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Tag Archives: entertainment biography
2022 Books Read
Some re-reads this year, but a lot of new-to-me authors as well. New novels written by faves. Been a year of upheaval and transitions. I’ve managed to keep up my regular reading schedule. I just don’t feel right if I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged A.S. Byatt, Alfred Hitchcock, Anne Fadiman, art, Australia, Biography, books read, Canada, Christopher Hitchens, Edmund Burke, Elinor Lipman, England, entertainment biography, essays, Eve Babitz, friends, Germany, Greece, Hitler, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Janet Malcolm, Joan Didion, Joseph Cornell, Lorrie Moore, Machiavelli, Master and Margarita, Memoirs, Michael Curtiz, Mikhail Bulgakov, Mitford sisters, nonfiction, Paul Zindel, politics, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Beatles, Tom Wolfe, true crime, Victor Klemperer, Victor Serge, war, William Hazlitt, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, WWII, YA fiction
10 Comments
The Books: “Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh” (Alexander Walker)
A Re-post. For Vivien Leigh’s birthday, which is today. Vivien: The Life of Vivien Leigh, by Alexander Walker I had seen Gone with the Wind as a kid, and while it’s not my favorite movie, it certainly made an impression. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, entertainment biography, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh
31 Comments
The Books: “Shelley, Also Known As Shirley” (Shelley Winters)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir Shelley: Also known as Shirley, by Shelley Winters There are so many great Shelley Winters stories (and this is only the first volume of her autobiography – there’s another one that follows) but the following … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged A Place in the Sun, Elizabeth Taylor, entertainment biography, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters
14 Comments
The Books: “Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art” (Gene Wilder)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art, by Gene Wilder There’s a magic about Gene Wilder. It is hard to describe or pin down, and maybe that’s the biggest part of … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Bonnie and Clyde, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, entertainment biography, Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks
8 Comments
The Books: “Orson Welles: Volume 2: Hello Americans” (Simon Callow)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Orson Welles, Volume 2: Hello Americans, by Simon Callow The second volume of Callow’s huge Orson Welles project (excerpt and discussion of the first volume here), this takes us through a chaotic (or, more so … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Charles Laughton, David O. Selznick, entertainment biography, Jane Eyre, Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, Simon Callow
8 Comments
The Books: “Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu” (Simon Callow)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Orson Welles, Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles / Simon Callow), by Simon Callow The first volume of actor/writer Simon Callow’s gigantic Orson Welles project. Volume II came out last year, and there … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Directors
Tagged Citizen Kane, entertainment biography, Orson Welles, Simon Callow
6 Comments
The Books: “Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth” (Lana Turner)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth, by Lana Turner You can open up George Eliot’s Middlemarch and find a gem of language on every page. It’s almost overwhelming, you want her to slow down … Continue reading
The Books: “Jimmy Stewart: A Biography” (Marc Elliot)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Jimmy Stewart: A Biography, by Marc Elliot I had misplaced this book and forgot about it – so even though we are now at “T” in the alphabet, I have to swoop back and include … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged entertainment biography, Jimmy Stewart, Marc Eliot, Philadelphia Story
15 Comments
The Books: “Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles” (Kathleen Turner)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles, by Kathleen Turner (with Gloria Feldt) I forget sometimes that Body Heat was Kathleen Turner’s debut. How is that possible? Her performance is so … Continue reading