Marc Eliot

«La mejor biografía del inmortalCary Grant.»The New York Times«Todo el mundo quiere ser Cary Grant. Incluso yo quiero ser Cary Grant.» Con estas palabras resumía el propio actor la fascinación que s

As an actor, he seduces us with his tough-guy charm. As a director and producer, he amazes us with his artistry and technical savvy. As a Hollywood icon, Clint Eastwood, one of film's greatest living legends, represents some of the finest cinematic achievements in the history of American cinema. In American Rebel, bestselling author and acclaimed film historian Marc Eliot examines the ever-exciting, often-tumultuous arc of Clint Eastwood's life and career. Unlike past biographers, Eliot writes with unflinching candor about Eastwood's highs and lows, his artistic successes and failures, and the fascinating, complex relationship between his life and his craft. Eliot's prodigious research reveals how a college dropout and unambitious playboy rose to fame as Hollywood' s "sexy rebel," eventually and against all odds becoming a star in the Academy pantheon as a multiple Oscar winner. Spanning decades, American Rebel covers the best of Eastwood' s oeuvre, films that have fast become American classics-Fistful of Dollars, Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino.

The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more.Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboards Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merles music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music.The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of "the common man."Merle Haggards story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explore the singers infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that expressed itself through drugs, women, booze, and betrayal. The Hag offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate the life and work of Merle Haggard to where both properly belong, in the pantheon of American music and letters.The Hag is the definitive account of this unique American original, and will speak to readers of country music and rock biographies alike.

At long last comes the first full-length, definitive biography of one of Hollywood's most enduring--and fascinating--luminaries, containing never-before-published materials on the actor's private life. Newly discovered details reveal everything from his troubled childhood to his ambiguous sexuality to his experimenting with LSD. (...)

The definitive, unauthorized biography of The Eagles by the New York Times bestselling biographerTo the Limit is the unauthorized account of the group from its earliest years through the breakup, solo careers, and reunions. Blending the country and folk music of the late sixties with the melodic seductiveness of Detroit-style roots rock, the Eagles brought a new sound to a stagnant music scene. Under the brilliant management of David Geffen, the Eagles projected a public image of unshakable camaraderie -- embodied by the cerebral, brooding Don Henley and the intuitive, self-destructive Glenn Frey -- bolstered by the gorgeous harmonies of their songs. Behind the scenes, however, there was another story. At turns revealing, inspiring, funny, and shocking, To the Limit is the chronicle of a time, a place, and a group that succeeded in changing forever the world of popular music.

La biografía definitiva de uno de los grandes iconos de Hollywood. Elegante, simpático, seductor… Sin duda, Cary Grant fue una de las estrellas masculinas más rutilantes de Hollywood. Con todo, se suele saber poco sobre sus orígenes y su vida privada. Marc Eliot nos ilumina sobre todos los aspectos de la vida de este galán nacido en Inglaterra, que protagonizó no pocos escándalos y que, además de tener un gran talento para la comedia, fue un actor fundamental en la filmografía de Alfred Hitchcock.

The voices of Brooklyn:Im a Brooklyn guy, its in my bones and its there in Brooklyn. Theres a certain rhythm you get growing up there. Every Brooklyn kid has it. Always on the right beat. The Bronx, no; Queens, you were out of it; but Brooklyn, that was it.Mel Brooks, WilliamsburgEveryone got along because we had one major thing that held everyone in Brooklyntogether: the emergence of big-time sports that happened after World War I. You could be an Irishman, an Italian, and a Jew and you could all be in Ebbets Field, sitting together, rooting for the Dodgers. Pete Hamill, Park SlopeI never really saw anyplace in the world as a kid except Brooklyn, so to me Brooklyn was the world. Every avenue was another country. It was a rough place, to be sure. You could say the wrong thing, make the wrong turn and be rubbed or killed, and I guess I was lucky because I had a talent that enabled me to get out . . . A part of me will always be that kid shooting hoops, with a dream in my hand as much as a basketball.Stephon Marbury, Coney IslandBoth my parents were hard, hands-on workers, and that was the foundation of everything for me. Their work ethic was just over the top, and as a result of that I worked hard no matter what level job I had in the media. I was that tough Brooklyn girl pushing my way to the front, which eventually became the top. I was never afraid of hard work; I was always a go-getter, and that was something that came directly out of being born in Brooklyn. I cherish that, as I cherish my entire upbringing in Brooklyn.Maria Bartiromo, Bay RidgeA captivating oral portrait of Americas favorite borough, in the words of those who know Brooklyn bestMel Brooks, Spike Lee, Arthur Miller, Joan Rivers, Norman Mailer, Cousin Brucie, Maria Bartiromo, Pete Hamill, and many other current and former inhabitants.Song of Brooklyn gathers the oral testimony of nearly one hundred Brooklynites past and present, famous and unknown, about a mythic borough that is also an indisputably real place. These witnesses speak eloquently of what it was like back then, when the Dodgers played in Ebbets Field; later, when the borough fell on hard times; and now, when it has come roaring back on the tracks of a real-estate boom, giving it celebrity chic and hipster cred. With this surprising and inspiring renaissance in full swing, the story of Brooklyn is one of the great and still ongoing chapters of the American urban experience, and Song of Brooklyn sings that tune in pitch-perfect key.

Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popular American presidents. The key to understanding his political success and the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made it possible is hidden in his early years as a Hollywood movie star.Other biographers and Reagan in his two memoirs have skimmed over the thirty years he spent as an actor, union activist, and ladies man. Now, for the first time, in this highly entertaining and provocative new work, acclaimed film critic and historian Marc Eliot reveals the truth of those formative years and presents a far different and infinitely more detailed portrait of Reagan than ever before. Based on original research and never-before-published interviews, documents, and other materials, Eliot sheds new light on Reagans film and television work opposite some of the most talented women of the time, including Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Ginger Rogers; his starlet-strewn bachelor days when his name was linked with Lana Turner and Susan Hayward; his first, rocky marriage to actress Jane Wyman and his career-making second marriage to Nancy Davis; his controversial eight years as the president of the Screen Actors Guild; his friendships with Jimmy Stewart and William Holden; his place in the Irish Mafia alongside Pat OBrien, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Errol Flynn; and the crucial role of super-agent Lew Wasserman, who was instrumental in developing the persona that would prove essential to Reagans future as a world leader.Set against the glamorous and often combative background of Hollywoods celebrated Golden Age, Eliots biography provides an exceptionally nuanced examination of the man and uncovers the startling origins of the legend.

The definitive biography of a man with one of the most iconic and fascinating careersand livesin Hollywood. For six decades, Jack Nicholson has been part of film history. With three Oscar wins and twelve nominations to his credit and legendary roles in films like Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Terms of Endearment, The Shining, and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Nicholson created original, memorable characters like no other actor of his generation. And his offscreen life has been no less of an adventureNicholson has always been at the center of the Hollywood elite and has courted some of the most famous and beautiful women in the world. Relying on years of extensive research and interviews with insiders who know Nicholson best, acclaimed biographer Marc Eliot sheds light on Nicholsons life on and off the screen. From Nicholsons working class childhood in New Jersey, where family secrets threatened to tear his family apart, to raucous nights on the town with Warren Beatty and tumultuous relationships with starlets like Michelle Phillips, Anjelica Huston, and Lara Flynn Boyle, to movie sets working with such legendary directors and costars as Dennis Hopper, Stanley Kubrick, and Meryl Streep, Eliot paints a sweeping picture of the breadth of Nicholsons decades-long career in film and an intimate portrait of the real man. Both a comprehensive tribute to a film legend and an entertaining look at a truly remarkable life, Nicholson is a compulsively readable biography of an iconic Hollywood star.

