ABSTRACT
Mark Rylance is that rare, consummate artist who not only works in all three media—theater, film, and television—but who has established his supremacy in all three as well. He is presently the finest actor in the English-speaking world. But the profession owes a lot more to him than performance awards. He is an artist who has helped raise the condition and the reputation of the actor to a new height. As artistic director of the Globe in England for ten years, he demonstrated that great theatrical art is not created by stars but rather by a family that works together over a long period of time and that shares the same values and ideals. He played Hamlet in pajamas and the results were dazzling. What was equally dazzling was his modesty and seriousness and the way he adapted himself to the needs of the permanent resident company.
