The true story and raw exposition of a Baby Boomer's life growing up in a decadent sub culture of society. It's an autobiographical account of a child-man growing up as an impoverished elder son of seven. With his father in prison and his mother fighting alcoholism, he discovers that humor is the panacea for pain. The Life and Times of a Hollywood Bad Boy has some very funny anecdotes about the New York night life in the 70's, the Hollywood scene of the 80's and the Vegas explosion during the 90's. There are great stories about celebrities such as Robert DeNiro, Andy Garcia, Robin Williams and other comics who have been in the limelight for over 20 years. " an entertaining and funny read." Tress Wright, Producer/Writer/Director. "It's an honest, unabashed and candid account of a life lived in the fast lane of the Autobahn!" Ron Stevens, CEO of All Star Radio Networks.
Eddie Haskell was the bad kid who never went away. When child actor Ken Osmond stepped onto the set of Leave it to Beaver in 1957, he not only entered our living rooms, he homesteaded a permanant place in American pop culture. The poster child for sneaky, rotten kids everywhere, he was the reference point for cautious mothers to warn their children about. And every one in America knew an Eddie Haskell at some point in his or her life. The amazing phenomenon of Ken Osmond's character is still going strong, over half a century after the show's cancellation. Even today, the name Eddie Haskell remains firmly entrenched in the American lexicon. Political foes from both sides of the ideological spectrum love to accuse their opponents of 'acting like Eddie Haskell, ' and when Kobe Bryant argues a referee's call, tweets go out labeling him and 'Eddie Haskell'. Psychology Today Magazine has published articles about recognizing and treatin the 'Eddie Haskell Syndrome' and Matt Groening created Bart Simpson as his own version of the 'son of Eddie Haskell.' Now it's time to meet Ken Osmond, the man behind America's preeminent bad boy. A man who, as co-star Jerry Mathers said, 'Was the best actor on the program, because he was so diametrically opposed to the character he played.' A devoted husband, father, and patriot, he's a man who's been forever shadowed by Eddie Haskell, but whose own life, was even more amazing than the character he portrayed (from Amazon website)
From Rudolph Valentino to Kelsey Grammer, bestselling showbiz author Parish provides a roadmap to the stormy and sometimes wacky lives of Hollywood's most notorious leading men. 50 photos.
At the dawn of sound, he wrote the story for the Academy Award-winning musical The Broadway Melody and collaborated memorably with Gloria Swanson and Joseph Kennedy for The Trespasser. He excelled at anti-war drama (White Banners, The Dawn Patrol, We Are Not Alone), fantastic Bette Davis weepies (Dark Victory, The Old Maid, The Great Lie), lilting romantic dramas (The Constant Nymph, Claudia), big-budgeted literary adaptations (The Razor's Edge), and even film noir (Nightmare Alley).
Frank Bank's story is a sometimes wild, sometimes bawdy, often poignant, always funny account of a real-life Louie Louie who led a nation to California-dreamin'.
Do people say they hate someone's guts so that they can still fall stupidly, head-over-heels in love with the other parts?Asking for a friend. Okay, fine. I'm not asking for a friend. I'm asking for me-and I'm begging you to tell me that the practice of falling in love with your should-be-enemy is common. Please tell me that I'm not the only person to track down a guy-who used to be Hollywood's baddest bad boy before he left LA for good-at his off-the-grid cabin in Alaska, show up unannounced, and find him gloriously naked. This probably happens all the time...right? Tell me I'm not alone in my stupidity-that I'm not the only woman who would fall for gorgeous blue eyes and a sexy devilish smirk, even if they belong to a broody, mysterious jerk. Please. Please. Please. Tell me I'm not alone in this. For the love of everything, I need all the supportive girl power I can get if I'm going to convince Luca Weaver to come back to Hollywood-otherwise known as the place he hates so much that he ghosted Oscar-level success and escaped to no-man's-land for the last eight years just to avoid it. Yeah, don't worry-that smoke you're smelling isn't your house catching fire as you read this...it's just my career and what was previously known as my heart going up in flames. Gah. Is it just me, or am I totally, completely, and utterly screwed?
