Series in Actresses
Books in Actresses
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand has been called the “most successful...talented performer of her generation” by Vanity Fair , and her voice, said pianist Glenn Gould, is “one of the natural wonders of the age.” Streisand scaled the heights of entertainment—from a popular vocalist to a first-rank Broadway star in Funny Girl to an Oscar-winning actress to a producer and director. But she has also become a cultural icon who has transcended show business. To achieve her success, Brooklyn-born Streisand had to overcome tremendous odds, not the least of which was her Jewishness. Dismissed, insulted, even reviled when she embarked on a show business career for acting too Jewish and looking too Jewish, she brilliantly converted her Jewishness into a metaphor for outsiderness that would eventually make her the avenger for anyone who felt marginalized and powerless. Neal Gabler examines Streisand’s life and career through this prism of otherness—a Jew in a gentile world, a self-proclaimed homely girl in a world of glamour, a kooky girl in a world of convention—and shows how central it was to Streisand’s triumph as one of the voices of her age.
Lillie Langtry: A Biography of Her Life and Loves
Politicians, poets, artists, princes; Lillie Langtry was adored by all. This biography explores the life of a remarkable woman who enthralled Victorian Britain and Gilded Age America. Before Kim Kardashian, Jackie Kennedy and Zsa Zsa Gabor there was Lillie Langtry. Born on the remote island of Jersey in the English Channel, Lillie moved to London at the age of twenty with her new husband, the Irish landowner, Edward Langtry, in 1876 and took society by storm. Social, political and artistic giants from Oscar Wilde to William Gladstone were enraptured by her charm and beauty. Theodore Roosevelt said of her “That woman is a real marvel. And she’s so pretty she takes away a man’s breath.” While Walt Whitman noted “There shines in Lillie Langtry a purity of spirit. Therein lies the essence of human poetry.” Yet it was Edward, Prince of Wales and future King of England, who truly became infatuated with Lillie and soon she became his mistress. Over the course of the next few decades she travelled between America and Britain, as she transformed from socialite to actress, captivating newspaper readers with details of her turbulent love life. Noel B. Gerson uncovers the twists and turns of the most famous, some would say infamous, woman of her age as she mesmerized society on both sides of the Atlantic. “a heady, aromatic success story” Kirkus Reviews
The Billy Bob Tapes(With: Billy Bob Thornton)
“One of the more readable, insightful and entertaining celebrity autobiographies in recent memory—a tragicomedy that could be turned into its own movie.” — Chicago Sun-Times There is—and could only ever be—one Billy Bob Thornton: actor, musician, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and accidental Hollywood badass. In The Billy Bob Tapes , he leads us into his Cave Full of Ghosts, spinning colorful tales of his modest (to say the least) Southern upbringing, his bizarre phobias (komodo dragons?), his life, his loves (including his marriage to fellow Oscar winner Angelina Jolie), and, of course, his movie career. Best of all, he’s feeding these truly incredible stories and righteous philosophical rants through his close friend, Kinky Friedman—legendary country music star, bestselling author, would-be politician, and all-around bon vivant. Put these two iconoclasts together and you get a star’s story that’s actually an insightful pop culture manifesto—a hybrid offspring of Born Standing Up with Sh*t My Dad Says . “Mr. Thornton, who grew up in Arkansas, is a gifted storyteller, with an eye for the telling detail and a moving way of blending comedy with tragedy. ”— The New York Times “Rife with Southern gothicisms, delightfully weird digressions, and the sort of 3 a.m. philosophizing that Flannery O’Connor had to make up.” — Austin Chronicle
The Good, the Bad and the Dolce Vita
Born and raised in Brooklyn with a street fighter's instinct and sharp Jewish wit, Mickey Knox leaves the army for the bright lights of Hollywood. But when the rise of McCarthyism puts an abrupt end to his hopes of working in American films, Knox debarks to France and Italy to work in European cinema. It turns out to be the best move of his life. This book -- where every major film actor and writer of the last century appears -- is a wonderful, gossipy history of European cinema as seen through the observant eye of Knox. From arguing with John Wayne, teaching Anna Magnani to articulate English, to fending off Zsa Zsa Gabor's advances and getting lost in Italy with a hungry Orson Welles, Knox was in the midst of it all, watching with a dry smile and a witty comeback. Of the colorful cast of characters who have passed through his life -- Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Sam Fuller, Elvis Presley, Gore Vidal -- one lasting friendship runs throughout the text. That friend -- Norman Mailer -- writes a preface to "a rare warrior of that rarely heroic world of stage and screen." Black-and-white photographs are included.
