""

Walt Whitman (Author), Gideon Wagner, Richard Mitchley, William Hootkins (Narrator)

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East of the Mountains

"A triumphant return by the author of Snow Falling on Cedars, as an attempted suicide becomes a life-enhancing diversion. Following the death of his wife Rachel and diagnosis of his own medical condition, Dr Ben Givens left his home in Seattle – heading east with his Winchester and hunting dogs in tow – not intending to return. It was to be a journey to the verges of the Columbia River, where he had entered the world and had decided he would now take his leave of it. What transpired was anything but the journey he anticipated. Instead, Ben’s perspective shifts as his intended exit transforms into an eye-opening, life-enhancing diversion, as David Guterson’s celebrated and involving prose unravels the mysteries and reveals the power of the human spirit even as it ebbs, in this moving and action-filled drama set against an unforgettable landscape."

David Guterson (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Moby-Dick

"Penguin Classics presents Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actor William Hootkins. 'The frail gunwales bent in, collapsed, and snapped, as both jaws, like an enormous shears, sliding further aft, bit the craft completely in twain...' Moby-Dick is one of the most expansive feats of imagination in the whole of literature: the mad, raging, Shakespearean tale of Captain Ahab's insane quest to kill a giant white whale that has taken his leg, and upon which he has sworn vengeance, at any cost. A creation unlike any other, this is an epic story of fatal monomania and the deepest dreams and obsessions of mankind. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening."

Herman Melville (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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White Fang

"The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Jack London's haunting classic, White Fang, read by the actor William Hootkins, star of Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Born in the wilds of the freezing cold Yukon, White Fang - half-dog, half-wolf - is the only animal in the litter to survive. He soon learns the harsh laws of nature, yet buried deep inside him are the distant memories of affection and love. Will this fiercely independent creature of the wild learn to trust man again?"

Jack London, William Hootkins (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Moby Dick

"'Call me Ishmael' Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write 'a mighty book about a mighty theme' and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of the Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history and a mass of information about whaling through the ages. This epic story, here presented in unabridged form, receives an equally epic reading from the outstanding American actor William Hootkins."

Herman Melville (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Hiawatha

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Author), William Hootkins (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by William Hootkins