Summary of Lynn Haney's Gregory Peck


Book Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 In 1942, talent scouts had been circling the young man named Gregory Peck. He had a deep, resonant voice that could reach all the way to the back row of the orchestra and the rear row of the balcony. He was darkly handsome and intelligent. #2 Greg was not born to the spotlight, but he ended up in it anyway. He began his career in La Jolla, a seaside community on the outskirts of San Diego. He was not only lucky, but he also had a talent for creating luck. #3 In Manhattan, he landed a two-year scholarship to the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse. He was trained by Sanford Meisner, the school’s director, who came out of the Group Theater, which revolutionized American acting in the 1930s with psychologically truthful performances. #4 Greg’s life was not easy. He was lonely, insecure, and often at a loose end. But Greta, his wife, helped him get through those difficulties. She was the hairdresser to Katharine Cornell, star of Guthrie McClintic’s touring theater company, and she steadfastly believed in his acting ability.




Gregory Peck


Book Description

His first screen test was a disaster, his features were large and irregular, his left ear outsized the right, yet he would one day be headlined as the Most Handsome Man in the World. And most of his leading ladies—among them, Ingrid Bergman, Jennifer Jones, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, and Ava Gardner—would not disagree. Irreverent, candid, refreshingly honest, Lynn Haney's carefully researched biography not only charts the remarkable career of the Oscar-winning star but also plumbs Peck's frequently troubling complexity in his off-screen roles as husband, father, lover, and son. About the tough times, Haney minces no words; but the misfortunes by no means eclipse the energy, intensity, and excitement that characterized Peck's five decades of moviemaking. This is a book filled with telling photographs, and a story cast with movie moguls from Louis B. Mayer to Darryl Zanuck, with directors from Hitchcock and Walsh to Huston and Wyler, with nearly every major luminary in Hollywood, and, starring for the first time in toto, Gregory Peck.




Glenn Ford


Book Description

Glenn Ford—star of such now-classic films as Gilda, Blackboard Jungle, The Big Heat, 3:10 to Yuma, and The Rounders—had rugged good looks, a long and successful career, and a glamorous Hollywood life. Yet the man who could be accessible and charming on screen retreated to a deeply private world he created behind closed doors. Glenn Ford: A Life chronicles the volatile life, relationships, and career of the renowned actor, beginning with his move from Canada to California and his initial discovery of theater. It follows Ford’s career in diverse media—from film to television to radio—and shows how Ford shifted effortlessly between genres, playing major roles in dramas, noir, westerns, and romances. This biography by Glenn Ford’s son, Peter Ford, offers an intimate view of a star’s private and public life. Included are exclusive interviews with family, friends, and professional associates, and snippets from the Ford family collection of diaries, letters, audiotapes, unpublished interviews, and rare candid photos. This biography tells a cautionary tale of Glenn Ford’s relentless infidelities and long, slow fade-out, but it also embraces his talent-driven career. The result is an authentic Hollywood story that isn’t afraid to reveal the truth. Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the Public Library Reviewers




Gregory Peck


Book Description

In Gregory Peck: A Biography, Gary Fishgall meticulously recounts Peck's influential life, revealing the effects of the actor on the film industry and of the film industry on the actor."--BOOK JACKET.




Robert Mitchum


Book Description

Traces the life and career of actor Robert Mitchum in a biography of one of Hollywood's biggest and most colorful stars.




Gregory Peck


Book Description




The Defiant One


Book Description

This new biography contains excerpts from interviews and articles by and about Curtis all the way from his teens in the Bronx to his death at 85 in 2010. Many of these are little known and provide insights into his complex relationship with fame, family and females, the three obsessions of his life. The book also documents his many struggles with substance abuse, his disenchantment with Hollywood when it failed to take him seriously, the violent deaths of his two brothers, the failure of four of his marriages, a heart attack, the death of a son from a drug overdose and, most importantly, the manner in which his resilient spirit saw him through these challenges and tragedies. It's a revisionist biography which adds significantly to the received wisdom on his life and times, not only through personal interviews but also revelations from two recent books not yet available in English, one written by his daughter Allegra and the other by his ex-wife Christine Kaufmann.




Why to Kill a Mockingbird Matters


Book Description

Tom Santopietro, an author well-known for his writing about American popular culture, delves into the heart of the beloved classic and shows readers why To Kill a Mockingbird matters more today than ever before. With 40 million copies sold, To Kill a Mockingbird’s poignant but clear eyed examination of human nature has cemented its status as a global classic. Tom Santopietro's new book, Why To Kill a Mockingbird Matters, takes a 360 degree look at the Mockingbird phenomenon both on page and screen. Santopietro traces the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird, the impact of the Pulitzer Prize, and investigates the claims that Lee’s book is actually racist. Here for the first time is the full behind the scenes story regarding the creation of the 1962 film, one which entered the American consciousness in a way that few other films ever have. From the earliest casting sessions to the Oscars and the 50th Anniversary screening at the White House, Santopietro examines exactly what makes the movie and Gregory Peck’s unforgettable performance as Atticus Finch so captivating. As Americans yearn for an end to divisiveness, there is no better time to look at the significance of Harper Lee's book, the film, and all that came after.




Against Type


Book Description

The first major biography of one of Hollywood's most enduring and innovative stars. In a glorious career that spanned the final days of Hollywood's Golden Age to the advent of the miniseries, Burt Lancaster chalked up more than 80 films. From his poverty-stricken childhood in East Harlem to his delibilitating stroke in 1990, this book tells the complete story of this true screen legend. 16 pages of photos.




The Catonsville Nine


Book Description

In the spring of 1968, a group of Catholic anti-war activists barged into a draft board in suburban Baltimore, stole hundreds of Selective Service records, and burned the documents. The bold actions of the 'Catonsville Nine' became international news. This book tells the story of this singular witness for peace and social justice.