How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood 1941-1981

(Paperback, Main)

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In the 60s, Elizabeth Taylor's affair with the married Richard Burton knocked John Glenn's orbit of the moon off front pages nationwide. Yet, despite all the gossip, the larger-than-life personality and influence of this very human woman has never been captured. William Mann, praised by Gore Vidal, Patricia Bosworth, and Gerald Clarke for Kate, uses untapped sources and conversations to show how she ignited the sexual revolution with her on-and off-screen passions, helped kick down the studio system by taking control of her own career, and practically invented the big business of celebrity star-making. With unputdownable storytelling he tells the full truth without losing Taylor's magic, daring, or wit.

Readers will feel they are sitting next to Taylor as she rises at MGM, survives a marriage engineered for publicity, feuds with Hedda Hopper and Mr. Mayer, wins Oscars, endures tragedy, juggles Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton and her country's conservative values. But it is the private Elizabeth that will surprise - a woman of heart and loyalty, who defends underdogs, a savvy professional whose anger at the studio's treatment of her led to a lifelong battle against that very system. All the Elizabeths are here, finally reconciled and seen against the exciting years of her greatest spirit, beauty, and influence. Swathed in mink, staring us down with her lavender eyes, disposing of husbands but keeping the diamonds, here is Elizabeth Taylor as she was meant to be, leading her epic life on her own terms, playing the game of supreme stardom at which she remains, to this day, unmatched.

Reviews

""How to Be a Movie Star" is more than a well-told, thoroughly researched tale about the most compelling movie star of her time. It's the captivating story of how movie-making magic actually happens--and a truly lively portrait of the greatest screen magician of them all. Mann knows his subject intimately."

--Peter Richmond, author of "Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee "

"Was Elizabeth Taylor the greatest product of the Hollywood star machine or its greatest victim Or was she, perhaps, its inventor At a time when celebrity culture seems to be spiraling out of control, William J. Mann's smart, engaging, clear-eyed case study of Taylor's unique life in the spotlight locates the 'real' person somewhere between her private life and her public image. It's a fresh, unique and wholly successful approach to a fascinating story."--Mark Harris, author of "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood"

"A dazzling and sagacious red-carpet Technicolor

""How to Be a Movie Star"is more than a well-told, thoroughly researched tale about the most compelling movie star of her time. It's the captivating story of how movie-making magic actually happens--and a truly lively portrait of the greatest screen magician of them all. Mann knows his subject intimately."

--Peter Richmond, author of"Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee"

"Was Elizabeth Taylor the greatest product of the Hollywood star machine or its greatest victim Or was she, perhaps, its inventor At a time when celebrity culture seems to be spiraling out of control, William J. Mann's smart, engaging, clear-eyed case study of Taylor's unique life in the spotlight locates the 'real' person somewhere between her private life and her public image. It's a fresh, unique and wholly successful approach to a fascinating story."--Mark Harris, author of"Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood"

"A dazzling and sagacious red-carpet Technicolor guide

Author Bio

William J. Mann alternates his creative energies between fiction and nonfiction. His biography of Katharine Hepburn, titled Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, received extraordinary acclaim when it was published in 2006. In 2009, Mann published the 'quintessential story of fame': How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, which has become one of the best-selling biographies of the year. Born in Connecticut, Mann worked briefly in Washington, DC, as a Capitol Hill aide before receiving his Masters degree at Wesleyan University. He has worked as a freelance journalist and editor. Currently Mann divides his time between Provincetown, Massachusetts and Palm Springs, California.