Aline MacMahon
Aline MacMahon

Author: John Stangeland

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2022-11-08

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 0813196086

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American actress Aline MacMahon's youth was spent honing her talents while performing at local events in New York City. After popular stage success on Broadway, she headlined a touring company in Los Angeles, where she was discovered by legendary Hollywood director Mervyn LeRoy and put under contract to Warner Brothers. During the 1930s and 1940s, MacMahon starred in countless films and was among the most influential actors of the era, her talent revered as highly as peers Katherine Hepburn, Paul Muni, and Bette Davis. Her pioneering use of a new acting style brought to America from Russia by Konstantin Stanlisavsky—now widely known as the Method—began a revolution on the screen and made her an industry darling. Although popular with audiences and widely lauded for her versatile, naturalistic style, MacMahon's despair at the lack of challenging roles and fallout from her political activism would soon dim her star in the most tragic of ways. Blacklisted during the Communist Red Scare of the 1950's she became the subject of covert FBI surveillance and was denied work for many years. John Stangeland's biography of this unique actress, Aline MacMahon, offers an insightful look into the life and oeuvre of this largely overlooked talent and how the atmosphere of Hollywood's golden age created an inescapable blueprint for a career nearly destroyed by politics and fear.

Belle Moskowitz
Belle Moskowitz

Author: Elisabeth Israels Perry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-12-19

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0429761708

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It is commonly believed that women’s entry into the political realm is a recent phenomenon. Originally published in 1992, Belle Moskowitz shatters that myth, restoring to history the career of a remarkable woman who achieved unprecedented influence and power in American politics many decades before the contemporary era. As political advisor to Alfred E. Smith, four-term governor of New York and presidential candidate. Moskowitz played a crucial role in both state and national politics throughout the 1920s. Elisabeth Israels Perry, who is Moskowitz’s granddaughter, has thoroughly searched through private and public records to document Moskowitz’s career, drawing as well on the reminiscences of Moskowitz’s daughter Miriam Israels Gabo. This outstanding biography was co-winner of the New York State Historical Association Manuscript Prize in 1987.

Routledge Library Editions: Women and Politics
Routledge Library Editions: Women and Politics

Author: Various

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-06-23

Total Pages: 2932

ISBN-13: 0429677189

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Routledge Library Editions: Women and Politics (9 Volume set) presents titles, originally published between 1981 and 1993. The set draws attention to the importance of women and how their presence and active involvement, in politics and related fields, during the twentieth century has been crucial throughout the world.

The Broadcast 41
The Broadcast 41

Author: Carol A Stabile

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-10-16

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1906897867

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How forty-one women—including Dorothy Parker, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Lena Horne—were forced out of American television and radio in the 1950s “Red Scare.” At the dawn of the Cold War era, forty-one women working in American radio and television were placed on a media blacklist and forced from their industry. The ostensible reason: so-called Communist influence. But in truth these women—among them Dorothy Parker, Lena Horne, and Gypsy Rose Lee—were, by nature of their diversity and ambition, a threat to the traditional portrayal of the American family on the airwaves. This book from Goldsmiths Press describes what American radio and television lost when these women were blacklisted, documenting their aspirations and achievements. Through original archival research and access to FBI blacklist documents, The Broadcast 41 details the blacklisted women's attempts in the 1930s and 1940s to depict America as diverse, complicated, and inclusive. The book tells a story about what happens when non-male, non-white perspectives are excluded from media industries, and it imagines what the new medium of television might have looked like had dissenting viewpoints not been eliminated at such a formative moment. The all-white, male-dominated Leave it to Beaver America about which conservative politicians wax nostalgic existed largely because of the forcible silencing of these forty-one women and others like them. For anyone concerned with the ways in which our cultural narrative is constructed, this book offers an urgent reminder of the myths we perpetuate when a select few dominate the airwaves.