This is the definitive biography of one of the most iconic, complex and enduring legends of Hollywoods golden age, whose major presence in American film, radio, television, stage and theater lasted beyond the second half of the 20th Century, and whose classic films are known throughout the world.Written by New York Times bestselling, prize-winning author Marc Eliot - Cary Grant, Walt Disney, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, and others - with unprecedented access to the family, friends, and Hestons private papers, diaries, journal, writings and estate, he tells an unforgettable tale of an extraordinary life you may find difficult to put down. Eliots biography is rich with facts details and anecdotal material that bring to life the complex story of this most iconic of American popular cultural giants to illuminate Hestons greatest achievements and his personal failures. He examines how a small boy from the backwoods of Michigan rose to become one of Hollywoods most legendary stars, one of the Greatest Generations true-life war heroes - he saw action in the Pacific Theater during World War Two, before moving with his young wife from Chicago to New Yorks Hells Kitchen to begin their struggle to find success in the theater. Eliot traces Hestons pioneering work in live television, his being discovered by Hollywood because of it, and tells the amazing saga of his three films for Cecil B. DeMille and his two for William Wyler, including The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur, the latter for which he won a Best-Actor Oscar, with fascinating new details, documents and photographs never before seen. Eliot follows Heston through the genre of Science Fiction, which he helped revive with Planet of the Apes, and sheds new light on every one of Hestons iconic films. He also examines Hestons long political involvements, from being one of the organizers of The Arts Contingent of Marchers who joined with Martin Luther King, Jr. for the March on Washington, to his mentoring under Ronald Reagan for eventual presidency of the Screen Actors Guild, to his late-in-life presidency of the National Rifle Association, all the while being asked by both Republican and Democratic Parties to run for the United States Senate.With unprecedented cooperation with Hestons family, and never-before-seen personal photos, documents and hand-written letters, Charlton Heston: Hollywoods Last Icon for the first time tells the real story of Charltons Hestons amazing life, an incisive, detailed, compelling portrayal, both for longtime fans, Hollywood movie lovers everywhere and a new college and TCM generation discovering Hestons work for the first time.But who was the man behind the iconic roles and the polarizing political stands?Behind the Scenes of Classic Hollywood: Follow Hestons rise from the backwoods of Michigan to his legendary collaborations with Cecil B. DeMille on films like The Ten Commandments and his Oscar-winning role in Ben-Hur. An Icon of Science Fiction: Discover how he helped revive a genre with the groundbreaking classic Planet of the Apes, creating one of his most memorable roles. A Complex Political Journey: Uncover the surprising story of his transformation from a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to a conservative icon and president of the National Rifle Association. Unprecedented Access: Based on Hestons private papers, diaries, and personal journals, this biography offers an intimate and unfiltered look at the man who became a Hollywood legend.

Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant. Cary GrantHe is Hollywoods most fascinating and timeless star. Although he came to personify the debonair American, Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach on January 18, 1904, in the seaport village of Bristol, England. Combining the captivating beauty of silent-screen legend Rudolph Valentino with the masculine irresistibility of Clark Gable, Grant emerged as Hollywoods quintessential leading man. Today, the man from dream city, as critic Pauline Kael once described him, remains forever young, an icon of quick wit, romantic charm, and urbane sophistication, the epitome of male physical perfection. Yet beneath this idealized movie image was a conflicted man struggling to balance fame with a desire for an intensely private life separate from the Cary Grant persona celebrated by directors and movie studios. Exploring Grants troubled childhood, ambiguous sexuality, and lifelong insecurities as well as the magical amalgam of characteristics that allowed him to remain Hollywoods favorite romantic lead for more than thirty-five years, Cary Grant is the definitive examination of every aspect of Grants professional and private life, and the first to reveal the man behind the movie star.Working with the most talented directors of his time, Grant starred in an astonishing seventy-two films, ranging from his groundbreaking comedic roles in such classics as Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks) and The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor) to the darker, unforgettable characters of Alfred Hitchcocks Suspicion and Notorious, culminating in the consummate sophisticates of An Affair to Remember (Leo McCarey), North by Northwest (Hitchcock), and Charade (Stanley Donen). The camera loved Grant, and his magnetism helped illuminate his leading ladies, some of the most glamorous women ever to grace the silver screen: Mae West, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, and Sophia Loren, among others. Yet, because of his pioneering role as an independent player, Grant was repeatedly denied the Oscar he coveteda snub from the Academy that would last until 1970, when he graciously accepted a special lifetime achievement award.Grants sparkling image on-screen hid a tumultuous personal life that he tried desperately to keep out of the public eye, including his controversial eleven-year relationship with Randolph Scott, five marriages, and numerous affairs.Rigorously researched and elegantly written, Cary Grant: A Biography is a complete, nuanced portrait of the greatest Hollywood star in cinema history.

