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Hollywood Lawyer: The Jerry Giesler Story
by Pete Martin Jerry GieslerTHE ACCUSED IS ENTITLED TO A DEFENSE.Jerry Giesler believed the accused is entitled to a good defense. What he delivered, consistently, was a brilliant defense. Here are some of the people he defended:Errol Flynn—charged with statutory rape on two counts;Clarence Darrow—charged with attempted bribery of a jury;Lily St. Cyr—charged with indecent exposure;Charles Chaplin—charged with violation of the Mann Act;Robert Mitchum—charged with illegal possession of narcotics.The due processes of law make fascinating reading. When the cases are charged with the legal genius of a Giesler at work, the fascination cannot be denied!
Hollywood Madonna: Loretta Young (Hollywood Legends Series)
by Bernard F. DickLoretta Young (1913–2000) was an Academy Award–winning actress known for devout Catholicism and her performances in The Farmer's Daughter, The Bishop's Wife, and Come to the Stable, and for her long-running and tremendously popular television series. But that was not the whole story.. Hollywood Madonna explores the full saga of Loretta Young's professional and personal life. She made her film debut at age four, became a star at fifteen, and many awards and accolades later, made her final television movie at age seventy-six. This biography withholds none of the details of her affair with Clark Gable and the daughter that powerful love produced. Bernard F. Dick places Young's affair in the proper context of the time and the choices available to women in 1935, especially a noted Catholic like Young, whose career would have been in ruins if the public knew of her tryst. With the birth of a daughter, who would have been branded a love child, Loretta Young reached the crossroads of disclosure and deception, choosing the latter path. That choice resulted in an illustrious career for her and a tortured childhood for her daughter.
Hollywood Martyr Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr
by David BretIn the first fully uncensored biography of Joan Crawford, bestselling author David Bret follows Crawford from working in a Kansas City laundry to collecting an Oscar for Mildred Pierce, including details from her countless love affairs and her devotion toward Christian Science. Bret also divulges how her loathed mother forced her to work as a prostitute and use sex strategically, as well as what really led her to disinherit two of her four children, earning her the moniker "Mommie Dearest. ” Drawing on a wealth of unpublished material and interviews with stars like Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks, David Bret presents a fascinating portrait of a single-minded, uncompromising woman.
Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams
by Alan Goldsher Robert EnglundRobert Englund, legendary star of A Nightmare on Elm Street, peels back the Freddy Krueger mask and reveals the stuff of every horror buff&’s dreams.ONE...TWO...FREDDY'S COMING FOR YOU... You've seen him in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series—and in your darkest dreams. The sadistic killer with the flame-charred face. The knife-blade claws. The razor-sharp wit. Freddy...But you've never seen him like this. Unflinching. Uncensored. Unmasked. Meet Robert Englund, the award-winning actor best known for his role as Freddy Krueger—the legendary horror icon featured on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Heroes and Villains" roster—a character as unforgettable and enduring as Bela Lugosi's Dracula and Boris Karloff's Frankenstein. Now, for the first time, the man behind the latex mask tells his story in this captivating new memoir, published to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film. You see, Robert Englund is no monster at all, but a deeply funny, charming Hollywood veteran. Packed with Robert's hilarious stories, playful self-deprecation, and a generous helping of never-before-revealed A Nightmare on Elm Street trivia, Hollywood Monster offers an unparalleled look at the beloved film icon. With insider savvy and gallows humor, Robert recounts his audition for Wes Craven, the inspiration for Freddy's character, the grueling makeup sessions, his soon-to-be-famous costars, the often disastrous on-set blunders, and the wave of popularity that propelled this humble California surfer kid all the way to the top. Of course, fame and fortune as Freddy came years after the young actor shared a trailer with screen legend Henry Fonda, was punched in the face by Richard Gere, took down Burt Reynolds, and muscled his way between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sally Field, and Jeff Bridges. But soon after his high-profile stint in the groundbreaking TV miniseries V, Robert Englund took on the most celebrated role of his career—the macabre and wisecracking killer who quickly became a household name. From the moment Freddy Krueger dragged his claws across a rusty pipe in the opening dream sequence, a legend had been unleashed—and a star was born. This is his story. "Welcome to prime time, bitch." —Frederick Charles Krueger, bastard son of a hundred maniacs
