About this item
Gloria Swanson defined what it meant to be a movie star, but her unforgettable role in Sunset Boulevard overshadowed the true story of her life. Now Stephen Michael Shearer sets the record straight in the first in-depth biography of the film legend.Swanson was Hollywood’s first successful glamour queen. Her stardom as an actress in the mid-1920s earned her millions of fans and millions of dollars. Realizing her box office value early in her career, she took control of her life. Soon she was not only producing her own films, she was choosing her scripts, selecting her leading men, casting her projects, creating her own fashions, guiding her publicity, and living an extravagant and sometimes extraordinary celebrity lifestyle.
About the Author
STEPHEN MICHAEL SHEARER (born Stephen R. Sypult on January 21) grew up in Illinois, Michigan and Arkansas. At age 11 he wrote his first play, Hellen and Ellen in the Wilderness. For several years he has contributed film research to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He directed his first film, Sylvia and Sally of the Sand Dunes, while in college where he earned a B.S.E. in music and a minor in psychology. He hosted the CBS-affiliate afternoon TV show, "The Movies", while also in school, and wrote film and book reviews for such national publications as Film Collector's Registry. Mr. Shearer is also a former model and actor. He has appeared on television (Dallas, Central Park West, etc.) and has starred off-Broadway (in the Samuel French Award-winning play The Appointment, etc.) . He also directed the New York stage success The Last of September. He has acted in films, beginning with Split Image (1982) with Elizabeth Ashley and Peter Fonda, and the more recent Flying By (2009) with Patricia Neal and Billy Ray Cyrus and the documentary The Green Girl (2013) . His first book is the critically acclaimed best-seller Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life (University Press of Kentucky, 2006) , considered the definitive biography of the beloved actress, his long-time friend and muse. His second book is the stunning biography Beautiful: The Life of Hedy Lamarr (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2010) . Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2013) is his third biography. Mr. Shearer has also penned a series of distinctive biographical profiles for The Las Vegas Review-Journal, "The Legendary Las Vegas Headliners" (2008-2009) , and has written a personal novel, September. Mr. Shearer lives in the Twin Cities in Minnesota and New York, and is now writing two new comprehensive film histories.
