Sarah’s Thoughts: Celebrities today have nothing on old Hollywood. Back then, if you were a star - a REAL star - you became a legend, and the studios would do anything to keep your real self hidden. Joan Crawford’s real life story reads like fiction, plus she said stuff like this:
“I love playing bitches. There’s a lot of bitch in every woman — a lot in every man.”
Was she actually a huge biotch? Or just a hard-working, uncompromising professional who would do anything to get away from her crappy childhood and scary mom?
Goodreads: 3.25/5
In the first biography of Joan Crawford to give the full, uncensored story, bestselling author David Bret tells Crawford's rags to riches climb, from working in a Kansas City laundry to collecting an Oscar for her defining role in Mildred Pierce, and on to her devotion to Christian Science and reliance on vodka. He discusses the star's legendary relationship with Clark Gable, her countless love affairs, her marriages — three of them to gay men — and her obsession with rough sex. Bret divulges what really happened that led her to disinherit two of her four children, earning her the nickname "Mommie Dearest," as well as how her loathed mother forced Crawford to work as a prostitute, appear in pornographic films, and sleep her way to the top.
Bret analyzes Crawford's films, many of which were constructed purely as vehicles where actress and character were often indistinguishable. Overtly generous towards her coterie of gay friends, she was heartless towards her enemies, particularly Bette Davis, her co-star in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, with whom she shared a lifelong feud.
Note: The shape is a bit rippled.
Sarah’s Thoughts: Celebrities today have nothing on old Hollywood. Back then, if you were a star - a REAL star - you became a legend, and the studios would do anything to keep your real self hidden. Joan Crawford’s real life story reads like fiction, plus she said stuff like this:
“I love playing bitches. There’s a lot of bitch in every woman — a lot in every man.”
Was she actually a huge biotch? Or just a hard-working, uncompromising professional who would do anything to get away from her crappy childhood and scary mom?
Goodreads: 3.25/5
In the first biography of Joan Crawford to give the full, uncensored story, bestselling author David Bret tells Crawford's rags to riches climb, from working in a Kansas City laundry to collecting an Oscar for her defining role in Mildred Pierce, and on to her devotion to Christian Science and reliance on vodka. He discusses the star's legendary relationship with Clark Gable, her countless love affairs, her marriages — three of them to gay men — and her obsession with rough sex. Bret divulges what really happened that led her to disinherit two of her four children, earning her the nickname "Mommie Dearest," as well as how her loathed mother forced Crawford to work as a prostitute, appear in pornographic films, and sleep her way to the top.
Bret analyzes Crawford's films, many of which were constructed purely as vehicles where actress and character were often indistinguishable. Overtly generous towards her coterie of gay friends, she was heartless towards her enemies, particularly Bette Davis, her co-star in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, with whom she shared a lifelong feud.
Note: The shape is a bit rippled.
ISBN: 9780306816246
