Little Big Man: An Autobiography

The one where mum and Elvis lived unhappily ever after in our little Stoke Newington Victorian townhouse.

In this honest and gripping memoir, actor Stanley J. Browne reflects on a childhood and adolescence torn apart by his mother's mental disorder.

Stanley J. Browne is an actor, and he has been an actor all his life. Born to a Jamaican mother in a London suburb, he began rehearsing for the role of survivor from an early age. From birth he knew nothing but a home filled with love and the vibrancy of a Caribbean culture, but this changes when his mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Stanley adopts the mantle of 'man of the house' as he is forced to scavenge for food and miss school, with his two sisters, to care for his baby brother. His life is further fragmented as they yo-yo in and out of the care system and Stanley must face the reality of being separated from his siblings.

An intelligent and sensitive child, Stanley descends into a life of crime and drug abuse. During his time spent in various young offender's institutions and prisons he battles with addiction and slowly begins to turn his life around.

Set against a backdrop of 1970s poverty, racism and hardship, Little Big Man is a powerful story of generational trauma and one man's determination to heal the wounds of the past. Most of all, it is a book about the universal desire for love, belonging and the search to find an authentic voice through the redemptive power of creativity and recovery.

Stanley James Browne is an actor from Hackney, East London. The second of four children, he grew up with a Jamaican mother against a backdrop of poverty, racism and hardship in 1970s Britain while surviving the care system as a young child. After a turbulent upbringing, he trained at the Anna Scher Theatre in North London, going on to win the sole scholarship for men at Mountview Acting Academy in classical theatre. He has performed Shakespeare's Othello, and appears in film, TV and theatre. As well as an actor, Stanley is also a singer-songwriter and has recorded two albums.

Throughout his career, he has appeared in both television and film, and has performed at venues such as the Globe Theatre, the National Theatre Studios, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His notable stage performances include Titus Andronicus (2013), Chigger Foot Boys (2017), Romeo and Juliet (2019), and One Under (2019). He won the best actor in a lead role award for his work in Bethlehem Lights (2017) and garnered rave reviews for his performance of Shakespeare's Othello (2011).

Little Big Man (Jacaranda Books, 2022) is his first book.

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