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NLS: Overseas Outlook

July to December 2008; Volume 31, Number 2

Minibibliography: Actors and Actresses

Each issue of Overseas Outlook includes a bibliography on a subject that may be of interest to NLS patrons.  This issue features a minibibliography on actors and actresses.  The books in this minibibliography represent a small selection of the many biographies in the NLS collection.  More titles can be found by searching the NLS catalog at www.loc.gov/nls.  Once at the site, go to “Search the Catalog.”  Search under any of the following subject headings: “motion picture actors and actresses,” “actor,” and “actresses.”  To receive any of the books in this bibliography, complete the order form at the end of the newsletter and return it to the overseas librarian.

Against All Odds: My Story
by Chuck Norris
RC 60819
Autobiography of international karate champion and star of television’s Walker, Texas Ranger.  Norris (b. 1940) describes his Irish and Native American heritage, tumultuous childhood, military service in Korea, martial arts career, acting roles, charity work, faith, and family.  2004.

Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography
by Piers Paul Read
RC 61642
Author traces the life of his friend, British actor Sir Alec Guinness (1914–2000), based on Guinness’s diaries.  Chronicles his unhappy childhood, long marriage, and conversion to Catholicism.  Also discusses Sir Alec’s stage and screen career, which began in 1933 with an acting scholarship.  Strong language.  2003.

Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs, and Lasagna
by Doris Roberts
RC 58502
Memoir by Emmy Award-winning actress who plays the matriarch on television’s Everybody Loves Raymond sitcom.  Describes her upbringing in the Bronx, show business success on both stage and screen, passion for food, and weight-loss efforts.  Also includes some of her favorite recipes.  Some strong language.  2003.

Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress
by Olympia Dukakis
RC 58851
Academy Award-winning actress, director, and producer looks back on her life and decades-long career.  Dukakis, a first-generation Greek American who was born in 1931, discusses balancing two cultures and defying ethnic and gender bias to succeed, most notably in her breakout Moonstruck role, for which she won an Oscar in 1988.  2003.

Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit
by Sean Hepburn Ferrer
RC 57351
Recollections by the son of actors Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer.  Sean Ferrer details his European childhood and provides intimate glimpses of his mother—her strengths, vulnerabilities, family history, later years, and final illness.  Describes her devoted work for UNICEF that the author himself continues.  Bestseller.  2003.

Ava Gardner: “Love is Nothing”
by Lee Server
RC 63335
Biography of North Carolinian Ava Gardner (1922–1990).  Highlights the actress’s individuality despite the stifling studio system; her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra; and her lengthy film career.  Includes filmography.  Strong language.  2006.

Barbra: The Way She Is
by Christopher P. Andersen
RC 62490
Andersen portrays Barbra Joan Streisand as the “Brooklyn goil-made-good.”  Discusses Streisand’s roles as singer, movie actress, director, producer, philanthropist, political activist, and iconic artist who has won nearly every major entertainment award.  Some strong language.  2006.

Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams; the Early Years, 1903–1940
by Gary Giddins
RC 53111
Chronicles the life and times of Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby—a  Jesuit-educated Irish American whose career coincided with the growth of the sound-recording technology that fostered his extraordinary popularity.  Examines Crosby’s family history and work up to World War II.  Some strong language.  2001.

Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood
by Donald Bogle
RC 59992
Author of Dorothy Dandridge (RC 46289) chronicles social roles of African American actors in the first half of the twentieth century.  Outlines the migration of blacks to California and the lives of such movie stars as Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr., Hattie McDaniel, and Stepin Fetchit.  Some strong language.  2005.

Burnt Toast and Other Philosophies of Life
by Teri Hatcher
RC 62639
Golden Globe-winning actress and star of television’s Desperate Housewives shares her experience of coping, at age forty, with being a single mother and television star.  Describes her personal and professional ups and downs and overcoming low self-esteem to succeed. Strong language.  Bestseller.  2006.

Burt Lancaster: An American Life
by Kate Buford
RC 50531
Commentator for National Public Radio chronicles Burt Lancaster’s public and private life, beginning with his childhood in East Harlem.  Describes his decision to forgo a college scholarship during the Depression to take a job as a circus performer.  Continues with his lucky break into films.  Some strong language.  2000.

Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat
by Edward McPherson
RC 61581
Biography of multitalented actor Buster Keaton (1895–1966).  Traces Keaton’s career from his start in vaudeville to his success in silent film, work in talking pictures, and rise as a television pioneer.  Covers the period in the 1930s when Keaton’s dismissal from MGM intensified his struggles with alcohol and depression.  2004.

By Myself and Then Some
by Lauren Bacall
RC 60081
Award-winning actress recaps her early years, Hollywood career, marriage to Humphrey Bogart, and widowhood first explored in Lauren Bacall by Myself (RC 13275).  Summarizes the later part of her life including her marriage to Jason Robards and reminisces about lifelong friends and her work in the theater.  Bestseller.  2005.

Call Me Crazy
by Anne Heche
RC 53048
Memoir of thirty-one-year-old celebrity actress.  Covers her abusive childhood, therapy sessions, career, and success.  Describes her lesbian affair with comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and her bout of insanity.  Some description of sex and some strong language.  2001.

Carole Lombard, The Hoosier Tornado
by Wes D. Gehring
RC 58732
Biography of “the queen of screwball comedies,” Carole Lombard (1908–1942).  Gehring relates Lombard’s childhood years in Indiana and California, rise in the movie industry, and marriage to Clark Gable.  Also describes her tragic death in a plane crash while returning home after a war-bond rally.  Some strong language.  2003.

Cary Grant: A Biography
by Marc Eliot
RC 60049
Highlights the thirty-four-year film career of one of Hollywood’s mid-twentieth-century leading male actors, Cary Grant (1904–1986).  Traces Grant’s family life and sexual ambivalence; evaluates his career, including a monumental break with the studio system; and describes lengthy psychotherapy that included LSD treatments.  Some strong language.  2004.

Clark Gable: A Biography
by Warren G. Harris
RC 54530
Life of  “the king of Hollywood” Clark Gable (1901–1960) covers his family background, five marriages, numerous affairs, and children.  Describes the actor’s professional development—beginning in theater and vaudeville and continuing in the studio system as it existed in the early days of motion pictures.  Some strong language.  2002.

Clint Eastwood: A Biography
by Richard Schickel
RC 51309
In-depth biography by a Time film critic based on interviews with his subject.  Emphasizes the screen icon’s professional achievements—culminating in an Oscar for directing Unforgiven. Eastwood’s relationships with his partners and children are also explored.  Includes a filmography.  Some strong language.  1996.

Cybill Disobedience
by Cybill Shepherd
RC 50450
Actress recalls her professional life as a model and performer and her thirty years in the movie business.  Discusses her family life, including marriages and affairs.  Some explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language.  2000.

Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino by Emily Wortis Leider

RC 58562
Biography of Italian-born movie actor Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926), Hollywood’s first romantic hero to specialize in portraying such “exotic” characters such as Arab sheiks and Indian rajahs.  Examines the mystique surrounding his personal life and career in films such as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which broadened American masculine ideals.  2003.

De Niro: A Biography
by John Baxter
RC 60610
Movie critic analyzes the various film roles of actor Robert De Niro
(b. 1943).  Describes his Greenwich Village childhood with a gay father and an artistic mother.  Traces the artist’s career from his 1976 breakout role in Taxi Driver to later business ventures.  Some strong language.  2002.

Design for Living: Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne; a Biography
by Margot Peters
RC 58567
Recounts the tempestuous lives of the famous acting team who captured the hearts of American theatergoers from 1919 to 1959.  Peters details Lunt’s and Fontanne’s stage and film careers, their circle of friends and intriguing private life, and the professional and personal influences they had on each other.  2003.

Down Came the Rain
by Brooke Shields
RC 60414
Actress recounts experiencing postpartum depression following the 2003 birth of her daughter, who was conceived after fertility treatments.  Recalls her detachment and thoughts of suicide.  Discusses her treatment and recovery with proper medication and therapy, and her newfound happiness as a mother.  Lists resources.  Some strong language.  Bestseller.  2005.

Elizabeth
by J. Randy Taraborrelli
RC 63718
Presents an account of the life of actress Elizabeth Taylor (b. 1932).  Discusses her childhood, eight marriages, numerous films, illnesses and addictions, philanthropic work, and awards and honors.  2006.

