For decades, the mild climate of the Crescenta Valley served as a haven for those seeking mental health rest and relief from lung ailments. In 1923, registered nurse Agnes Richards decided it was the perfect place to open a sanitarium, one that would set itself apart from the rest. Rockhaven Sanitarium catered to female residents only and, with few exceptions, exclusively employed women. It was a progressive treatment center that prided itself on treating residents with dignity and respect. The center's high ideals and proximity to early Hollywood attracted residents like Billie Burke; Marilyn Monroe's mother, Gladys; and Clark Gable's first wife, Josephine Dillon. Join author Elisa Jordan as she explores Rockhaven's illustrious past.
The Crescenta Valley is a typical suburb of the metropolis of Los Angeles, containing residential neighborhoods nestled in chaparral-covered hills. But hidden in these typical neighborhoods are remnants of an atypical past, a past made up of Hollywood legends, Prohibition-era bootleggers, and pioneers in women's rights. Crescenta Valley History: Hidden in Plain Sight tells the stories behind six places in the community that residents pass by every day, with no idea of the amazing events that took place there--six innocuous locations with impressive histories. A little shack behind an apartment that was once the home of John Steinbeck; the overgrown ruins of a former speakeasy; an abandoned sanitarium that once housed aging Hollywood stars, and now houses their ghosts; a mystical religious sanctuary run entirely by women; a former resort and Olympic training site buried deep under a suburban shopping mall; and a park created by professional baseball players and movie stars. All these sites are right here in your neighborhood! You'll never look at the Crescenta Valley the same way again.
Despite being within the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the Crescenta Valley manages to retain its small town flavor due to its geography--a small valley nestled between two mountain ranges--and the people who prefer this way of life. The community is marked not only by what has changed, but more importantly, by what has not.
Relying on over 150 interviews as well as Marilyn's letters and diaries, this work by best-selling biographer Spoto casts new light on every aspect of the actress's tempestuous life.
In Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band, Jeannie Gayle Pool profiles the fascinating life of this multi-talented saxophone player, arranger, bandleader, and advocate for women instrumental musicians. Based on oral history interviews and Gilbert's collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia, this book includes many materials not previously available on all-women bands from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.
The world continues to be fascinated with Marilyn Monroe who dazzled with her beauty and captivated the hearts of millions, worldwide, with her innocence, charm, generosity, and kindness, and yet, who died tragically at the age of only 36. Hollywood columnist, film critic, and author of `The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood', Ezra Goodman, writing in 1961, the year prior to her death, declared, `The riddle that is Marilyn Monroe has not been solved'. Aside from the fact that Marilyn's so-called autobiography cannot be relied upon, making sense of her is certainly problematical, not least because in her early years, she was insecure and introspective, and unable even to make sense of herself. There has been much debate, in particular, about the frame of mind that Marilyn was in when, on the night of 5 August 1962, she knowingly or unknowingly took her own life. With his medical background, the author is in a position to shed new light on the enigmatic character of Marilyn Monroe, this fascinating, yet deeply troubled, former Hollywood icon who is regarded, arguably, as the world's most famous ever movie star.
Following a number of sensationalist biographies of Marilyn Monroe in recent years, this comprehensive, meticulously researched volume brings an important fresh perspective on the many controversies in her life. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Marilyn Monroe and the Golden Age of Hollywood. This new edition of Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include an additional 60,000 words. It reveals a very different Marilyn from the celluloid invention. For the first volume, Michelle Morgan interviewed approximately 100 people who knew or were related to Marilyn in some way, including key figures in her life - family and friends, as well as work colleagues, and more casual acquaintances. This new edition includes information gleaned from many more interviews, as well as additional family background and many new stories. Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed is the most comprehensive Monroe biography yet. It covers her trip to England in great detail and gives the true story behind the making of The Prince and the Showgirl. Praise for the 2007 hardback illustrated edition of Marilyn Monroe, Private and Undisclosed: 'A gorgeous collection offering a fascinating insight into Monroe's personal life.' Woman & Home 'A touching portrayal of the star in her more private moments.' Empire 'This candid and often surprising study of the screen legend provides another view of her.' Red
For the first time in paperback, this valuable biography by the president of Marilyn Monroe’s UK fan club contains the most comprehensive collection of primary source material on Marilyn Monroe, covering all stages of her life. It includes seventy rare and unpublished photographs. They include locations from various periods of her life—the schools she attended as Norma Jeane, the ballroom where she danced with first husband Jim Dougherty, the street where Marilyn claimed she was attacked by an intruder, and candid shots of her on the sets of films. Morgan has also interviewed every single person accessible who knew or was related to Marilyn in any way, including the main players in her life, as well as work colleagues, and more casual acquaintances. More than fifty interviewees are featured, many who’ve never gone on the record before, including contacts from her orphaned childhood and early years—details of which until now have remained mysterious. Documentary sources range from the private testimony of her gynecologist, to the previously undisclosed Laurence Olivier papers relating to Marilyn’s time in England. Following a series of sensationalist biographies of Marilyn Monroe in recent years, this comprehensive, meticulously researched volume brings an important, fresh perspective to the many controversies in her life, and will serve as an essential sourcebook of documentary and photographic evidence.
Lucia and Charley are the products of Old New York’s ruling elite. Prestige. Wealth. Tradition. Scandal. No one is immune. Not Charley, reckless, blithe courtier of trouble, heiress to the Montrose fortune, who has been conspicuously absent for over a year without a word of truth or explanation. Nor Lucia, as docile a daughter as any parent could wish for, carrying secrets of her own, slowly awakening to a yearning for things beyond obeisance to the established order, as deeply ingrained as Old New York’s fascination for, and fear of, scandal. Sailing into the summer of 1929, on the eve of the Black Tuesday Wall Street Crash and a world on the brink of change, Charley and Lucia must keep their wits sharp about them in the pleasure capitals of the Continent and on the Nile to steer their futures away from peril. There are men and temptations to resist, intrigues and mysteries to untangle, secrets to hide, lies to weave, and jewel thieves to outsmart while, back home in New York and on the Exchange, the world rumbles and thunders ominously by. More hangs in the balance than the frivolities of the Jazz Age, the glitzy parties in London and the lures of Paris, automobile races, leisurely flirtations on the French Riviera, opulent Egyptian nights, and the catching of a brilliant matrimonial prize. This Grand Tour could prove to be the making of two young women, a prelude to freedom and independence, to saving and building an empire... Or perhaps merely an invitation to rebellion, scandal and unmitigated disaster. Running away or running towards? Tick-tock. This volume contains all three books in the Voyage Out series: Voyage Out, The Grand Tour, The Stroke of Midnight.
The Roaring 20s . . . It was a marvelous time to be alive, a decade of prosperity, social and political change, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Hemingway, the Jazz Age, and the lost generation. Maggie O’Sullivan and C.J. Elliot marry and set off pursuing the promise of excitement, wealth, and opulence. Maggie is a modern woman battling a still restrictive environment. She’s confident, strong, striking, funny, and a champion of women’s issues. She’s also reckless—a bit Clara Bow, a touch Louise Brooks, with a smattering of Garbo. Maggie fights for women’s rights, says what she wants, embraces being a flapper, bobs her hair, shortens her skirts, and dances The Charleston. C.J. sets out to win Maggie and write the Great American Novel. The married Elliotts immerse themselves into a group of expatriates and, later, the elite of Hollywood. For all its glamor, the dark underbelly of The Jazz Age makes the decade a tricky time for romance, love, marriage, and friendships. Even sanity is hard to maintain.