Hollywood Myths: The Shocking Truths Behind Film's Most Incredible Secrets and Scandals
by Joe WilliamsA film journalist’s insider account of the truth behind some of the movie industry’s biggest legends and scandals—a perfect gift for film buffs.Hollywood exists to create and sell myth. Often, however, the myths created on screen are secondary to the rumors, half-truths, and lies that circulate through studio back lots and the press. Discover the real stories behind Hollywood’s greatest myths, as veteran film critic and Hollywood reporter Joe Williams sorts fact from fiction and examines how these tales came to be and how they persisted. Did Thomas Edison really invent the motion picture? Why has Charlie Chaplin survived as the undisputed king of the silent era? What about Fatty Arbuckle and that ill-fated boys’ weekend in San Francisco? Did Woody Allen really marry his adopted daughter? Was there actually a suicide on the set of The Wizard of Oz (or are any of the other countless rumors about that film true)? The tales featured in Hollywood Myths involve specific films, actors’ private lives, the industry itself, and urban legends that have existed as long as Hollywood has. Throughout, Williams illuminates what it was that made the biggest stars—from Marlon to Marilyn, Bogie to Brad—shine so brightly on the silver screen. In all, 56 enduring myths are examined, in the process revealing the machinations of myth-making in the fast, loose, and out-of-control world of Hollywood.
Hollywood Park
by Mikel Jollett**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**HOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country's most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.Mikel Jollett was born in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country's most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader's mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult's 'School'. After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic. In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician, forming the band The Airborne Toxic Event.(P)2020 Macmillan Audio
Hollywood Park: A Memoir
by Mikel JollettPARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer. <P><P>We were never young. We were just too afraid of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams, our questions and confusion. … <P><P>So begins Hollywood Park, Mikel Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.” <P><P>After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic.In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. <P><P>Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician.Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Hollywood Park: A Memoir
by Mikel Jollett**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**'Astonishing... precisely crafted, emotionally-sucker-punching prose.' Daily Telegraph'Dangerous, immediate and lyrical from the jump.' Wall Street JournalHOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country's most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.Mikel Jollett was born in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country's most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader's mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult's 'School'. After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic. In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician, forming the band The Airborne Toxic Event.
Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Times of Louis B. Mayer
by Bosley CrowtherHE DISCOVERED GARBO AND GABLE.FOR NINE YEARS HE WAS THE HIGHEST SALARIED MAN IN THE U.S.HIS LIFE SURPASSED ALL HIS GREATEST FILMS IN LUXURY, NOTORIETY AND TRAGEDY.HE WAS A MAN TO BE FEARED.First published in 1960, Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Times of Louis B. Mayer is the explosive biography of the head of MGM studio; the fabulous behind-the-scenes story of the most powerful of Hollywood’s famed tycoons, it is a story more fantastic than any ever brought to the screen.This is the extravagant life story of Louis B. Mayer, once head of the largest motion picture studio in the world, and the most controversial subject in Hollywood’s notorious history—a man who went everywhere, did everything, and knew everyone worth knowing. A man whose tapeworm ego had to be fed by driving activity, ruthless use of power, and adventures with beautiful women. Louis B. Mayer was a power to be feared, a man who deliberately surrounded and protected himself with myths and legends.Now his true story can be told.
Hollywood Studios (Postcard History Series)
by Tommy DangcilJust after the turn of the 20th century, the motion picture industry moved to the West Coast, and the largest land of make-believe was created in Hollywood, California. From the silent-era beginnings of primitive, open-air stages to the fabled back lots of the studios' heyday, Hollywood Studios presents a bygone era of magical moviemaking in rare postcards. Assembled from the author's private collection, these images from the Chaplin Studios to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer depict an insider's look back at the dream factories known as the Hollywood studios.