Empire and Odyssey: The Brynners in Far East Russia and Beyond
by Rock Brynner
RC 62546
Actor Yul Brynner’s son chronicles four generations of his family, beginning with his Swiss-born great-grandfather who cofounded the Russian port city of Vladivostok.  Highlights events of each ancestor’s life, including Brynner’s Academy Award-winning father’s path to the movie industry and his own stints as a clown, bodyguard, and writer.  2006.

Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn
by Donald Spoto
BR 17199
Biography of film star Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) details her childhood in Belgium, England, and Nazi-controlled Holland; her ballet training; and her 1951 breakout role in Broadway’s Gigi.  Traces her subsequent career in films, marriages to Mel Ferrer and Andrea Dotti, and later humanitarian work with UNICEF.  Some strong language.  2006.

Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger
by Laurence Leamer
RC 61227
Chronicles Schwarzenegger’s rise from immigrant athlete to action hero and governor of California.  Describes the bodybuilding culture and Hollywood scene.  Comments on Schwarzenegger’s business acumen, relationships, and marriage to Kennedy family heiress Maria Shriver.  2005.

Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams
by Alvin Yudkoff
RC 50466
Chronicles the personal life and career of Gene Kelly, beginning with his childhood as part of a family dance troupe in Pittsburgh.  Follows his move to Broadway in the 1930s, his first marriage, and his transition to work in films in Hollywood, where he became a sought-after choreographer, actor, and director.  1999.

Gielgud: A Theatrical Life
by Jonathan Croall
RC 53319
Biography of the esteemed British actor, director, and writer John Gielgud (1904–2000).  Describes his life and times, including his family’s theatrical background, his knighthood and the subsequent homosexual scandal in 1953, his ventures on Broadway and in Hollywood, and his numerous radio and television appearances.  2000.

The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, a Personal Biography
by Charlotte Chandler
BR 16899
Based on 1980s interviews with Bette Davis (1908–1989), cinema star from Hollywood’s golden age.  Presents Davis’s reminiscences of her personal and professional life that included four marriages and a rift with her daughter.  Some strong language.  2006.

The Golden Girls of MGM
by Jane Ellen Wayne
RC 56320
Collective biography of female film stars who worked for Louis B. Mayer’s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio.  Concentrates on the love lives of the major actresses, and the ways they were held to a morals clause and needed Mayer’s permission to wed.  Some strong language.  2002.

The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage
by Eli Wallach
RC 61356
Acclaimed Tony Award-winning actor of stage and screen recounts his childhood in Brooklyn, college days in Texas, long marriage, and varied career.  Discusses his experiences with method acting, the Actors Studio, directors, and fellow performers.  Some strong language.  2005.

Gregory Peck: A Biography
by Gary Fishgall
RC 54226
Biography of actor and philanthropist Eldred Gregory Peck, born in 1916 in La Jolla, California.  Traces his family life, matriculation at Berkeley, and relocation to New York City where he began his professional career.  Concentrates on his films, including his Academy Award-winning performance in To Kill a Mockingbird.  2002.

Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood
by Jill Watts
RC 63538
Uses primary documents to chronicle the life of African American actress Hattie McDaniel (1895–1952), who won an Oscar for her role in Gone with the Wind.  Discusses McDaniel’s family and her early career and describes the stereotyping and other controversial issues she faced.  Some strong language.  2005.

I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This! And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny
by Bob Newhart
RC63575
Comedian intersperses his autobiography with anecdotes from his stand-up comedy routines.  Discusses growing up in Chicago, being drafted into the army in 1952, his first real job as an accountant, marriage of forty-three years, and life on the road.  Includes dirty little secrets about comedians.  2006.

Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Vietnam
by Jeffrey
RC 55115
Dual biography of actor Errol Flynn (1909–1959) and his photojournalist son Sean (1941–1971).  Contends that the conflicted younger Flynn both struggled against and emulated his infamous father’s lifestyle; and that the recklessness they shared led to Sean’s death at twenty-nine as a journalist in Vietnam.  Strong language.  2002.