A groundbreaking portrait of one of Hollywoods most successful stars, from critically acclaimed and bestselling biographer Marc Eliot Through determination, inventiveness, and charisma, Michael Douglas emerged from the long shadow cast by his movie-legend father, Kirk Douglas, to become his own man and one of the film industrys most formidable players. Overcoming the curse of failure that haunts the sons and daughters of Hollywood celebrities, Michael became a sensation when he successfully brought One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, starring his friend Jack Nicholson, to the screen after numerous setbacks, including his fathers own failed attempts to make it happen. This 1975 box-office phenomenon won Michael his first Oscar (the film won five total, including Best Picture), an award Kirk hadnt won at the time, and solidified the turbulent, competitive father-son relationship that would shape Michaels career and personal life. In the decades that followed, Michael established a reputation for taking chances on new talent and projects by producing and starring in the hugely successful Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile movies, while cultivating a multifaceted acting personaedgy, rebellious, and a little darkin such films as Wall Street, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Disclosure. Yet as his career thrived, Michaels personal life floundered, with an unhappy and tumultuous first marriage, rumors of infidelity (especially with leading ladies such as Kathleen Turner), and a headline-grabbing stint in rehab. Rocked by a series of tragedies, including Kirks strokes, his son Camerons incarceration, and his own fight against throat cancer, Michael has emerged triumphant, healthy, and happy in his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Welsh actress twenty-five years his junior, and their new young family.In Michael Douglas, Marc Eliot brings into sharp focus this incredible career, complicated personal life, and legendary Hollywood family. Eliots fascinating portrait of the lows and remarkable highs in Michaels lifeincluding the thorny yet influential relationship with his fatherbreaks boundaries in understanding the life and work of a true American film star.

In American Rebel, bestselling author and acclaimed film historian Marc Eliot examines the ever-exciting, often-tumultuous arc of Clint Eastwoods life and career.As a Hollywood icon, Clint Eastwood--one of films greatest living legends--represents some of the finest cinematic achievements in the history of American cinema. Eliot writes with unflinching candor about Eastwoods highs and lows, his artistic successes and failures, and the fascinating, complex relationship between his life and his craft. Eliots prodigious research reveals how a college dropout and unambitious playboy rose to fame as Hollywoods "sexy rebel," eventually and against all odds becoming a star in the Academy pantheon as a multiple Oscar winner. Spanning decades, American Rebel covers the best of Eastwoods oeuvre, films that have fast become American classics: Fistful of Dollars, Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino. Filled with remarkable insights into Eastwoods personal life and public work, American Rebel is highly entertaining and the most complete biography of one of Hollywoods truly respected and beloved stars-an actor who, despite being the Man with No Name, has left his indelible mark on the world of motion pictures.

Jimmy Stewarts all-American good looks, boyish charm, and deceptively easygoing style of acting made him one of Hollywoods greatest and most enduring stars. Despite the indelible image he projected of innocence and quiet self-assurance, Stewarts life was more complex and sophisticated than most of the characters he played. With fresh insight and unprecedented access, bestselling biographer Marc Eliot finally tells the previously untold story of one of our greatest screen and real-life heroes.Born into a family of high military honor and economic success dominated by a powerful father, Stewart developed an interest in theater while attending Princeton University. Upon graduation, he roomed with the then-unknown Henry Fonda, and the two began a friendship that lasted a lifetime. While he harbored a secret unrequited love for Margaret Sullavan, Stewart was paired with many of Hollywoods most famous, most beautiful, and most alluring leading ladies during his extended bachelorhood, among them Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Loretta Young, and the notorious Marlene Dietrich. After becoming a star playing a hero in Frank Capras Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939 and winning an Academy Award the following year for his performance in George Cukors The Philadelphia Story, Stewart was drafted into the Armed Forces and became a hero in real life. When he returned to Hollywood, he discovered that not only the town had changed, but so had he. Stewarts combat experiences left him emotionally scarred, and his deepening darkness perfectly positioned him for the 50s, in which he made his greatest films, for Anthony Mann (Winchester 73 and Bend of the River) and, most spectacularly, Alfred Hitchcock, in his triple meditation on marriage, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo, which many film critics regard as the best American movie ever made.While Stewarts career thrived, so did his personal life. A marriage in his forties, the adoption of his wifes two sons from a previous marriage, and the birth of his twin daughters laid the foundation for a happy life, until an unexpected tragedy had a shocking effect on his final years.Intimate and richly detailed, Jimmy Stewart is a fascinating portrait of a multi-faceted and much-admired actor as well as an extraordinary slice of Hollywood history.Probably the best actor whos ever hit the screen. Frank CapraHe taught me that it was possible to remain who you are and not be tainted by your environment. He was not an actor . . . he was the real thing. Kim Novak He was uniquely talented and a good friend. Frank SinatraHe was a shy, modest man who belonged to cinema nobility. Jack ValentiThere is nobody like him today. June Allyson He was one of the nicest, most unassuming persons I have known in my life. His career speaks for itself. Johnny Carson

