In this Book
- Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes
- Book
- 2007
- Published by: University Press of Mississippi
summary
Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes is the first major biography of the effervescent, scene-stealing actress (1906-1979) who conquered motion pictures, vaudeville, Broadway, summer stock, television, and radio. Born the child of vaudevillians, she was on stage by age three. With her casual sex appeal, distinctive cello voice, megawatt smile, luminous saucer eyes, and flawless timing, she came into widespread fame in Warner Bros. musicals and comedies of the 1930s, including Blonde Crazy, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Footlight Parade. Frequent co-star to James Cagney, Clark Gable, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart, friend to Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, and Bette Davis, and wife of Dick Powell and Mike Todd, Joan Blondell was a true Hollywood insider. By the time of her death, she had made nearly 100 films in a career that spanned over fifty years. Privately, she was unerringly loving and generous, while her life was touched by financial, medical, and emotional upheavals. Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes is meticulously researched, expertly weaving the public and private, and features numerous interviews with family, friends, and colleagues. Matthew Kennedy teaches anthropology at the City College of San Francisco and film history at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is the author of Marie Dressler: A Biography and Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory: Hollywood's Genius Bad Boy. Read more about his work at http://www.matthewkennedybooks.com/ Hear Matthew Kennedy on WNYC!
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xi
- Introduction
- pp. 3-9
- Chapter 1. The Next Town
- pp. 10-24
- Chapter 2. Starlight
- pp. 25-45
- Chapter 3. Hammer and Tongs
- pp. 46-67
- Chapter 4. Nearer to Heaven
- pp. 68-88
- Chapter 5. Freelancing
- pp. 89-103
- Chapter 6. The Interrupted Family
- pp. 104-129
- Chapter 7. Gulag-on-the-Hudson
- pp. 130-152
- Chapter 8. Solo Rites
- pp. 153-178
- Chapter 9. Love, Matey
- pp. 179-203
- Chapter 10. I Hear Voices
- pp. 217-239
- Chapter 11. Predestiny
- pp. 227-239
- Filmography
- pp. 245-259
- Stage Appearances
- p. 260
- Radio Appearances
- p. 261
- Television Appearances
- pp. 262-264
- Source Notes
- pp. 265-283
- Bibliography
- pp. 284-286
Additional Information
ISBN
9781604733006
Related ISBN(s)
9781578069613
MARC Record
OCLC
816366626
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No