D. Who wrote a scathing mommie Dearest style memoir, and the disturbing possible reason for her adopted daughter Margot’s mental retardation. This is a truly riveting read, "chock-full of meticulous detail, juicy anecdotes, " wrote Liz Smith about this book, and profound insight. Irresistable, " wrote Publisher's Weekly.
Bette davis participated in over 100 roles as an actress, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, including the films, Jezebel, Dark Victory, and Dangerous. But, friends, who was this actress? based on three years of research and over 150 interviews with close family, and co-workers, this Hollywood legend biography reveals for the first time the devastating effect on Bette of her father’s desertion; her oddly close relationship with her mother; her massive self-doubts and numerous, tempestuous marriages and extramarital affairs.
And perhaps best of all, you will get an intimate glimpse into Bette and her working relationships with numerous other Hollywood legends. Bursting with film lore, gossip, countless affairs and family secrets. Meaty and meticulously researched, " wrote Edna Buchanan for the Miami Herald, "James Spada writes about Davis’s remarkable life and art with equal insight.
Best-selling author james spada has written the definitive biography of one of America’s greatest actresses, Bette Davis.
This 'n That
Davis was famous for being as unsparing of herself as she was of others. In frank, no nonsense terms she talks about the stroke that nearly killed her, and inspires us with the story of her subsequent recovery from cancer--a lively and encouraging account shot through with the star's unique blend of spunk and wit.
Originally published in 1987, a collection of anecdotes as well as opinions pro and con on a wide range of subjects by legendary actress Bette Davis--now in ebook for the first time! A woman of strong appetites and opinions, Bette Davis minces no words. Among the "others" of this book are President Ronald Reagan, who was a contract player at Warner Bros.
She also talks about her deep friendship with her longtime assistant, Kathryn Sermak, who nursed Davis back to health after her stroke and ushered her back into acting when Davis's doctors thought all hope was lost.
The Lonely Life: An Autobiography
Originally published in 1962, the lonely life is legendary silver screen actress Bette Davis's lively and riveting account of her life, and marriages--now in ebook for the first time, loves, and updated with an afterword she wrote just before her death. As davis says in the opening lines of her classic memoir: "I have always been driven by some distant music--a battle hymn, no doubt--for I have been at war from the beginning.
I was going to conquer the world. A bold, the birth of her beloved children, unapologetic book by a unique and formidable woman, The Lonely Life details the first fifty-plus years of Davis's life--her Yankee childhood, her rise to stardom in Hollywood, and the uncompromising choices she made along the way to succeed.
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Miss D and Me: Life with the Invincible Bette Davis
. But miss d had strict rules for Kathryn about everything from how to eat a salad to how to wear her hair. Even the spelling of kathryn's name was changed adding the "y" per Miss D's request. For ten years kathryn sermak was at bette davis's side--first as an employee, and then as her closest friend--and in Miss D and Me she tells the story of the great star's harrowing but inspiring final years, a story fans have been waiting decades to hear.
Miss d and me is a window into the world of the unique and formidable Bette Davis, told by the person who perhaps knew her best of all. Throughout their time together, the two grew incredibly close, and Kathryn had a front-row seat to the larger-than-life Davis's career renaissance in her later years, as well as to the humiliating public betrayal that nearly killed Miss D.
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Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud
Their work together in the hit film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? sowed the seeds for a mutual hatred that would consume their lives. Glamorous, and cruel, merciless, their feud became the stuff of legends. As each fading star tried to outshine the other, lives were upended and reputations were destroyed.
. Bette davis and joan crawford are portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange in the Ryan Murphy TV series Feud. Based on interviews the author conducted with both actresses and more than a decade of research, Bette & Joan shows the hard-drinking, hard-fighting duo at their best and worst.
Peter Lawford
Now, heartrending story of this deeply troubled man, renowned biographer James Spada tells the fascinating, destined to be remembered best for the secrets he took to his grave. As publisher's weekly writes: from bobby-sox idol to Kennedy spouse and Marylin Monroe intimate, scandal, his life was a dizzying whirl of sex, an secrets even the tabloids dared not print.
. Once, a sophisticated wit, a talent that won him overnight stardom and entree into a world of beautiful, Peter Lawford seemed to have it all: a handsome face, powerful people. The seminal biography of legendary actor Peter Lawford. Revealed here for the first time. ". But beneath the glamour of his movie-star life, lived a man beset by childhood demons that would lead him into alcohol, his fairy-tale marriage, drugs, and his legendary friends, shocking sexual escapades—and a controversial role in the cover-up of Marilyn Monroe's death.
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Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis
The legendary hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatnessShe was magnificent and exasperating in equal measure. In dark victory, opinionated, the noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of this intelligent, and unusual woman who was—in the words of a close friend—"one of the major events of the twentieth century.
Drawing on new interviews with friends, this stylish, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, directors, and admirers, intimate biography reveals Davis's personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic. Jack warner called her "an explosive little broad with a sharp left.
Humphrey bogart once remarked, "Unless you're very big she can knock you down. Bette davis was a force of nature—an idiosyncratic talent who nevertheless defined the words "movie star" for more than half a century and who created an extraordinary body of work filled with unforgettable performances.
Clark Gable: A Biography
He was a gambler among gamblers, and a lover to legions of the most attractive women in the most glamorous business in the world, including the great love of his life, a heavy drinker in the days when everyone drank seemingly all the time, Carole Lombard. In this well-researched and revealing biography, Warren G.
Harris gives an exceptionally acute portrait of one of the most memorable actors in the history of motion pictures—whose intimates included such legends as Marilyn Monroe, Loretta Young, Joan Crawford, David O.
Vivien Leigh: A Biography
As the new york times wrote of the hardcover edition, “To read her story is to be inspired with pity and terror. ”.
Spencer Tracy: A Biography
Now james curtis, james whale, acclaimed biographer of Preston Sturges “Definitive” —Variety, and W. Hyde, which brought Ingrid Bergman into his life. A rich, vibrant portrait—the most intimate and telling yet of this complex man considered by many to be the actor’s actor. Fields “by far the fullest, fairest, and most touching account.
We see him from his boyhood in milwaukee; given over to dominican nuns “they drill that religion in you”; his years struggling in regional shows and stock Tracy had a photographic memory and an instinct for inhabiting a character from within; acting opposite his future wife, John, their son, Louise Treadwell; marrying and having two children, born deaf.
We see tracy’s success on broadway, and going to metro-goldwyn-mayer and getting the kinds of roles that had eluded him in the past—a streetwise priest opposite Clark Gable in San Francisco; a screwball comedy, Libeled Lady; Kipling’s classic of the sea, his turning out mostly forgettable programmers with the Fox Film Corporation, Captains Courageous.
The best goddamned actor I’ve ever seen!”—George M.
Dark Star: A Biography of Vivien Leigh
In this ground-breaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new full-life portrait of Leigh, covering both her professional and personal life. Yet she was also a talented theatre actress with West End and Broadway plaudits to her name. Vivien leigh was perhaps the most iconic actress of the twentieth century.
Revealing new aspects of her early life as well as providing glimpses behind-the-scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive life-story of one of the twentieth century's greatest actresses.