The Good, the Bad and the Dolce Vita
Born and raised in Brooklyn with a street fighter's instinct and sharp Jewish wit, Mickey Knox leaves the army for the bright lights of Hollywood. But when the rise of McCarthyism puts an abrupt end to his hopes of working in American films, Knox debarks to France and Italy to work in European cinema. It turns out to be the best move of his life. This book -- where every major film actor and writer of the last century appears -- is a wonderful, gossipy history of European cinema as seen through the observant eye of Knox. From arguing with John Wayne, teaching Anna Magnani to articulate English, to fending off Zsa Zsa Gabor's advances and getting lost in Italy with a hungry Orson Welles, Knox was in the midst of it all, watching with a dry smile and a witty comeback. Of the colorful cast of characters who have passed through his life -- Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Sam Fuller, Elvis Presley, Gore Vidal -- one lasting friendship runs throughout the text. That friend -- Norman Mailer -- writes a preface to "a rare warrior of that rarely heroic world of stage and screen." Black-and-white photographs are included.
The Good, the Bad and the Dolce Vita(With: Mickey Knox)
Born and raised in Brooklyn with a street fighter's instinct and sharp Jewish wit, Mickey Knox leaves the army for the bright lights of Hollywood. But when the rise of McCarthyism puts an abrupt end to his hopes of working in American films, Knox debarks to France and Italy to work in European cinema. It turns out to be the best move of his life. This book -- where every major film actor and writer of the last century appears -- is a wonderful, gossipy history of European cinema as seen through the observant eye of Knox. From arguing with John Wayne, teaching Anna Magnani to articulate English, to fending off Zsa Zsa Gabor's advances and getting lost in Italy with a hungry Orson Welles, Knox was in the midst of it all, watching with a dry smile and a witty comeback. Of the colorful cast of characters who have passed through his life -- Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Anthony Quinn, Henry Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Sam Fuller, Elvis Presley, Gore Vidal -- one lasting friendship runs throughout the text. That friend -- Norman Mailer -- writes a preface to "a rare warrior of that rarely heroic world of stage and screen." Black-and-white photographs are included.
Up Till Now(With: David Fisher)
After almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well, everywhere. It was the original Star Trek series, and later its films, that made Shatner instantly recognizable, called by name---or at least by Captain Kirk's name---across the globe. But Shatner neither began nor has ended his career with that role. From the very start, he took his skills as an actor and put them to use wherever he could. He straddled the classic world of the theater and the new world of television, whether stepping in for Christopher Plummer in Shakespeare's Henry V or staring at "something on the wing" in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. And since then, he's gone on to star in numerous successful shows, such as T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911, and Boston Legal. William Shatner has always been willing to take risks for his art. What other actor would star in history's first---and probably only---all-Esperanto-language film? Who else would share the screen with thousands of tarantulas, release an album called Has Been, or film a racially incendiary film in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights era? And who else would willingly paramotor into a field of waiting fans armed with paintball guns, all waiting for a chance to stun Captain...er, Shatner? In this touching and very funny autobiography, William Shatner's Up Till Now reveals the man behind these unforgettable moments, and how he's become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today. "It is now Bill Shatner's universe---we just live in it."---New York Daily News