Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography - Dictionaries; Silent films - United States - History and criticism
Anthony Slide discusses his book, “Silent Players.” He begins by explaining that he first became interested in silent films in the 1960s. He then explores some of the actors and actresses that he writes about in his book, including May Marsh,...
Women detectives - California - Los Angeles - Fiction; Government investigators - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
April Smith discusses her novel, “North of Montana.” She begins by talking about how her book is about an FBI agent whose cousin gets murdered, so she decides to take in her cousin’s children and raise them. She describes another character...
Stanwyck, Barbara, 1907-1990;
Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography
Axel Madsen discusses his biography, “Stanwyck.” He begins by explaining the early life of actress Barbara Stanwyck, including her sudden rise to fame. He talks about meeting her and how her personality differed from her on-screen persona. ...
Fuller, Samuel, 1912-1997; Motion picture producers and directors - United States -Biography; Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography; Screenwriters - United States - Biography
Christa Fuller discusses the book, “A Third Face.” She begins by explaining why she decided to complete and publish her husband, Samuel Fuller’s autobiography after he passed away. She gives details of her own career as an actress and...
Grease (Motion picture); Film adaptations - History and criticism
Didi Conn discusses her book, “Frenchy’s Grease Scrapbook.” She begins by explaining that she is the actress that played the character Frenchy in the motion picture adaptation of “Grease.” The book is a compilation of photographs...
Gross, Nelson, 1932-1997; Lenney, Dinah; Murder - New Jersey - Case studies; Millionaires - Crimes against - New Jersey - Case studies; Children of murder victims - United States - Biography; Fathers and daughters - United States - Biography;...
Dinah Lenney discusses her book, “Bigger than Life.” She begins by explaining that the book is a memoir of her life and experiences beginning with the traumatic event of her father’s kidnapping in 1997. She shares how her father, Nelson...
Burstyn, Ellen, 1932-; Actors - United States - Biography
Ellen Burstyn discusses her book, “Lessons in Becoming Myself.” She begins by sharing stories from her childhood. She tells how she was sent away to boarding school at an early age and when she returned home she lived under the rule of a...
Erica Jong discusses her novel, “Serenissima.” She begins by explaining the book is about an actress who goes to Venice for a movie, but time travels back to the 16th century and falls in love with William Shakespeare. She talks about how she...
Erika Schickel discusses her book, “You’re Not the Boss of Me.” She begins by explaining that she used to be an actress and wrote the first chapter as a performance piece. Martinson asks Schickel to read a passage from the book about being...
Wood, Natalie; Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography
Gavin Lambert discusses his biography, “Natalie Wood.” He begins by explaining that he was a long-time friend of the late actress Natalie Wood, and wrote the screenplay for the film, “Inside Daisy Clover.” He talks about how Wood was a...
Motion picture actors and actresses - Fiction; Children of physicians - Fiction; British - California - Fiction; Fathers and daughters - Fiction; Physicians - Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
Geoff Nicholson discusses his book, “The Hollywood Dodo.” He begins by explaining the book’s plot, which follows the exploits of Henry Cadwallader, an English doctor, whose daughter Dorothy is an aspiring actress. Nicholson discusses the...
Married women - Fiction; Motion picture industry - Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction
Jackie Collins discusses her book, “Hollywood Wives.” Collins provides the storyline and character sketches which have been inspired by Collin’s observations of Beverly Hills lifestyles. She goes on to talk about her sister, actress, Joan...
National Endowment for the Arts; Arts administrators - United States - Biography; Actresses - United States - Biography
Jane Alexander discusses her book, “Command Performance: An Actress in the Theater of Politics.” Alexander says she left the play, “The Sisters Rosensweig” in order to take over the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). She talks about...
Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography; McDaniel, Hattie, 1895-1952
Jill Watts discusses her book, “Hattie McDaniel.” She begins by explaining that the book tells the story of Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Academy Award. Born the youngest daughter of freed slaves, Hattie McDaniel sang...
Holman, Libby; Singers - United States - Biography
Jon Bradshaw discusses his book, “Dreams that Money Can Buy.” He begins by explaining that his book is a biography of the singer and actress Libby Holman. He talks about her Broadway aspirations at a young age. He discusses how her husband...
Annakin, Ken; Motion picture producers and directors - Great Britain - Biography
Ken Annakin discusses his book, “So You Wanna Be a Director.” He begins by explaining how he traveled all around Europe as a child, and got his first movie role as a member of a boy’s choir. He started his film career by doing propaganda...
Linn Ullman discusses her book, “Before you Sleep." She begins by explaining that the book is told mainly in flashbacks and traces the history of a family filled with fractured personalities. The Blom family consists of Karin the narrator, her...
Lisa Fugard discusses her novel, “Skinner’s Drift.” She begins by explaining that the book is about a young girl who grows up in South Africa in the 1980s and then comes back later in life. Fugard talks about her own personal experience...
Margot Livesey discusses her book, “The Missing World.” She begins by explaining that the book is somewhat autobiographical in that she always longs for second chances in the way that some of the characters in the book do. She then explores the...
Marjorie Lord discusses her book, “A Dance and a Hug.” She begins by sharing that the book is a memoir of her life. She explains how her career began and the difficulty of dealing with rejection as an actress. She discusses her transition from...
