A towering figure of television news recounts his adventures in broadcast journalism, from TV's earliest days through the controversies and challenges that face the news business today.

A "lively" memoir by the Hollywood legend about the making of Spartacus , with a foreword by George Clooney ( Los Angeles Times ). One of the world's most iconic movie stars, Kirk Douglas has distinguished himself as a producer, philanthropist, and author of ten works of fiction and memoir. Now, more than fifty years after the release of his enduring epic Spartacus , Douglas reveals the riveting drama behind the making of the legendary gladiator film. Douglas began producing the movie in the midst of the politically charged era when Hollywood's moguls refused to hire anyone accused of Communist sympathies. In a risky move, Douglas chose Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted screenwriter, to write Spartacus . Trumbo was one of the "Unfriendly Ten," men who had gone to prison rather than testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about their political affiliations. Douglas's source material was already a hot property, as the novel Spartacus was written by Howard Fast while he was in jail for defying HUAC. With the financial future of his young family at stake, Douglas plunged into a tumultuous production both on- and off-screen. As both producer and star of the film, he faced explosive moments with young director Stanley Kubrick, struggles with a leading lady, and negotiations with giant personalities, including Sir Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Lew Wasserman. Writing from his heart and from his own meticulously researched archives, Kirk Douglas, at ninety-five, looks back at his audacious decisions. He made the most expensive film of its era--but more importantly, his moral courage in giving public credit to Trumbo effectively ended the notorious Hollywood blacklist. A master storyteller, Douglas paints a vivid and often humorous portrait in I Am Spartacus! The book is enhanced by newly discovered period photography of the stars and filmmakers both on and off the set.

From award-winning actress Illeana Douglas comes a memoir about learning to survive in Hollywood while staying true to her quirky vision of the world. In 1969 Illeana Douglas' parents saw the film Easy Rider and were transformed. Taking Dennis Hopper's words, "That's what it's all about man" to heart, they abandoned their comfortable upper middle class life and gave Illeana a childhood filled with hippies, goats, free spirits, and free love. Illeana writes, "Since it was all out of my control, I began to think of my life as a movie, with a Dennis Hopper-like father at the center of it." I Blame Dennis Hopper is a testament to the power of art and the tenacity of passion. It is a rollicking, funny, at times tender exploration of the way movies can change our lives. With crackling humor and a full heart, Douglas describes how a good Liza Minnelli impression helped her land her first gig and how Rudy Valley taught her the meaning of being a show biz trouper. From her first experience being on set with her grandfather and mentor-two-time Academy Award-winning actor Melvyn Douglas-to the moment she was discovered by Martin Scorsese for her blood-curdling scream and cast in her first film, to starring in movies alongside Robert DeNiro, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke, to becoming an award winning writer, director and producer in her own right, I Blame Dennis Hopper is an irresistible love letter to movies and filmmaking. Writing from the perspective of the ultimate show business fan, Douglas packs each page with hilarious anecdotes, bizarre coincidences, and fateful meetings that seem, well, right out of a plot of a movie. I Blame Dennis Hopper is the story of one woman's experience in show business, but it is also a genuine reminder of why we all love the movies: for the glitz, the glamor, the sweat, passion, humor, and escape they offer us all.

Ever wonder why so many B actors wind up as A-grade politicians? Or how the casting couch worked? Acclaimed author Kathleen Sharp traces the influence of show business through the lives of its first power couple. Edie and Lew Wasserman built the world's largest talent agency, MCA, created the multibillion-dollar Universal Studios, and helped shape Washington, DC. Starting from MCA's birth in gangland Chicago, Lew represented stars such as Jimmy Stewart and Marilyn Monroe; pioneered TV with Leave It to Beaver and Miami Vice ; spawned the blockbuster movie model with Psycho and Jaws ; and developed a mega-theme park. His savvy wife, Edie, was the daughter of a mob attorney, the queen of A-list parties, and Lew's secret agent who boosted their status. Yet, the couple was attacked by rivals, federal prosecutors, and their own protégés. Even so, over the course of seven decades they managed to vanquish their enemies and parlay their influence far beyond Sunset Strip into governors' mansions, Senate chambers, and the White House. At the end, Edie and Lew became diplomats, kingmakers, and philanthropists, who elevated the fortunes of middle-class workers and California itself. Based on some four hundred interviews, this book features Janet Leigh, Clark Gable, Grace Kelly, John Belushi, Jean Stein, and Steven Spielberg along with the Kennedys, the Johnsons, the Reagans, and the Clintons. It's a fascinating read about how two kids from Cleveland created the largest entertainment conglomerate in the world and wound up ruling twentieth-century America.

