Description
Book SynopsisHollywood celebrities feared her. William Randolph Hearst adored her. Between 1915 and 1960, Louella Parsons was America's premier movie gossip columnist and in her heyday commanded a following of more than forty million readers. This biography of Parsons tells the story of her reign over Hollywood during the studio era.
Trade Review"An absorbing book about celebrity culture and Hollywood power politics... a pleasing amalgam of rigorous scholarship and popular history. It will appeal to a wide range of readers." - Sheldon Kirshner, Canadian Jewish News "Thoughtful, well-written." - Gregory, McNamee, Hollywood Reporter "The in-depth description of the power that Parsons wielded within the industry is especially illuminating, as is the chronicle of intense rivalries with other columnists-most notably, Hedda Hopper. Solid details of Parsons's life aid in presenting a three-dimensional portrait of both the woman and the public figure. This well-researched and finely written work will appeal to a wide readership." - Carol J. Binkowski, Library Journal (Starred Review) "This is a terrific book about an unusual life, and the author has done a great service by documenting it so carefully, incidentally exposing all the falsehoods Parsons related in her own 1945 autobiography, The Gay Illiterate." - Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "A thoughtful biography." - Mark Lewis, New York Times Book Review"
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Prologue PART I 1. Early Years 2. Essanay 3. The Column 4. New York 5. "The Lovely Miss Marion Davies" PART II 6. On the Way to Hollywood 7. Hollywood 8. Feuds 9. Radio 10. The Best and the Hearst PART III 11. The First Lady of Hollywood 12. Raising Kane 13. The Gay Illiterate 14. War and Peace 15. Scandal 16. The End of an Era 17. Eclipse Notes Bibliography Index