Hollywood Undressed: Observations Of Sylvia As Noted By Her Secretary
by SylviaIn 1932, Sylvia exposed the foibles of the Hollywood system and her illustrious clientele in the book Hollywood Undressed: Observations of Sylvia as Noted by Her Secretary (1931).It is a playful book, full of gossip and contemporary vernacular, and reveals intimate details of Sylvia’s famous Hollywood clientele, which included Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Mae Murray, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Mary Duncan, Ramón Novarro, Ruth Chatterton, Ann Harding, Norma Talmadge, Grace Moore, Constance Bennett, Gloria Swanson, Nella Webb, F.W. Murnau, Elsie Janis, Ernest Torrence, Lawrence Tibbett, Laura Hope Crews, Ronald Colman, Constance Cummings, Ina Claire, John Gilbert, Carmel Myers, Helen Twelvetrees, Carole Lombard, Ilka Chase, Dorothy Mackaill, Pepi Lederer, Marion Davies, Neil Hamilton, Alan Hale Sr and Vivienne Segal.
Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine
by Kelly Loudenberg Makiko WholeyAn explosive new book on the infamous trial Depp v. Heard, Hollywood Vampires paints an intimate picture of what was really going on behind the viral headlines between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, with never-before-told stories from their inner circle.Celebrity romances have always captured the public’s imagination, playing out like soap operas seized upon by fans and tabloids alike. By the same token, high-profile trials can take over the mainstream media cycle, with both news pundits and the public picking over every detail to predict outcomes and cast their own judgements. Enter the union, dissolution, and hostile legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard—where these dual obsessions collided, creating a chaotic moment of true cultural fixation.Hollywood Vampires offers an inside account of one of the most controversial and consequential celebrity scandals of the internet era. Fueled by viral clips, reaction videos, and endless online debates, the trial became more than a legal battle. It became a public spectacle, dividing audiences worldwide.Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey were journalists on the ground for the Depp v Heard trial. Having closely followed Johnny, Amber, and their camps, they spent the years leading up to and following the trial interviewing the couple’s closest allies as well as their managers, lawyers, agents, business associates, publicists, assistants, and personal staff. The result is a page-turning Hollywood epic full of revealing details that tell a wider tale about the celebrity-industrial complex, modern fandom, inflammatory culture wars, and contemporary feminism. Turning the lens around, Hollywood Vampires questions how the celebrity exploitation machine, strengthened by the forces of social media and legacy media alike, blurs the lines between fact and fiction, comedy and horror. It forces us to ask ourselves why we take celebrity culture so seriously in the first place—and who wins and who loses when Hollywood becomes the vehicle for our own personal and political causes.
Hollywood Virgin: Breaking Into and Out of Show Business
by Jason FeltsHollywood Virgin is more than a tell-all memoir about the business of show business from the founder and CEO of Virgin's entertainment company—it's about hustle, risk-taking, sudden success, insider realizations, self-discovery, breakdowns, and walking away before you lose everything… alongside plenty of behind-the-screen shockers, celebrity stories, and yes, a bathrobe or two. Growing up in small-town Texas, Jason Felts dreamed of being in Hollywood. He made his way to California, started his own production company at 23, was named to Variety's “Top 10 to Watch” list, rubbed elbows with famous faces daily, and rose quickly to build and lead a multi-million dollar entertainment company for Virgin, one of the world's most respected brands—so why did he walk away at such a young age? Jason recounts how he diligently pursued opportunities in the entertainment industry, quickly working his way up from small-time, thankless jobs serving the most powerful, to becoming a key industry player himself, making incredible things happen behind the scenes that no one ever knew—until now. Join him as he spills never-told-before tea, sharing how he lost his Hollywood virginity by: Creating and producing the first show that put a Kardashian on TV Turning access into authentic relationships and partnerships with stars such as Jessica & Ashlee Simpson, will.i.am, Justin Berfield, among many others The origin story behind founding and running an award winning Virgin branded company—and having Sir Richard Branson as a mentor Pitching films and shows with names such Halle Berry, Courteney Cox, and Oliver Stone Being tapped as the youngest CEO (only after Branson himself) to ever run a Virgin company Coming out of the closet to take action publicly as a founding board member of the PULSE foundation in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting Planning and joining the Obama's on their first post-presidency vacation the day they left the White House, and taking the former President's life changing advice Alongside more misadventures, hijinks, hits and flops, and hiding from bad headlines… Hollywood Virgin is Jason's journey of discovering what happens when you achieve more than you imagined and find that the excess isn't enough. With no stone unturned, this raw and real insider look provides a peek behind the scenes of an industry very few really know. Jason elegantly removes the concealer off the powerful, fake, and dishonest power players at the same time he equally shines light on the authentic, selfless, or lesser known stories in Hollywood. For all those working hard towards fulfilling their dreams, learn and be inspired from his anything-but-straightforward career.