Jack: The Great Seducer; the Life and Many Loves of Jack Nicholson
by Edward Douglas
RC 60357
In this biography of Academy Award-winning movie star Jack Nicholson, Douglas calls Nicholson “the leading American actor of his time, with seventy-eight movies in forty-five years.”  Describes Nicholson’s childhood in New Jersey, film career, womanizing ways, and family secrets.  Some descriptions of sex and some strong language.  2004.

James Arness: An Autobiography
by James Arness
RC 55498
Autobiography of the actor best known for his role in the TV series Gunsmoke.  Describes his Minnesota childhood with his brother (future actor Peter Graves); his World War II tour of duty, which earned him a Purple Heart and Bronze Star; and his theatrical career.  2001.

Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
by Starr Smith
RC 60563, BR 16166
Former Eighth Air Force intelligence officer chronicles Academy Award-winning actor Jimmy Stewart’s World War II service as squadron commander of a combat bombardment group.  Recounts Stewart’s volunteering for service before the United States entered the war and later leading his men across Nazi Germany.  Foreword by Walter Cronkite.  2005.

Julia: Her Life
by James Spada
RC 57815
Well-known celebrity biographer profiles Academy Award-winning actress Julia Roberts.  Drawing on interviews with friends, family, and colleagues, Spada portrays Roberts’s troubled childhood in Georgia, whirlwind love life, and illustrious career starring in such films as Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, and Erin Brockovich.  Some strong language.  2004.

Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir of Sorts
by Carol Channing
RC 56268
Famous for her performances in Hello, Dolly! and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Channing recounts her charmed life on and off Broadway.  Features an all-star cast of celebrities and politicians and includes revealing backstage gossip and anecdotes.  She also discusses her family background and her bout with cancer.  Some strong language.  2002.

Just One More Thing
by Peter Falk
RC 63876
Autobiography of Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actor from the television show Columbo.  Falk discusses his family life, his bout with eye cancer at age three, and the theater training and film experience that led to the role of the eccentric police detective.  Some strong language.  2006.

Kate Remembered
by A. Scott Berg
RC 56771, BR 14926
Berg’s memoir of his twenty-year personal dialog with Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003).  Recounts Hepburn’s reminisces about her family, acting career, and relationship with Spencer Tracy, along with Berg’s own memories of his time spent with Hepburn.  Bestseller.  2003.

Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames
by Ray Hagen
RC 59428
Hollywood leading ladies of the 1930s–1950s identified by the author as “hot tamales (who) weren’t dependent on men to get where they wanted to go.”  Profiles Lucille Ball, Joan Blondell, Ida Lupino, Jane Russell, Ann Sheridan, Barbara Stanwyck, and others.  Foreword by Jane Russell.  Narrated by the author.  2004.

Laurence Olivier: A Biography
by Donald Spoto
RC 61601
Chronicles the life of actor and director Laurence Olivier (1907–1989).  Through interviews with the Shakespearean actor’s friends and colleagues on two continents, biographer Spoto reconstructs Olivier’s sixty-year career and documents his marriages, personal upheavals, and final illness.  1992.

The Leading Men of MGM
by Jane Ellen Wayne
RC 60817
In this companion to The Golden Girls of MGM (RC 56320), the author writes about legendary actors who were under contract to Louis B. Mayer’s Hollywood studio.  Reveals personal information regarding the affairs and vices of Clark Gable, Peter Lawford, Robert Taylor, and others.  Includes filmographies.  Strong language.  2004.

Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life
by Charles Affron
RC 53935
Using letters, interviews, and the subject’s unpublished autobiography, Affron offers a portrait of the public and private life of film actress Lillian Gish (1893–1993).  Describes her evolution from child prodigy to silent screen star to her last performance in 1987 in The Whales of August.  2001.

A Lotus Grows in the Mud
by Goldie Hawn
RC 60332
Memoir of movie and TV actress Goldie Hawn.  Discusses her childhood in a Washington, D.C.,  suburb; career start in New York; role on the 1960s comedy series Laugh-In; and subsequent film roles.  Also reminisces about her private life and search for enlightenment.  Some strong language.  Bestseller.  2005.

Lucky Man: A Memoir
by Michael J. Fox
RC 54165
Autobiography of actor who was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991.  Reminisces about his Canadian childhood, his move to Los Angeles to begin his film career at age eighteen, his alcoholism, and his family—as well as coping with his condition.  Some strong language.  Bestseller.  2002.