Un homenaje a un gran actor y un tributo atento e irónico a una vida de película.«A no ser que Nicholson escriba su propia biografía, esta puede considerarse mejor imposible.»PeopleDesde hace décadas

Steve McQueen is one of Americas legendary movie stars best known for his hugely successful film career in classics such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, and The Towering Inferno as well asfor his turbulent life off-screen and impeccable style. His unforgettable physical beauty, his soft-spoken manner, his tough but tender roughness, and his aching vulnerability had women swooning and men wanting to be just like him. Todaynearly thirty years after he lost his battle against cancer at the age of fiftyMcQueen remains The King of Cool. Yet, few know the truth of what bubbled beneath his composed exterior and shaped his career, his passions, and his private life. Now, in Steve McQueen,New York Times bestselling author, acclaimed biographer, and film historian, Marc Eliot captures the complexity of this Hollywood screen legend. Chronicling McQueens tumultuous life both on and off the screen, from his hardscrabble childhood to his rise to Hollywood superstar status, to his struggles with alcohol and drugs and his fervor for racing fast cars and motorcycles, Eliot discloses intimate details of McQueens three marriages, including his tumultuous relationships with Neile Adams and Ali MacGraw, as well as his numerous affairs. He also paints a full portrait of this incredible yet often perplexing career that ranged from great films to embarrassing misfires. Steve McQueen, adored by millions, was obsessed by Paul Newman, and it is the nature of that obsession that reveals so much about who McQueen really was. Perhaps his greatest talent was to be able to convince audiences that he was who he really wasnt, even as he tried to prove to himself that he wasnt who he really was. With original material, rare photos, and new interviews, Eliot presents a fascinating and complete picture of McQueens life.

«La mejor biografía del inmortalCary Grant.»The New York Times«Todo el mundo quiere ser Cary Grant. Incluso yo quiero ser Cary Grant.» Con estas palabras resumía el propio actor la fascinación que su

Donna SummerOrdinary Girl is legendary singer-songwriter Donna Summers delightfully candid memoir about her journey from singing in a Boston church to her unexpected reign as the Queen of Discoand the tragedy and spiritual rebirth that followed. Donna Summer was born on New Years Eve in Boston. Her childhood was filled with music. Inspired by Mahalia Jackson, she began singing in church choirs at the age of ten. A few years later she joined a Boston rock group, and by the end of the 1960s she was living the life of an artist in New York Citys Greenwich Village. Soon after, Donna left the United States to join the German cast of Hair. She was still in her teens, a shy, ordinary girl who was suddenly feeling the jolt of the sexual revolution. She lived in Germany for seven and a half years, modeling, acting, falling in love, getting married, and giving birth to a daughter. She met a producer named Giorgio Moroder, and together they created a song called Love to Love You Baby. It became one of the worlds premier disco hits. Donna Summer returned to America as a star, a sex goddess who bore little resemblance to her own sense of who she was. She describes what that personal transformation felt like from the white-hot center of the disco era, and how, over the next two decades, it contributed to a sometimes harrowing spiritual journey. With heart and humor, Donna Summer relives the decadent days of disco and shows how she transcended them. This is the inspiring tale of an ordinary girl on an extraordinary journey.

«La mejor biografía del inmortal Cary Grant.»The New York Times «Todo el mundo quiere ser Cary Grant. Incluso yo quiero ser Cary Grant.» Con estas palabras resumía el propio actor la fascinación que