Hollywood era el cielo: Hollywood Was Everything
by Celia Del PalacioThe captivating and tragic story of the first Mexican actress to triumph in the United States. A flesh-and-blood portrait of Lupe Vélez, the first Mexican actress who conquered Hollywood and came to be considered a living legend during her time: her biography, full of stark contrasts; her sexual and amorous scandals; her strong, independent, and controversial personality that shook the cinematic world. Celia de Palacio, accomplished historian and writer, shows us not only the controversial actress, but also the fascinating world of Hollywood at that time, marked by glamour, big stars, loves and feuds, great films, endearing characters, and singular anecdotes. This books is a captivating narration that will transport you to one of the golden ages of popular culture in the 20th century.
Hollywood in Heels: A Small-Town Girl's Adventures in Tinseltown
by Charity G. FinnestadHollywood in Heels is a sexy, smart, shockingly honest and wickedly hilarious memoir of a young woman finding her way in a city where sex is the primary commodity and illusion the name of the game. Charity Gaye Finnestad is a small-town girl with big dreams: to go to Los Angeles and make it as a writer.With only enough money to survive sixty days, she packs her bags, says goodbye to an unhappy marriage, and hits the road in search of her destiny. Struggling to pay the rent with occasional modeling jobs, Charity suddenly finds herself privy to a high-flying, fast-paced life--sipping champagne at exclusive parties with A-list celebrities in the Hollywood Hills by night, and shopping at the 99-Cent Store by day to stretch her tiny budget. She quickly discovers that in Hollywood, as with anywhere, it's your relationships that matter. Determined to be true to herself, she sets out to make lasting friendships and maybe even discover true love along the way. Fearless and forthright, Charity delivers the dirt on the ups and downs of living in Tinsel Town. A modern day fairy tale in which the heroine rescues herself and then meets her Prince Charming, Hollywood in Heels is a rollicking fun read that teaches some very important lessons about life and love.
Hollywood to the Himalayas
by Sadhvi Bhagawati SaraswatiHollywood to the Himalayas is the enlightening memoir of a reluctant spiritual seeker who finds much more than she bargained for when she travels to India.As a Stanford grad, in the midst of getting a PhD in psychology, Sadhvi Saraswati was comfortable with her life. Despite years of grappling with an eating disorder and trauma from her early childhood, she felt as if she was successfully navigating her way through early adulthood. When she agreed to travel to India to appease her husband—and because she loved the food—Sadhvi would have never imagined that she would be embarking on a journey of healing and awakening. Hollywood to the Himalayas describes Sadhvi&’s odyssey towards divine enlightenment and inspiration through her extraordinary connection with her guru and renewed confidence in the pleasure and joy that life can bring. Now one of the preeminent female spiritual teachers in the world, Sadhvi recounts her journey with wit, honesty, and clarity and, along the way, offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really are—embodiments of the Divine. &“Sadhviji models for us, at the deepest level, that in the true teaching of the spiritual traditions, healing and grace are always possible.&” —Prince Ea, in the foreword to Hollywood to the Himalayas &“Vivid and poetic…her journey is a river of love, compelling in its authenticity and unflinching honesty. …a must for anyone who is interested in exploring different paths to fulfilment and to the Creator.&” —Jane Goodall &“Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is a great teacher of spirituality and consciousness. Her inspiring wisdom illuminates the path to healing, happiness, and inner peace.&” —Deepak Chopra &“For so many of us, the road to the Divine sometimes begins with deep trauma. And, then Grace is bestowed upon us and we blossom in the holiness of love. Hollywood to the Himalayas is filled with wisdom and truth about the powerful revelations that unfold on the path to a deeper relationship to the divine. This is a beautiful book.&” —Rev. Iyanla Vanzant, executive producer, Iyanla, Fix My Life
Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A.