On the motion-picture front, no other publication of our age has achieved the stature, vitality, or magic of Vanity Fair. In its coverage of the film industry, the magazine prides itself on assigning the world's top photographers, writers, and illustrators to explore the brightest stars in the Hollywood firmament. Now, for the first time, the most memorable renderings of this illustrious pantheon have been assembled in one volume: Garbo and Swanson, Fairbanks and Pickford, Gable and Grant, Tracy and Hepburn, Taylor and Burton -- along with today's cinematic giants, including Cruise and Kidman, Nicholson and Streep, De Niro and DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, and scores more. As this sweeping, lavish book makes clear, Vanity Fair's stable of photographers (Cecil Beaton, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Edward Steichen, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber, and many others represented here) have helped define modern portraiture. Likewise, Vanity Fair's Hollywood includes Vanity Fair contributors of the past (D.H. Lawrence, Clare Boothe Luce, Dorothy Parker, Carl Sandburg, Walter Winchell, and P.G. Wodehouse) and of the present.

Tropicana is to Cuba what the Bolshoi is to Russia, the Moulin Rouge to Paris, or the Blue Note to New York--an enduring cultural mecca. This definitive biography of the place that was known as Paradise Under the Stars, vividly describes the 1950s nightclub that was part casino, part cabaret and was the only club owned and run by Cubans rather than the American mob. Nat "King" Cole, Liberace, and Carmen Miranda performed there before audiences that included Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, and Ernest Hemingway. The book portrays the cultural richness and roiling social problems of pre-Revolutionary Cuba and takes the reader on a tour of one of the world's most glamorous venues at its most brilliant moment.

The Public Is Never Wrong: The Autobiography of Adolph Zukor is a memoir written by Adolph Zukor, one of the most influential figures in the early days of Hollywood. In this book, Zukor recounts his life story, from his humble beginnings as an immigrant in New York City to his rise to fame as the founder of Paramount Pictures.Zukor's narrative takes readers on a journey through the early days of the film industry, as he describes his experiences working as a nickelodeon operator and film distributor before ultimately founding his own studio. He also discusses his relationships with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks.Throughout the book, Zukor emphasizes the importance of listening to the audience and giving them what they want. He argues that the public is never wrong and that the key to success in the film industry is to understand and cater to their tastes. He also provides insights into the business side of the industry, discussing topics such as financing, marketing, and distribution.Overall, The Public Is Never Wrong offers a fascinating glimpse into the life and career of one of the most important figures in the history of Hollywood. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the early days of the film industry and the art of storytelling on the big screen.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

There have been many books about the strange and exotic world of show business, but rarely has one encompassed so many roles in one person, Sonny Fox. Comedy writer on a daily half-hour TV series in New York, pioneer on the eighth Educational TV station to go on the air, host of the first weekly CBS-TV series to originate a live TV series, Emcee of "The $64,000 Challenge,” Producer of movies for TV and specials for PBS, VP Children’s programming NBC-TV, Chair of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a weekly, four-hour children’s program that set a standard for how to deal with young viewers, Fox ran the gamut, starting in radio in 1947 and lasting until today, that may be unique in TV history. What makes this a must-read is Sonny’s ability to spin narratives that take you inside of this panoply of events and personalities, so you feel their immediacy and experience the kaleidoscope almost as a participant. As he weaves his engaging tales, you will meet Senator Robert Kennedy, Actresses Julie Harris and Colleen Dewhurst, Lyricists Alan Jay Lerner, and Sheldon Harnick, Tom Snyder, and a whole cast of colorful personalities who are presented through the prism of Sonny Fox’s cavalcade that is a history of TV: in fact a history of the 20th century as it will never be taught in schools.