A remarkable memoir of misspent youth

Actor Steven Berkoff’s Diary of Juvenile Delinquent is compelling from the very first page, painting a startling portrait of his early life and the beginning of his theatrical career.

Born in the East End two years before the outbreak of World War II, life for the Berkoff family was tough, and their home was destroyed in the Blitz. Relief came when his mother took him to New York to live for a while in the Bronx. However, upon returning to London he began to misbehave at school, became involved with unpalatable characters, and eventually ended up in a horrific remand home for stealing a bicycle.

After several years of drifting from short term job to another, and with no qualifications, he auditioned for drama school, and was granted a scholarship. As he movingly ends this powerfully honest book, “I had arrived. This is what I should be. An Actor. The door closed and the lesson began.”