by Lili AnolikThe goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky and a graduate of Hollywood High, Eve Babitz posed in 1963, at age twenty, playing chess with the French artist Marcel Duchamp. She was naked; he was not. The photograph made her an instant icon of art and sex. Babitz spent the rest of the decade rocking and rolling on the Sunset Strip, honing her notoriety. There were the album covers she designed: for Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds, to name but a few. There were the men she seduced: Jim Morrison, Ed Ruscha, Harrison Ford, to name but a very few. Then, at nearly thirty, her It girl days numbered, Babitz was discovered—as a writer—by Joan Didion. She would go on to produce seven books, usually billed as novels or short story collections, always autobiographies and confessionals. Under-known and under-read during her career, she&’s since experienced a breakthrough. Now in her mid-seventies, she&’s on the cusp of literary stardom and recognition as an essential—as the essential—LA writer. Her prose achieves that American ideal: art that stays loose, maintains its cool, and is so simply enjoyable as to be mistaken for simple entertainment. What Hollywood&’s Eve has going for it on every page is its subject&’s utter refusal to be dull… It sends you racing to read the work of Eve Babitz.&” The New York Times &“Read Lili Anolik&’s book in the same spirit you&’d read a new Eve Babitz, if there was one: for the gossip and for the writing. Both are extraordinary.&” Jonathan Lethem &“There's no better way to look at Hollywood in that magic decade, the 1970s, than through Eve Babitz's eyes. Eve knew everyone, slept with everyone, used, amused, and abused everyone. And then there's Eve herself: a cult figure turned into a legend in Anolik's electrifying book. This is a portrait as mysterious, maddening-and seductive-as its subject.&” —Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls For Babitz, life was slow days, fast company until a freak fire turned her into a recluse, living in a condo in West Hollywood, where author Lili Anolik tracked her down in 2012. Hollywood&’s Eve, equal parts biography and detective story &“brings a ludicrously glamorous scene back to life, adding a few shadows along the way&” (Vogue) and &“sends you racing to read the work of Eve Babitz&” (The New York Times).
Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A.
by Lili AnolikThe quintessential biography of Eve Babitz (1943-2021), the brilliant chronicler of 1960s and 70s Hollywood hedonism and one of the most original American voices of her time. &“I practically snorted this book, stayed up all night with it. Anolik decodes, ruptures, and ultimately intensifies Eve&’s singular irresistible glitz.&” —Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker &“The Eve Babitz book I&’ve been waiting for. What emerges isn&’t just a portrait of a writer, but also of Los Angeles: sprawling, melancholic, and glamorous.&” —Stephanie Danler, author of SweetbitterLos Angeles in the 1960s and 70s was the pop culture capital of the world—a movie factory, a music factory, a dream factory. Eve Babitz was the ultimate factory girl, a pure product of LA. The goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky and a graduate of Hollywood High, Babitz, age twenty, posed for a photograph with French artist Marcel Duchamp in 1963. They were seated at a chess board, deep in a game. She was naked; he was not. The picture, cheesecake with a Dadaist twist, made her an instant icon of art and sex. She spent the rest of the decade on the Sunset Strip, rocking and rolling, and honing her notoriety. There were the album covers she designed: for Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds, to name but a few. There were the men she seduced: Jim Morrison, Ed Ruscha, Harrison Ford, to name but a very few. Then, at nearly thirty, her It girl days numbered, Babitz was discovered—as a writer—by Joan Didion. She would go on to produce seven books, usually billed as novels or short story collections, always autobiographies and confessionals. Her prose achieved that American ideal: art that stayed loose, maintained its cool; art so sheerly enjoyable as to be mistaken for simple entertainment. Yet somehow the world wasn&’t paying attention. Babitz languished. It was almost twenty years after her last book was published, and only a few years before her death in 2021 that Babitz became a literary star, recognized as not just an essential L.A. writer, but the essential. This late-blooming vogue bloomed, in large part, because of a magazine profile by Lili Anolik, who, in 2010, began obsessively pursuing Babitz, a recluse since burning herself up in a fire in the 90s. Anolik&’s elegant and provocative book is equal parts biography and detective story. It is also on dangerously intimate terms with its subject: artist, writer, muse, and one-woman zeitgeist, Eve Babitz. &“A dazzling, gossip-filled biography of the wayward genius who knew everyone in Seventies LA.&” —The Telegraph (UK)
