Marilyn Monroe remains the most provocative female legend of the twentieth century. What you may have known about her before was only the tip of the iceberg. For twenty years, the men and women who knew Marilyn best saw what they knew suppressed because certain important people were still living, and the tenor of the times prohibited frankness. Instead, rumors ballooned.This book finally sets the record straight.Fred Guiles—whom Norman Mailer acknowledges as the chief sourc...

Jane Fonda has been in the public eye since birth; just being Henry’s daughter qualified her for celebrity status. However, her intelligence and talent compelled her to reach beyond this birthright to become an individual of extraordinary and diverse accomplishments.It would take a restless camera to document Jane Fonda’s life for she is a woman of formidable energy, but Fred Lawrence Guiles’ expert commentary captures her in motion. We pursue her in a tireless route of study, self...

Tyrone Power was as versatile in life as he was on the screen. He was several men, and during the creation of this book I have been fortunate in having the other principal ‘lead” in each of these lives as an active partner, coming very close at times to the point of collaboration. He was the last idol created by the vast star-making machine, Twentieth Century Fox. Coming from a family of multi-generational actors, Tyrone Power broke the proverbial mold. His on-screen charisma in the 30's a...

Meticulously researched, Joan Crawford: The Last Word deals in full with her long movie career and explores in detail her turbulent private life. Respected biographer Fred Lawrence Guiles uses newly discovered sources and recent interviews with many who knew her, and some who loved her, to establish the person behind the carefully crafted screen icon.For most of her adult life she was a Star who dedicated herself entirely to her career. But since her death her luster has b...

Stan, surprisingly, is the first full-length biography of the legendary comic who was the creative half of the universally loved duo, Laurel and Hardy. Based upon scores of interviews with family and friends (including the intimate diaries of Virginia Ruth Laurel, whom Stan married three times) and enhanced by a magnificent collection of previously unpublished photographs, Stan tells the very human story of Laurel’s struggle to survive against difficult odds, personal and professional....

Marion Davies was, in so many ways, created by and for William Randolph Hearst—their symbiotic relationship spanned from 1915 when W.R. first ogled her chorus-girl charms until his death in 1951. But she was much more quickly superannuated, cinema-historically speaking, by the Orson Welles-Herman Mankiewicz dumb-blonde caricature in Citizen Kane, paradoxically the most important film in her life. Fred Lawrence Guiles presents the life story of one of the most deft comedians in silent pictu...

Tyrone Power was as versatile in life as he was on the screen. He was a multifaceted man and was the last idol created by the vast star-making machine Twentieth Century Fox. Coming from a family of multi-generational actors, Tyrone Power broke the proverbial mold. His on-screen charisma in the '30s and '40s propelled him to the forefront of must-have actors. His on-screen accomplishments were many, yet he did not hesitate to enter the military when his country went to war. After the war, h...

Surprisingly, this is the first full-length biography of the legendary comic who was the creative half of the universally loved duo Laurel and Hardy. Based upon scores of interviews with family and friends (including the intimate diaries of Virginia Ruth Laurel, whom Stan married three times), Stan tells the very human story of Laurel’s struggle to survive against difficult odds, personal and professional. From precarious beginnings in vaudeville with Charlie Chaplin, skinny Stan changed h...

It would take a restless camera to document Jane Fonda’s life for she is a woman of formidable energy, but Fred Lawrence Guiles’ expert commentary captures her in motion. We pursue her in a tireless route of study, self-discovery, and social awareness that causes her to ultimately reject the lifestyle of her first husband Roger Vadim for the role of political activist with her present husband Tom Hayden. We witness how the shift in political climate transforms her from history’s scourge to...

For most of her adult life, Joan Crawford was a star who dedicated herself entirely to her career. But since her death, her luster has been tarnished. Here, at last, is a biography that sets the record straight. In her heyday, Joan Crawford was probably the most imitated woman in the world. Magazine covers featured her face, and high-school and college girls copied her makeup and clothing. Born Lucille Fay LeSueur in Kansas City, she spent her childhood on the edge of poverty. But an iron ...

What you may have known about Marilyn Monroe before was only the tip of the iceberg. For twenty years, the men and women who knew Marilyn best saw what they knew suppressed because certain important people were still living and the tenor of the times prohibited frankness. Instead, rumors ballooned. This book finally sets the record straight. Fred Lawrence Guiles―whom Norman Mailer acknowledges as the chief source of facts about Marilyn Monroe―has written about the life behind the legend. H...