Marlon Brando
by Patricia Bosworth
BR 13754
Portrait of the celebrity actor including revelations about his dysfunctional family, his acting lessons with Stella Adler, and highlights of his career.  Describes Brando’s destructive personal behavior.  Provides insight into his political views and his major roles on stage and screen.  Some descriptions of sex and some strong language.  2001.

Matthau: A Life
by Rob Edelman
RC 57901
Biography of actor Walter Matthau (1920–2000), who grew up poor and fatherless in New York during the Great Depression.  The author portrays Mathau’s “tongue-in-cheek” characterizations,  emphasizing his successful career, including starring roles in the films The Odd Couple (1968) and Grumpy Old Men (1993).  2002.

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
by Sidney Poitier
RC 50313
The first African American actor to win an Oscar recalls his idyllic childhood in the Bahamas, his move to Florida at age fifteen, his early struggles to establish an acting career, and his later successes.  Poitier reflects on the family values, ethics, and integrity that sustain him.  Some strong language.  Bestseller.  2000.

Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers
by Ed Sikov
RC 57272
Biographer explores the quirky comic genius of Peter Sellers, famous for the Pink Pantherfilms, Dr. Strangelove, and Lolita.  Interviewing family, friends, and colleagues, Sikov reconstructs Sellers’s unorthodox show business childhood, successful film career, four unsuccessful marriages, and struggle for identity.  2002.

My Anecdotal Life: A Memoir
by Carl Reiner
RC 59517
In his “complete and official, abridged autobiography,” Reiner follows his friends’ advice to write down his funny stories.  In his eighties, Reiner examines his life in the entertainment world and recalls working with people such as Mary Tyler Moore, Sid Caesar, Dinah Shore, and Zero Mostel.  Strong language.  2003.
         
My Life So Far
by Jane Fonda
RC 59956
Autobiography of Academy Award-winning actress who describes a childhood shaped by her father’s acting fame and her mother’s mental illness.  Covers her film career, marriages, controversial political activism during the Vietnam War, and philanthropic work.  Some descriptions of sex and some strong language.  Bestseller.  2005.

My Stroke of Luck
by Kirk Douglas
RC 55049
Actor describes his recovery from a stroke, continuing his life story begun in Climbing the Mountain (RC 52369).  Douglas reminisces about his family and friends and details his struggles to overcome obstacles, including depression and despair.  2002.

Natalie Wood: A Life
by Gavin Lambert
BR 15373
Biography of movie actress Natalie Wood (1938–1981) by a screenwriter friend.  Relying on the accounts of her two husbands and others, Lambert portrays Wood’s manipulative mother, childhood stardom, family secrets, film career struggles and successes, love affairs and marriages, and tragic drowning at age forty-three.  Some strong language.  2004.

Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood
by Suzanne Finstad
RC 53065
Depicts the personal and professional life of film star Natalie Wood, the daughter of a Russian stage mother.  Describes the psychological pressures that shaped the child actress, her two marriages to Robert Wagner, and her successful career on screen until her untimely death in 1981.  Some strong language.  Bestseller.  2001.

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned
by Alan Alda
RC 60651
Memoir of the M*A*S*H actor recalls his life onstage and off.  Describes his bittersweet upbringing backstage by his burlesque actor father and mentally ill mother, major turning points in his career, and lessons he’s learned along the way.  Strong language and some descriptions of sex.  Commercial audiobook.  2005.

Nothing Is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life
by Christopher Reeve
RC 55253, BR 14470
Christopher Reeve, who became a quadriplegic in a 1995 equestrian accident, contemplates what a successful life comprises.  Offers his thoughts on parenting, religion, advocacy, faith, recovery, and keeping a sense of humor along with hope.  2002.

Olivier
by Terry Coleman
RC 63730
Authorized biography uses personal archives of Sir Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) to chronicle the actor’s personal life and professional career.  Highlights his rivalries within the National Theater of Great Britain, film roles, and marriages to the actresses Vivien Leigh and Joan Plowright.  Strong language.  2005.

Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier
by J. Randy Taraborrelli
RC 56443
Portrays the marriage of American movie star Grace Kelly to European Prince Rainier III of Monaco.  Describes how the classic 1950s beauty left her career to become a full-time wife and mother and the difficulties she faced in both these commitments.  2003.

