Academy Awards (Motion pictures) - Fiction; Motion picture industry - Fiction
Mary McNamara discusses her book, “Oscar Season.” She begins by explaining the plot of the novel, which follows the story of Juliet who is the assistant manager of the Pinnacle Hotel, where all the movie stars visit during Oscar season. Things...
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...
Actresses - Fiction; Older women - Fiction; Motion picture actors and actresses - Fiction; Private investigators - California - Los Angeles - Fiction
Ray Bradbury discusses his book, “Let’s All Kill Constance." He explains that the plot is set in 1960s Los Angeles and follows an unnamed writer who serves as the novel’s narrator. The mystery begins with a visit from an aging Hollywood...
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...
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...
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...
Chambers, Stan, 1922-; KTLA-TV (Television station : Los Angeles, Calif.); Television journalists - United States - Biography
Stan Chambers discusses his autobiography, “KTLA’s News at Ten.” He begins by explaining that he was the KTLA news anchor for 60 years. He talks about his early life and how his mother worked as an actress in Hollywood to support her...
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...
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...
Gulliver, Neil (Fictitious character) - Fiction; Marriner, Stevie (Fictitious character) - Fiction; Art treasures in war - Fiction; Journalists - Fiction; Art thefts - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
Robert S. Levinson discusses his book, “Hot Paint.” He begins by introducing the two main characters Stevie Marriner, a former soap opera actress and Neil Gulliver, her ex-husband. Levinson explains that the characters have recently been...
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...
Lindfors, Viveca, 1920-1995; Actors - Sweden - Biography
Viveca Lindfors discusses her autobiography, “Vivika… Vivica…” She begins by explaining why she decided to change the spelling of her name at an early age. She talks about her career as a stage actress and singer from Sweden. She...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
