Michael Murray, author of Learning Lines? A Practical Guide for Drama Students and Aspiring Actors, was born in the East End of London. In the nineteen sixties he trained for the stage at The Toynbee School of Drama and later at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After graduating from R.A.D.A. he appeared in a number of stage productions and then trained to be a teacher of Drama and English. Michael combined stage appearances with teaching Drama in schools and in Adult Education. He was an Acting tutor and director at The Toynbee School of Drama and a Community Drama Worker for Spitalfields. It was during this period that he wrote and directed musical plays and toured them around the Senior Citizens clubs and Tenants Associations of the East End. Michael is a Drama in Education specialist and holds an advanced qualification in the teaching of drama, the A.D.B. (Ed). He also has an M.A. in Education from the University of Hull. In the 1990s Michael returned to R.A.D.A. to attend the preliminary and advanced "Working in Television for Actors" courses. In a long career Michael has written and directed, acted on stage, film and television, made many corporate videos and recorded numerous voiceovers. Michael is also a novelist and is the author of Magnificent Britain, A Single To Filey, Leefdale and the novella, Julia's Room.