The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivien Vance
by Frank Castelluccio
RC 52671
Biography of nightclub singer and stage actress who became famous for her role as Lucille Ball’s sidekick on the I Love Lucy television series.  Documents her personal life and extensive acting experience before her small-screen debut.  Describes her relationship with the well-known Lucy cast.  Foreword by Robert Osborne.  Some strong language.  1998.

A Paper Life
by Tatum O’Neal
RC 59333
Autobiography of the actress and former child star who, in 1973 at age ten, became the youngest Oscar winner in history.  Describes her childhood of abuse and neglect, disastrous marriage to tennis star John McEnroe, and drug addiction and subsequent recovery.  Bestseller.  2004.

Paul Scofield: An Actor for All Seasons
by Garry O’Connor
RC 60888
Examination of the life of noted British actor, born in 1922, who prefers the stage to film and TV.  O’Connor portrays Scofield as intensely private and dedicated, and discusses the depth and range in the actor’s roles, including Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons and Shakespeare’s King Lear.  2002.

Remarkable Changes: Turning Life’s Challenges into Opportunities
by Jane Seymour
RC 56224
Autobiography of English actress (b. 1951).  Seymour shares seven lessons for making the most of life’s changes and candidly discusses her own disappointments and triumphs—her divorces and marriages, children, and career.  Includes stories of others who grew from their experiences, as well as a preface by Christopher Reeve.  2003.

Robert Mitchum: “Baby, I Don’t Care”
by Lee Server
RC 52144
Biography of screen legend Robert Mitchum (1917–1997), who left his bohemian home at age fourteen to a lead life that included stints as a boxer, laborer, vagabond, and jailbird.  Describes Mitchum’s family saga, long marriage to his teenage sweetheart, and career in Hollywood.  Some strong language.  2001.

Shattered Love: A Memoir
by Richard Chamberlain
RC 60046
Stage and screen actor’s autobiography centers on “the spiritual themes of God, love, and forgiveness.”  Addresses his childhood with an alcoholic parent, his sexual orientation, and his drift into acting during college.  Discusses his 1960s breakout role as Dr. Kildare and professional relationships with other actors.  Some strong language.  2003.

Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon
by Aram Goudsouzian
RC 58458
History professor chronicles the life and Hollywood career of Sidney Poitier (b. 1927).  Explores how Poitier, a leading black actor during the civil rights movement, struggled with racial politics, stereotyping, the paradox of his race, and intense insecurity.  Describes his rags-to-riches success, romances, film credits, awards, and directing debut.  2004.

Speedbumps: Flooring It through Hollywood
by Teri Garr
RC 61909
Comic actress Teri Garr describes her youth in Hollywood and her ambition to become a movie star.  Discusses a long career that began with dancing, her dedication to acting, and the 1983 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis that forced Garr to refocus her life and priorities.  Some strong language.  2005.

Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry
by Mel Watkins
RC 61843
Biography of Lincoln Perry (1902–1985), Hollywood’s first successful black movie star.  Traces his career from minstrel shows to comic roles in talking pictures that made him a millionaire.  Describes the post-World War II disapproval of Perry’s characterizations of African Americans that ended his popularity.  Strong language.  2005.

Tallulah! The Life and Times of a Leading Lady
by Joel Lobenthal
RC 60534
Biography of Bankhead, based on author’s twenty-five years of research through interviews with the actress’s friends, enemies, lovers, and employees and information from FBI and Scotland Yard files.  Discusses the emotional, sexual, and intellectual dimensions of Bankhead, along with her fifty-year career on stage and screen.  2004.

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
by Alan Alda
RC 64972
In this follow-up to his memoir Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
(RC 60651), in which he recounts how he nearly died in Chile, actor Alan Alda muses about what is really important and examines the turning points in his life.  Narrated by the author.  Commercial audiobook.  2007.

This Life
by Sidney Poitier
RC 63615
Autobiography of Academy Award-winning black actor Sidney Poitier (b. 1927).  The Miami-born son of Bahamian farmers, Poitier chronicles his childhood on the islands and move to New York City as a teenager.  Describes his marriages and hard-fought journey overcoming racism and stereotypes to find success on stage and screen.  1980.