The Jean Harlow Bombshell
The Jean Harlow Bombshell

Author: Mollie Cox Bryan

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 2019-05-08

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0738759031

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When it comes to writing Golden Age Hollywood biographies, the pen is deadlier than the sword Justine Turner is a world-famous biographer of Hollywood stars. She's also Charlotte Donovan's overbearing boss. So it comes as no surprise to Charlotte when Justine requests an emergency meeting related to her latest in-progress biography. It is a surprise, though, when Justine up and dies before their urgent discussion can begin. In the wake of such a tragedy, all Charlotte wants to do is finish the Jean Harlow biography that Justine had started. Instead, she finds herself in grave danger—stalked both online and in person by a drop-dead Jean Harlow look-alike. Together with police sergeant Den Brophy, Charlotte uncovers shocking revelations. But will these revelations be enough to catch the killer? Praise: "The Jean Harlow Bombshell is a page-turner, a modern whodunit threaded with Golden Age Hollywood glamour. Its protagonist, Charlotte Donovan, is a sleuth for our times, flawed, bright, and eminently relatable. Factor in the delicious elements of romance, friendship, and family, and you have a mystery as captivating as Jean Harlow's (still missing) star sapphire ring."—Jess Lourey, author of Salem's Cipher and Mercy's Chase "Twisty, fascinating, and gently edgy, this mixture of vintage Hollywood and contemporary New York will delight fans of the traditional mystery as well as those craving a modern read. Loved it!"—Hank Phillippi Ryan, nationally bestselling author of Trust Me "Mollie Cox Bryan concocts a fascinating mystery with more twists than a pretzel factory. Bryan's skillful portrayal of Charlotte and best friend Kate make it fun to follow them as they work through to the solution. An entertaining read, a steady pace, and memorable characters to meet."—Reviewing the Evidence

Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford

Author: Lawrence J. Quirk

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2013-04-06

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 0813144116

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" Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography explores the life and career of one of Hollywood's great dames. She was a leading film personality for more than fifty years, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s, to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression thirties, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as Mildred Pierce. Crawford's legacy has become somewhat tarnished in the wake of her daughter Christina's memoir, Mommie Dearest, which turned her into a national joke. Today, many picture Crawford only as a wire hanger-wielding shrew rather than the personification of Hollywood glamour. This new biography of Crawford sets the record straight, going beyond the gossip to find the truth about the legendary actress. The authors knew Crawford well and conducted scores of interviews with her and many of her friends and co-stars, including Frank Capra, George Cukor, Nicholas Ray, and Sidney Greenstreet. Far from a whitewash -- Crawford was indeed a colorful and difficult character -- Joan Crawford corrects many lies and tells the story of one of Hollywood's most influential stars, complete with on-set anecdotes and other movie lore. Through extensive interviews, in-depth analysis, and evaluation of her films and performances -- both successes and failures -- Lawrence J. Quirk and William Schoell present Crawford's story as both an appreciation and a reevaluation of her extraordinary life and career. Filled with new interviews, Joan Crawford tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Hollywood icon. Lawrence J. Quirk is the author of many books on film, including Bob Hope: The Road Well-Traveled. William Schoell is the author of several entertainment-related books, including Martini Man: The Life of Dean Martin.

The First King of Hollywood
The First King of Hollywood

Author: Tracey Goessel

Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781613738948

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"The first truly definitive biography of Douglas Fairbanks, the greatest leading man of the silent film era"--

Movies Are Magic
Movies Are Magic

Author: Jennifer Anne Churchill

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2018-11-28

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 9781724364302

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From classic film devotee Jennifer Churchill comes a new history of classic movies ... for kids! Featuring a heartfelt introduction by Ben Mankiewicz, Turner Classic Movies (TCM)'s primetime host. In our fast-moving, media-drenched world, classic movies connect us to the past and help us understand history, the world around us, and ourselves. From vaudeville to the invention of sound and color, this fun and informative jaunt through the history of film will turn your kids into classic movie fans in no time!