Madam, - I was astonished to read Kevin Myers's opinion of the thespian profession: "Acting, Marlon Brando once - and largely accurately - said, was an empty and useless profession" (An Irishman's Diary, July 6th).
Mr Myers also asserts that "actors fill the void in their own lives with the representations, moods and postures of other lives - usually those invented for them by script-writers".
This is utter rubbish, of course. One might as well argue that (say) a concert violinist fills the void in his life by reproducing the music written for him by Beethoven or Mendelssohn. If acting is a useless profession, then it follows that the entire history of drama has been a complete waste of time.
It is true that actors, like all other artists, tend to become totally absorbed in their profession. This kind of concentration seldom leads to expertise in the complexities of the great world beyond the stage or film-set. If we are foolish enough to expect great actors (or great violinists or accountants) to save the world, we should at least not compound our foolishness by deriding their profession when they fail. - Yours, etc.,
COLIN BRENNAN, Nutley Square, Dublin 4.