’Tis Herself: A Memoir
by Maureen O’Hara
RC 58099, BR 15470
Illustrious actress reminisces about her six-decade career during Hollywood’s golden age.  Describes her radio and stage child-stardom in Ireland, arrival in California at eighteen, interactions with famous actors and directors, marriages, and retirement in the Virgin Islands.  Some strong language.  2004.

Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography
by Victoria Price
RC 49706
Biography of actor Vincent Price by his daughter Victoria.  Traces the family history, Price’s childhood in St. Louis, his time at Yale University, and his career in theater and later Hollywood.  Discusses his children and multiple marriages, “greylisting” during the McCarthy era, and his passion for art.  1999.

Wake Up, I’m Fat!
by Camryn Manheim
RC 50253
Actress known for her television role in The Practice describes life as a large person in an industry in which looks are paramount.  Discusses her one-woman show, dedicating her Emmy to “all the fat girls,” and serving as an alternative role model.  Strong language.  1999.

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Cassette

____RC 60819  Against All Odds
____RC 61642  Alec Guinness
____RC 58502  Are You Hungry, Dear?
____RC 58851  Ask Me Again Tomorrow
____RC 57351  Audrey Hepburn
____RC 63335  Ava Gardner
____RC 62490  Barbra
____RC 53111  Bing Crosby
____RC 59992  Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams
____RC 62639  Burnt Toast and Other Philosophies of Life
____RC 50531  Burt Lancaster
____RC 61581  Buster Keaton
____RC 60081  By Myself and Then Some
____RC 53048  Call Me Crazy
____RC 58732  Carole Lombard, The Hoosier Tornado
____RC 60049  Cary Grant
____RC 54530  Clark Gable
____RC 51309  Clint Eastwood
____RC 50450  Cybill Disobedience
____RC 58562  Dark Lover
____RC 60610  De Niro
____RC 58567  Design for Living
____RC 60414  Down Came the Rain
____RC 63718  Elizabeth
____RC 62546  Empire and Odyssey
____RC 61227  Fantastic
____RC 50466  Gene Kelly
____RC 53319  Gielgud
____RC 56320  The Golden Girls of MGM
____RC 61356  The Good, the Bad, and Me
____RC 54226  Gregory Peck
____RC 63538  Hattie McDaniel
____RC 63575  I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!
____RC 55115  Inherited Risk
____RC 60357  Jack: The Great Seducer
____RC 55498  James Arness
____RC 60563  Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
____RC 57815  Julia
____RC 56268  Just Lucky I Guess
____RC 63876  Just One More Thing
____RC 56771  Kate Remembered
____RC 59428  Killer Tomatoes
____RC 61601  Laurence Olivier
____RC 60817  The Leading Men of MGM
____RC 53935  Lillian Gish
____RC 60332  A Lotus Grows in the Mud
____RC 54165  Lucky Man
____RC 57901  Matthau
____RC 50313  The Measure of a Man
____RC 57272  Mr. Strangelove
____RC 59517  My Anecdotal Life
____RC 59956  My Life So Far
____RC 55049  My Stroke of Luck
____RC 53065  Natasha
____RC 60651  Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
____RC 55253  Nothing Is Impossible
____RC 63730  Olivier
____RC 56443  Once Upon a Time
____RC 52671  The Other Side of Ethel Mertz
____RC 59333  A Paper Life
____RC 60888  Paul Scofield
____RC 56224  Remarkable Changes
____RC 52144  Robert Mitchum
____RC 60046  Shattered Love
____RC 58458  Sidney Poitier
____RC 61909  Speedbumps
____RC 61843  Stepin Fetchit
____RC 60534  Tallulah!
____RC 64972  Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
____RC 63615  This Life
____RC 58099  ’Tis Herself
____RC 49706  Vincent Price
____RC 50253  Wake Up, I’m Fat!

Braille

____BR 17199  Enchantment
____BR 16899  The Girl Who Walked Home Alone
____BR 16166  Jimmy Stewart: Bomber Pilot
____BR 14926  Kate Remembered
____BR 13754  Marlon Brando
____BR 15373  Natalie Wood
____BR 14470  Nothing Is Impossible
____BR 15470  ’Tis Herself

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Posted on 2010-10-13