Bøger af Kathleen Spaltro

"Once called "the most gifted character actor of our time" by Broadway theater producer Arthur Hopkins, Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954) was part of the illustrious Barrymore acting dynasty. Although he garnered success on stage and screen and was a talented actor, writer, director, visual artist, and composer, he never quite escaped the shadow of his family members-including his brother, John, famous for his leading roles. Barrymore won the Academy Award for Best Actor in A Free Soul (1931) and was nominated for Best Director for Madame X (1930). However, he is best known for his role as Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge in radio broadcasts of A Christmas Carol from 1934 to 1953. He spent the last two decades of his career playing versions of his signature character-the curmudgeonly but lovable gentleman-in a variety of films from You Can't Take It With You (1938) to Key Largo (1948). Barrymore worked alongside some of Hollywood's most recognizable names, including Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Frank Capra, Lauren Bacall, Clark Gable, and Ava Gardner, and his legacy is enshrined at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where he has two stars-one for radio and one for film. In Lionel Barrymore: Character and Endurance in Hollywood's Golden Age, Kathleen Spaltro examines Barrymore as an individual rather than just a supporting cast member of the famous dynasty. This comprehensive study divides Barrymore's life into three compelling acts. Act One follows Barrymore's early days-his failed endeavor as a visual artist, his performances in the family vaudeville acts, his first silent motion pictures, and his greatest successes and failures on the stage. Act Two details Barrymore's establishment as a fixture at MGM, his foray into directing, his success as the first actor to thrive in the talkies, and his estimable Oscar-winning performance. Finally, Act Three expounds on Barrymore's curation of his trademark character-the endearing grouch-his exploits in radio, and his fateful final years. Spaltro also unearths Barrymore's personal challenges, recounts his difficulties with-and sometimes estrangement from-members of his family, and delves into the devastating losses Barrymore suffered: his divorce, the deaths of his two daughters, and later, the death of his second wife and the accidents that eventually consigned him to a wheelchair. Lionel Barrymore is a detailed, multifaceted portrait of a brilliant character actor"--

Many lies have been told about Mary Astor. She never abandoned her parents to poverty. Her face was their fortune rather than her own. Nor did she rate on a private scorecard the sexual prowess of Hollywood leading men. But two more dangerous and persistent lies have distorted the understanding of her life. One lie defines Astor as the survivor of sex scandals and suicide attempts who ended up living on charity in a retirement home for film folk. There is much more to her story than that miserable scenario, for, in fact, with grit and determination, she rebounded from middle-aged decline to invest her energies in a new career as an excellent memoirist and novelist. The other most important lie-indeed, the great lie-robbed her of her core identity as Lucile Langhanke and imposed on her a movie stardom that she did not want. This book tells how "Mary Astor" recovered who she really was and really wanted to be. "Falsehood flies," Jonathan Swift noted, "and the Truth comes limping after it." However halting its pace, the truth about this gifted and highly intelligent person is much more interesting than any of the lies.The first full biography of Mary Astor, this book makes extensive use of previously unknown primary material from archives. In doing so, it corrects many errors of dates and facts in previous accounts. Respecting Astor's own priorities, it rebalances its account of Astor's life in terms of her personal struggles, as well as her achievements as an actress on radio, in film, on stage, and in TV as well as an excellent memoirist and novelist. It also extends our understanding of Astor's difficult life by explaining the profound effects of emotional abuse and financial exploitation by a narcissistic parent.