In the male-oriented studio system, Greta Garbo wielded a power no other actress has ever possessed, before or since. Be it producer, director, lover or journalist, Garbo called the shots, and when she decided that she was done with the whirlwind of life as Hollywood's darling she withdrew completely, leaving her public begging for an encore that never came. Though there have been numerous biographies of Garbo, this is the first to investigate fully the two so-called missing periods in the...

Jean Harlow was an enigma, the original Blonde Bombshell, completely uninhibited. She made no secret of the fact that she never wore underwear, bleached her pubic hair to match that on her head – and was never afraid of showing this to journalists, ifthey asked.On the screen she epitomised the fun-loving, wise-cracking tart-with-a-heart yet away from the spotlight she was nothing like the public perceived her to be.In this new biography, David Bret uncovers an unhapp...

Dubbed the British Marilyn Monroe' or the British Bridget Bardot', Diana Dors finally proclaimed I'd rather be known as the hurricane in mink'. The actress was best known for her lavish lifestyle; she was a blonde bombshell with a penchant for flashy cars, opulent mansions, glitzy garb and jet-setting living. Diana Dors' rise to fame started with being a GI favourite during the war. However, she was keen to ditch her goody-goody image and announced that she wanted to be like Errol Flynn. I...

Clark Gable was perceived as the archetypal Hollywood superman, the kind of man that women lusted after and their husbands envied. However, as David Bret reveals in this powerful biography, in the early days of his career, with his squinty teeth and fondness for men as well as woman, he was anything but the wholesome figure he appeared. Gable was adopted by the 'Sewing Circle' – the group that included Jean Harlow and, ironically, Carole Lombard, the great love of his life.Bret also...

With his stunning looks and swashbuckling onscreen panache Errol Flynn was by all appearances the quintessential movie star who had it all. But Flynn's manicured Hollywood persona did little to hide his insatiable appetites off-screen - the binge drinking, brawling and womanising that would forever cement his place as a film legend. In this hard-hitting study, bestselling show business biographer David Bret traces the life and loves of the actor and man.It was Flynn's natural chari...

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 div...

With her bobbed, blonde hair and flashing smile, Doris Day was portrayed as the girl next door – a virginal girl that you could take home to your parents. In real life, she was not quite the happy-go-lucky blonde with the bubbly personality promoted by Warner Brothers who simply wanted to market her as a commodity.Married young, to a violent bully, and with a child, Day had to work hard, touring with bands, to get her start in showbusiness. A reluctant star, all Doris Day wanted to ...

At 1.28 a.m. on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, just three weeks after celebrating her 79th birthday, the biggest star Hollywood has ever known died. The tributes and eulogies to Elizabeth Taylor were legion. A weeping Elton John said, 'We have just lost a Hollywood giant. More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being.'In Elizabeth Taylor: The Lady, The Lover, The Legend, 1932-2011, acclaimed biographer David Bret has written the revealing, incisive and defin...

From the acclaimed author of Joan Crawford comes a riveting and uncensored biography of Clark Gable. The archetypal male of his era, Gable was named King of Hollywood” in 1938. But as David Bret reveals, the star was not quite who he seemed. One of Gable's best-kept secrets was his bisexuality.Bret recounts Gable's failed marriages to women who turned a blind eye toward his affairs with actors Earl Larimore and Rod La Rocque, among other men. Bret also reveals how a pseud...

Errol Flynn set the standard for the modern action hero in films like The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, and The Sea Hawk. This biography follows Flynn from his birth in Tasmania, Australia, in 1909, to his death in Vancouver, Canada, in 1959. Included is analysis of his films, discussion of the 1943 rape trial that changed his life, a survey of the FBI's infamous surveillance, and the first detailed account of his television appearances in the 1950s. First-hand in...

Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantlyresearched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature—the abusive, unstable mother portrayed in her adopted daughter Christina Crawford's memoir, Mommie Dearest—to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and...

The legendary Hollywood star blazes a fiery trail in this enthralling portrait of a brilliant actress and the movies her talent elevated to greatnessShe was magnificent and exasperating in equal measure. Jack Warner called her "an explosive little broad with a sharp left." Humphrey Bogart once remarked, "Unless you're very big she can knock you down." Bette Davis was a force of nature—an idiosyncratic talent who nevertheless defined the words "movie star" for more t...