• from National Public Radio interview, September 19, 2011

Hal Holbrook is best known for his portrayal of Mark Twain in the long-running one-man show Mark Twain Tonight. The actor also played Deep Throat in All the President's Men and won an Oscar nomination for his performance in Into the Wild.

But before becoming a beloved actor, Holbrook had to survive a painful childhood.

He describes that childhood in his new autobiography, Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain. When Holbrook was a young boy, his father was sent to an insane asylum, a separation for which the young Holbrook received virtually no explanation. He was abandoned by his mother and endured repeated beatings and humiliation at boarding school.