Scandals, Secrets and Swansongs


Book Description

Behind the images and facades of stars whose fame and fascination continue to outlive them lies the naked truth. How Hollywood stars lived, worked and died is often more dramatic than their films. When we talk about movie stars we usually dwell not on their movies but their personalities or what happened to them or supposedly happened. Their lives interest us even more than their roles, especially, let’s be honest, their mishaps and tragedies, including early deaths. Their scandals define several movie stars, and Hollywood secrets remain a true-gossip staple, particularly sexual secrets. Scandals, Secrets & Swansongs takes a close-up, no-holds-barred look at 101 stars—at their surprising, often shocking, sometimes sordid but always entertaining real selves and lives.




Game Show Confidential


Book Description

Game and quiz shows first started appearing on radio broadcasts in the 1930s, led by the CBS network’s Professor Quiz, hosted by a man who was neither a professor nor even a college graduate, the first of several frauds that seemed to be endemic to the genre. Professor Quiz was followed by other such game shows as Uncle Jim’s Question Bee and Ask It Basket, which in turn spawned successful box games for at-home play. The show Truth or Consequences made the transition from radio to television in the late 1940s and was so popular that a town in New Mexico was named for the show. Television proved to be the perfect platform for game shows since they were very popular and cheap to produce. Even in reruns today, the older shows still draw huge audiences. This book describes the evolution of the game show, its larger-than-life producers and hosts, as well as the scandals that have rocked it from time to time, including bloopers from such “adult” oriented shows as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and Hollywood Squares. This is an entertaining and lively look at an American phenomenon whose popularity doesn’t seem to be going away.




Elvis Forever


Book Description

Is Elvis the most charismatic star ever? What else accounts for his continuing global appeal and media presence, his allure to music lovers of all ages and to fans whose pilgrimages to Graceland make it the most-visited private residence in the USA? Presley's estate now earns more annually than when Elvis was alive. He died at 42, close on half a century ago, but new generations keep discovering him. He rocks and rolls on and on, not necessarily as a movie star—he was the first to dismiss his 31-film output—but as the top-selling singer in history, a pop-culture icon, an ageless sex symbol and a mythic figure who inspires intense, even fanatical devotion (e.g., the First Presbyterian Church of Elvis the Divine). When Elvis died there were some 170 Elvis imitators. A quarter-century later there were an estimated 85,000 Elvis "tribute artists," including a popular Chinese Elvis in London and a gay Mexican American, El Vez, whose re-tooled song performances include "You Ain't Nothin' But a Chihuahua." There are even Elvis performances in "heaven"—some years ago two groups of skydiving impersonators, the Flying Elvises and the Flying Elvis, sued each other in federal court. Elvis Forever offers possibly the most revealing and rounded close-up look yet at the King. The frank, often bold, sometimes shocking or surprising quotes from insiders and outsiders, peers, costars, friends, employees and famous fans took over two decades to collect and cover every phase of the life and legacy of the magnetic man from Memphis.




Starring Joan Crawford


Book Description

Joan Crawford: the name has an enduring fascination. Forty-five years after her death, Crawford remains a familiar icon in pop culture and the entertainment world. Certainly the camp bathos of Mommie Dearest has played a part in her continued relevance. But it is ultimately her work and career themselves that account for her remarkable longevity in the culture. From her first film in 1925, to her rise to stardom in 1928, and on to the hit films she appeared in through the 1960s, she continually molded and remolded herself, crafting an indelible image and ensuring her place in the American pantheon. STARRING JOAN CRAWFORD is a rollicking exploration of the powerful women Joan Crawford vividly brought to life in her films—and the lasting, ever-evolving impact she has had on popular culture.Having carved out a revolutionary path through the entertainment industry while relying on men as little as possible—whether her studio bosses or her many husbands—she created a gallery of strong, assertive women who outsmarted men and refused to conform to gender expectations. In movies like Mildred Pierce, The Damned Don't Cry, Johnny Guitar, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, among many others, she played to win, becoming a lodestar to LGBT audiences, a model of feminist self-determination for women, and an unforgettable icon for everyone.




Scandals, Secrets and Swansongs


Book Description

Behind the images and facades of stars whose fame and fascination continue to outlive them lies the naked truth. How Hollywood stars lived, worked and died is often more dramatic than their films. When we talk about movie stars we usually dwell not on their movies but their personalities or what happened to them or supposedly happened. Their lives interest us even more than their roles, especially, let's be honest, their mishaps and tragedies, including early deaths. Their scandals define several movie stars, and Hollywood secrets remain a true-gossip staple, particularly sexual secrets. Scandals, Secrets & Swansongs takes a close-up, no-holds-barred look at 101 stars--at their surprising, often shocking, sometimes sordid but always entertaining real selves and lives.




A Scandal, a Secret, a Baby


Book Description

Marriage scandal, showbiz baby: "Seduced by Matteo, a world-famous actor, the once-innocent Jennifer marries the superstar and starts her own acting career. But at the height of their popularity, their busy lives tear them apart and they go their separate ways. They thought it was over, until they bump into each other on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. Although at first tempers flare, in a moment of passion in the elevator they make love once more. A few weeks later, Jennifer starts to notice changes happening within her body"--Publisher.




Capote's Women


Book Description

DON’T MISS FX’s FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS—THE ORIGINAL SERIES BASED ON THE BESTSELLING BOOK—NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON HULU! New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans." "There are certain women," Truman Capote wrote, "who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich." Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister)—they were the toast of midcentury New York. Capote befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible. Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block. While enjoying all the fruits of his success, he was struck with an idea for what he was sure would be his most celebrated novel...one based on the remarkable, racy lives of his very, very rich friends. For years, Capote attempted to write what he believed would have been his magnum opus, Answered Prayers. But when he eventually published a few chapters in Esquire, the thinly fictionalized lives (and scandals) of his swans were laid bare for all to see, and he was banished from their high-society world forever. Laurence Leamer recreates the lives of these fascinating women, their friendships with Capote and one another, and the doomed quest to write what could have been one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.




Broadway Babylon


Book Description

Hadleigh, authority on celebrity gossip, turns to Broadway to examine its juiciest scandals, secrets, flops and feuds. Discerning fact from rumor, quoting hundreds of players, and revealing the stories behind over a century of major headlines. Personaliti




Harlequin Presents March 2013 - Bundle 2 of 2


Book Description

Harlequin Presents brings you four new titles for one great price, available now for a limited time only from March 1 to March 31! Plus, in this special collection you'll receive 4 additional full-length stories from these acclaimed authors! Escape with brooding tycoons and untamed princes in these four stories. This Harlequin Presents bundle includes A Scandal, A Secret, A Baby by USA TODAY bestselling author Sharon Kendrick (and bonus story Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby), The Fallen Greek Bride by Jane Porter (and bonus story At the Greek Boss's Bidding), The Notorious Gabriel Diaz by Cathy Williams (and bonus story Ruthless Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress) and Taming the Last Acosta by Susan Stephens (and bonus story Italian Boss, Proud Miss Prim). Look for 8 passionate new stories every month from Harlequin Presents!




Ulysses


Book Description