Hollywood's White House: The American Presidency in Film and History
by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O’ConnorFrom action flicks to biopics to SNL skits, how presidents are portrayed on screen: &“An interesting study of the real presidency and the reel presidency.&” —USA Today Magazine Winner of the Popular Culture Association&’s Ray and Pat Browne Book Award Whether serious or satirical, biographical or fictional, the ways that US presidents are depicted in popular culture reveal much about us as a nation. The contributors to Hollywood&’s White House examine the historical accuracy of presidential depictions, illuminate their influence, and uncover how they reflect the concerns of their times and the social and political visions of the filmmakers. With reflections on portrayals of Washington, Adams, Lincoln, FDR, Nixon, and more, this volume, which includes a comprehensive filmography and a bibliography, is ideal for both historians and film enthusiasts. &“An engaging collection.&” —Robert Brent Toplin, author of Reel History: In Defense of Hollywood
Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon -- The Case Against Celebrity
by Mark Ebner Andrew Breitbart"Reading Hollywood Interrupted is like sitting on a stakeout and having a telescopic view into the darkest reaches of the corruption and perversity of today's celebrity culture. From the very first page to the last, Breitbart and Ebner's probing reporting spells out in graphic detail how Hollywood lives by a set of norms the rest of America finds appropriately appalling--and endlessly fascinating. The authors have the unusual courage to take on Scientology. They provide revelations about Michael Jackson's sickness that go beyond even today's headlines. They rip the phony veneer off the political correctness of Rosie O'Donnell and Barbra Streisand. They give readers a behind-the-scenes understanding of how snooping private eyes and ruthless information brokers feed scoops to the tabloids. And, in one riveting chapter, they document how a young woman in the AOL backroom unmasked the bizarre fetishes of some of Tinseltown's top names. Hollywood. Interrupted no channel fluff. It's disturbing stuff. But it's all too real and it's utterly riveting."
Hollywood: A Third Memoir
by Larry Mcmurtry"One thing I've always liked about Hollywood is its zip, or speed. The whole industry depends to some extent on talent spotting. The hundreds of agents, studio executives, and producers who roam the streets of the city of Los Angeles let very little in the way of talent slip by." In this final installment of the memoir trilogy that includes Books and Literary Life, Larry McMurtry, "the master of the show-stopping anecdote" (O: The Oprah Magazine) turns his own keenly observing eye to his rollercoaster romance with Hollywood. As both the creator of numerous works successfully adapted by others for film and television (Terms of Endearment, Lonesome Dove, and the Emmy-nominated The Murder of Mary Phagan) and the author of screenplays including The Last Picture Show (with Peter Bogdanovich), Streets of Laredo, and the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain (both with longtime writing partner Diana Ossana), McMurtry has seen all the triumphs and frustrations that Tinseltown has to offer a writer, and he recounts them in a voice unfettered by sentiment and yet tinged with his characteristic wry humor. Beginning with his sudden entrée into the world of film as the author of Horseman, Pass By--adapted into the Paul Newman-starring Hud in 1963--McMurtry regales readers with anecdotes that find him holding hands with Cybill Shepherd, watching Jennifer Garner's audition tape, and taking lunch at Chasen's again and again. McMurtry fans and Hollywood hopefuls alike will find much to cherish in these pages, as McMurtry illuminates life behind the scenes in America's dream factory.