Lion of Hollywood is the definitive biography of Louis B. Mayer, the chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer—MGM—the biggest and most successful film studio of Hollywood’s Golden Age. An immigrant from tsarist Russia, Mayer began in the film business as an exhibitor but soon migrated to where the action and the power were—Hollywood. Through sheer force of energy and foresight, he turned his own modest studio into MGM, where he became the most powerful man in Hollywood, bending the film business to his will. He made great films, including the fabulous MGM musicals, and he made great stars: Garbo, Gable, Garland, and dozens of others. Through the enormously successful Andy Hardy series, Mayer purveyed family values to America. At the same time, he used his influence to place a federal judge on the bench, pay off local officials, cover up his stars’ indiscretions and, on occasion, arrange marriages for gay stars. Mayer rose from his impoverished childhood to become at one time the highest-paid executive in America. Despite his power and money, Mayer suffered some significant losses. He had two daughters: Irene, who married David O. Selznick, and Edie, who married producer William Goetz. He would eventually fall out with Edie and divorce his wife, Margaret, ending his life alienated from most of his family. His chief assistant, Irving Thalberg, was his closest business partner, but they quarreled frequently, and Thalberg’s early death left Mayer without his most trusted associate. As Mayer grew older, his politics became increasingly reactionary, and he found himself politically isolated within Hollywood’s small conservative community. Lion of Hollywood is a three-dimensional biography of a figure often caricatured and vilified as the paragon of the studio system. Mayer could be arrogant and tyrannical, but under his leadership MGM made such unforgettable films as The Big Parade, Ninotchka, The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, and An American in Paris. Film historian Scott Eyman interviewed more than 150 people and researched some previously unavailable archives to write this major new biography of a man who defined an industry and an era.
A groundbreaking book that dissects a slanderous history dating from cinema’s earliest days to contemporary Hollywood blockbusters that feature machine-gun wielding and bomb-blowing "evil" Arabs Award-winning film authority Jack G. Shaheen, noting that only Native Americans have been more relentlessly smeared on the silver screen, painstakingly makes his case that "Arab" has remained Hollywood’s shameless shorthand for "bad guy," long after the movie industry has shifted its portrayal of other minority groups. In this comprehensive study of over one thousand films, arranged alphabetically in such chapters as "Villains," "Sheikhs," "Cameos," and "Cliffhangers," Shaheen documents the tendency to portray Muslim Arabs as Public Enemy #1—brutal, heartless, uncivilized Others bent on terrorizing civilized Westerners. Shaheen examines how and why such a stereotype has grown and spread in the film industry and what may be done to change Hollywood’s defamation of Arabs.
The legendary icon tells his story—a tale of art, passion, commitment, addiction, as intense and hypnotic as the man himself. In a career spanning five decades, Nick Nolte has endured the rites of Hollywood celebrity. Rising from obscurity to leading roles and Oscar nominations, he has been both celebrated and vilified in the media; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named the “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine; and suffered public humiliation over his drug and alcohol issues, including a drug-fueled trip down a “long road of nothingness” that ended in arrest. Despite these ups and downs, Nolte has remained true to the craft he loves, portraying a diverse range of characters with his trademark physicality and indelible gravelly voice. Already 35 when his performance in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man launched him to stardom, Nolte never learned to play by Hollywood’s rules. A rebel who defies expectations, an obsessive method actor who will go to extremes for a role (he lived among the homeless to prepare for Down and Out in Beverly Hills), Nolte is motivated more by edgier, more personal projects than by box office success. Today he is clean yet still driven, juggling a number of upcoming works and raising his young daughter. A man who refuses to hide his mistakes, Nolte now delivers his most revealing performance yet. His revealing memoir, filled with sixteen pages of color photos, offers a candid, unvarnished close-up look at the man, the career, the loves, and the life.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “This extraordinary book is not only a chronicle of Ron’s and Clint’s early careers and their wild adventures, but also a primer on so many topics—how an actor prepares, how to survive as a kid working in Hollywood, and how to be the best parents in the world! The Boys will surprise every reader with its humanity.” — Tom Hanks "I have read dozens of Hollywood memoirs. But The Boys stands alone. A delightful, warm and fascinating story of a good life in show business.” — Malcolm Gladwell Happy Days, The Andy Griffith Show, Gentle Ben—these shows captivated millions of TV viewers in the ’60s and ’70s. Join award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and audience-favorite actor Clint Howard as they frankly and fondly share their unusual family story of navigating and surviving life as sibling child actors. “What was it like to grow up on TV?” Ron Howard has been asked this question throughout his adult life. in The Boys, he and his younger brother, Clint, examine their childhoods in detail for the first time. For Ron, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cunningham on Happy Days offered fame, joy, and opportunity—but also invited stress and bullying. For Clint, a fast start on such programs as Gentle Ben and Star Trek petered out in adolescence, with some tough consequences and lessons. With the perspective of time and success—Ron as a filmmaker, producer, and Hollywood A-lister, Clint as a busy character actor—the Howard brothers delve deep into an upbringing that seemed normal to them yet was anything but. Their Midwestern parents, Rance and Jean, moved to California to pursue their own showbiz dreams. But it was their young sons who found steady employment as actors. Rance put aside his ego and ambition to become Ron and Clint’s teacher, sage, and moral compass. Jean became their loving protector—sometimes over-protector—from the snares and traps of Hollywood. By turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing, THE BOYS is a dual narrative that lifts the lid on the Howard brothers’ closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight four-person family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived “child-actor syndrome” to become fulfilled adults.
