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Library | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
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Searching... Niagara Falls Public Library | 34305011129239 | B DE HAVILLAND | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
This is classic Hollywood history as told through the life and career of one of its most iconic actresses. The book benefits tremendously from the author's meeting with Olivia de Havilland after he was assigned to handle her projected memoir at the Delacorte Press in 1973. Amburn also knew many of the key figures in her life and career, a veritable pantheon of Hollywood royalty from the 30s, 40s, and 50s: Jimmy Stewart, George Cukor, and David O. Selznick, and he was an editor at William Morrow when the company published the autobiography of de Havilland's difficult sister Joan Fontaine. Superbly researched and full of delicious anecdotes about Clark Gable, John Huston, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Montgomery Clift, Errol Flynn, David Niven, and Bette Davis--particularly the bloody, bone-crunching fistfight Flynn and Huston waged over Olivia--this book not only profiles one of the finest actresses of her time, but also the culture of the film industry's Golden Age. It details de Havilland's relationships with the men who sought her--Howard Hughes, Jimmy Stewart, Errol Flynn, John F. Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, and John Huston, as well as her friendships with Grace Kelly, British Prime Minister Edward Heath, Ronald Reagan, Victor Fleming, and Ingrid Bergman. Woven throughout this biography is de Havilland's feud with her reckless and beautiful sister and archrival for men and movie roles, Joan Fontaine, a lifelong conflict that lays bare the complex character of both women. Joan, whose arch behavior is dissected in the author's interview with her Morrow publicist, tried to hijack Howard Hughes, who'd asked Olivia to marry him. He also proposed to Joan. Here, too, are the fabulous and often surprising back stories of her 49 films, including Gone With the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Snake Pit, Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and the two for which she won Oscars, The Heiress and To Each His Own. The account of the filming of Gone With the Wind is unique in that the author interviewed many of the people involved in the epic making of this masterpiece as Lois Dwight Cole, who discovered the novel, producer David O. Selznick, director George Cukor, agents Kay Brown and Annie Laurie Williams, Radie Harris, Vivien Leigh's closest friend in the press, and both Edie Goetz and Irene Mayer Selznick, daughters of Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, the studio that funded, released, and ended up owning Gone With the Wind. Also included in this biography are Olivia's adventures with Bette Davis. They appeared together in four movies and Davis tried to destroy her, but Olivia stood up to Davis as no other actress had ever dared to do. She won Davis's respect, and by the time they made their biggest hit, Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte, a lasting friendship had blossomed. Undertaking a joint national publicity tour, they attracted mobs of boisterous fans and, in private, reminisced about the Golden Age of movies, evaluated the current crop of stars, and exchanged observations about love goddesses, nudity, and parenthood.
Author Notes
Ellis Amburn was born in Texas on August 2, 1933. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1954. He worked as a reporter-researcher at Newsweek before becoming a book editor at Putnam, where he edited John le Carré and Jack Kerouac. Amburn was also an editor-in-chief at Delacorte and William Morrow. He worked as a ghostwriter with Priscilla Presley, Shelley Winters, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Sammy Davis, Jr. He wrote several biographies including Buddy Holly: A Biography, Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story, The Sexiest Man Alive: A Biography of Warren Beatty, Subterranean Kerouac, and Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin. He died after a long illness on August 18, 2018 at the age of 85.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Table of Contents
Prologue | p. ix |
Part 1 Dawn | |
1 Land of the Rising Sun | p. 3 |
2 Max Reinhardt, Dick Powell, Mickey Rooney, and James Cagney | p. 11 |
3 Errol Flynn | p. 21 |
4 Anthony Adverse, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and Call It a Day | p. 27 |
5 It's Love I'm After | p. 37 |
6 Joan Falls in Love, Olivia Makes a Western | p. 43 |
7 The Adventures of Robin Hood | p. 49 |
8 Brian Aherne | p. 55 |
9 Howard Hughes | p. 61 |
Part 2 Gone With the Wind | |
10 David O. Selznick | p. 69 |
11 George Cukor, F Scott Fitzgerald, Victor Fleming | p. 79 |
12 The Atlanta and New York Premieres of Gone With the Wind | p. 99 |
13 Jimmy Stewart | p. 109 |
Part 3 Affairs of the Heart | |
14 Vying with Vivien Leigh and Joan Fontaine for Rebecca | p. 123 |
15 With Ingrid Bergman, Burgess Meredith, John Huston, Bette Davis, and George Brent | p. 131 |
16 Olivia and Joan Compete for the Best-Actress Oscar | p. 143 |
17 The de Havilland Rule | p. 151 |
Part 4 Years of Triumph | |
18 To Each His Own, the Witch Hunt, The Snake Pit, and the Cover of Time | p. 173 |
19 Working with Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, and William Wyler in The Heiress | p. 187 |
Part 5 Fateful Decisions | |
20 A Streetcar Named Desire | p. 201 |
21 Grace under Pressure | p. 217 |
22 Marriage French Style | p. 229 |
23 Grace Kelly and the Jet Set | p. 237 |
24 On Broadway with Henry Fonda, on the High Seas with Edward Heath | p. 255 |
25 Grand Guignol: Having Fun with Bette Davis in Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte | p. 265 |
26 Benjamin's Illness, Olivia's Faith, Prime Minister Edward Heath, Airport '77, and TV | p. 277 |
27 Sunset and Evening Star | p. 293 |
28 Grand Slam: Legion of Honor, National Medal of Arts, Dame Commander | p. 307 |
Epilogue | p. 321 |
Acknowledgments | p. 327 |
Endnotes | p. 331 |
Index | p. 389 |
About the Author | p. 411 |