Hollywood: The Oral History
by Jeanine Basinger Sam WassonThe real story of Hollywood as told by such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Frank Capra, Katharine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Harold Lloyd, and nearly four hundred others, assembled from the American Film Institute’s treasure trove of interviews, reveals a fresh history of the American movie industry from its beginnings to today. From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly three thousand interviews, involving four hundred voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History, lets a reader “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen: musicians, costumers, art directors, cinematographers, writers, sound men, editors, make-up artists, and even script timers, messengers, and publicists. The result is like a conversation among the gods and goddesses of film: lively, funny, insightful, historically accurate and, for the first time, authentically honest in its portrait of Hollywood. It’s the insider’s story. Legendary film scholar Jeanine Basinger and New York Times bestselling author Sam Wasson, both acclaimed storytellers in their own right, have undertaken the monumental task of digesting these tens of thousands of hours of talk and weaving it into a definitive portrait of workaday Hollywood.
Holmes on the Range
by Steve HockensmithWhen brothers Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer sign on as ranch hands at a secretive ranch, they are not expecting much more than hard work, bad pay, and a few free moments to enjoy their favorite pastime: reading stories about Sherlock Holmes. When another hand turns up dead, Old Red sees the perfect opportunity to employ his skills and sets out to solve the case. Big Red, like it or not is along for the wild ride in this clever, compelling, and completely one-of-a-kind mystery.
Holocaust Holiday: One Family's Descent into Genocide Memory Hell
by Rabbi Shmuley BoteachIn this alternately humorous and horrifying memoir, a Jewish father schleps his reluctant children around Europe on a hard-charging tour of Holocaust sites and memorials in order to impress on them the profound evil of Hitler&’s war against the Jews and the importance of combatting genocide.In 2017, renowned author and celebrity rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, decided to take his family on a European holiday. But instead of seeing the sights of London or Paris, he took his reluctant—and at times complaining—children on a harrowing journey though Auschwitz, Treblinka, Warsaw, and many other sites associated with Hitler&’s genocidal war against the Jews. His purpose was to impress upon them the full horror of the Holocaust so they would know and remember it deep in their bones. In the process, he and his children learn a great deal about the scope and nature of the European genocide and the continuing effects of global hatred and anti-Semitism. The resulting memoir is an utterly unique blend of travelogue, memoir and history—alternately fascinating, terrifying, frustrating, humorous, and tragic. &“It is my honor to contribute a foreword to his important book, in which Rabbi Shmuley Boteach details the excruciating journey he took with his wife and children in the summer of 2017 to the killing fields of Europe, a pilgrimage which every person of conscience should attempt at least once in their lifetime. It is our universal obligation to dedicate ourselves to the memory of the martyred six million, just as it is our obligation to confront and defeat genocide wherever it rises.&” —From the foreword by Amb. Georgette Mosbacher
Holy Anorexia
by Rudolph M. BellIs there a resemblance between the contemporary anorexic teenager counting every calorie in her single-minded pursuit of thinness, and an ascetic medieval saint examining her every desire? Rudolph M. Bell suggests that the answer is yes. "Everyone interested in anorexia nervosa . . . should skim this book or study it. It will make you realize how dependent upon culture the definition of disease is. I will never look at an anorexic patient in the same way again. "—Howard Spiro, M. D. , Gastroenterology "[This] book is a first-class social history and is well-documented both in its historical and scientific portions. "—Vern L. Bullough, American Historical Review "A significant contribution to revisionist history, which re-examines events in light of feminist thought. . . . Bell is particularly skillful in describing behavior within its time and culture, which would be bizarre by today's norms, without reducing it to the pathological. "—Mary Lassance Parthun, Toronto Globe and Mail "Bell is both enlightened and convincing. His book is impressively researched, easy to read, and utterly fascinating. "—Sheila MacLeod, New Statesman