Book picks similar to
Actress in Spite of Herself: The Life of Anna Cora Mowatt by Mildred Allen Butler


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__19ème-siècle

Forever Young : The Life, Loves, and Enduring Faith of a Hollywood Legend ; The Authorized Biography of Loretta Young


Joan Wester Anderson - 2000
    The real life and faith journey of Loretta Young -- her strong devotion to her Catholic faith and her passion for helping others in need.

Ethel Merman


Brian Kellow - 2007
    Merman’s singing voice—brassy, penetrating, and undeniably American—has transcended genre and era to become a cultural icon. As an entertainer she burned with unstoppable energy. Offstage she was the original diva, a woman who knew what she wanted and brooked no interference. Her spats and frequently off-color zingers have become part of theater lore. In this entertaining and authoritative biography, Brian Kellow traces Merman’s life from her childhood in Queens, New York, through her three decades at the peak of Broadway celebrity. In an era dominated by outsized personalities and egos, none was more vibrant and powerful than Merman’s, yet beneath the tough-dame image was an enormously vulnerable and often lonely woman. Kellow’s book, which includes recollections from more than 120 of Merman’s friends, colleagues, and family members, stands as the definitive biography and an affectionate portrait of an unforgettable star. Fans of Broadway history and of the great Ethel Merman will find Kellow’s biography an irresistible read.

A Bridge Even Further: From the UK to Singapore by train


Matthew Woodward - 2018
     After experiencing a rail-based epiphany whilst on jury service, Woodward thinks that it might be possible to get as far as Singapore from his home in Edinburgh by train, setting into motion his next big solo rail journey. A Bridge Even Further connects the many bridges and 18000 kilometers of track across the thirteen countries that separate his home from the furthest point in mainland Asia. Matthew Woodward shares the intricate detail of his journey in a way that that will appeal to both armchair explorers as well as those who are thinking of embarking on their very own rail adventure.

Like Rain on a Dry Place: A Birth Mother's Story


Wendy Salisbury Howe - 2016
    What is it like? It is the best gift you can ever imagine, like rain falling on a dry place.This memoir is a great reunion journey, from Paris, to California, to Denmark! A coming together of a mother and son, the only two people who can answer all the questions the other one has.

Marilyn's Red Diary


E.Z. Friedel - 2012
    Marilyn Monroe is caught between intellectual giants - her award-winning playwright husband Arthur Miller and her dashing politician boyfriend Jack. Then along comes Jack's fiery brother Bobby. The world's dream girl relates her intimate adventures with many of the era's who's who. Marilyn's Red Diary is a touching portrait of a hard-working, extremely bright woman, trapped in her own sensuality and, tragically, born far ahead of her time.

Annabel: An Unconventional Life


Annabel Goldsmith - 2004
    In these memoirs she tells of her aristocratic upbringing with an increasingly eccentric father, a Conservative MP with strong liberal leanings, and a mother who died young from cancer. She tells of her marriages, her children, and the tragedies she has faced in her life.

The Other Side Of Nowhere


Danniella Westbrook - 2006
    For a while she was the nation's most famous drug addict. This is her story of recovery from the despair of addiction, told with total emotional honesty and courage.

The Score of a Lifetime: 25 Years Talking Chicago Sports


Terry Boers - 2017
    Covering the latest championships and trades, Boers was a Windy City constant until his retirement in 2017. In his highly-anticipated memoir, Boers delivers a trove of lively anecdotes and personal reflections from journey through sports media—from raucous banter with Mike Ditka during The Score's early days to the Cubs' World Series celebration in 2016. A must-read for any of the thousands who made Boers part of their daily routine, The Score of a Lifetime is a freewheeling, frank portrait of a man, a career, a station no one thought would survive, and a city that loves its sports.

Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir of Sorts


Carol Channing - 2002
    Her performance as the droll and leggy Lorelei Lee in the Broadway version of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" made her a star and launched a career that has spanned over fifty years and has included a number of Broadway plays, many television appearances, and two movies, including "Thoroughly Modern Millie," for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. Capping them all, of course, was her Tony award-winning signature performance as the irrepressible Dolly.Conversational in style, and written entirely by Miss Channing, this star-studded chronicle gives you the feeling that you are sitting down with this fascinating woman and having her delight you with tales from her long and amazing life, both personal and professional. You'll be invited behind the scenes for stories featuring an all-star cast of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Tallulah Bankhead, Gower Champion, Clint Eastwood, Julie Andrews, Marlene Dietrich, David Merrick, Noel Coward, Al Pacino, and Yul Brynner. And you'll learn of the not-so-glamorous times, too, as Miss Channing reveals her theatrical triumphs, her heritage, and her winning battle with ovarian cancer. Through it all, Carol Channing -- the real star of this story -- demonstrates with wit and candor how she kept up her spirits and forged fearlessly ahead.From the first page to its triumphant conclusion -- and including many never-before-seen photographs -- "Just Lucky I Guess" is perhaps Miss Carol Channing's most engaging performance yet.

Summer Of The Aliens


Louis Nowra - 1992
    He has also written fim scripts and for television.

Get Me the Urgent Biscuits: An Assistant's Adventures in Theatreland


Sweetpea Slight - 2017
    In between mail-outs and making cups of coffee she meets the formidable producer Thelma Holt. Within a fortnight Thelma has stolen her, cancelled her audition for RADA, sent her to evening classes to learn to type, organised a miniscule salary and renamed her. From that moment she becomes Sweetpea. Her days are spent in an eccentric office where Alan Rickman or Vanessa Redgrave might pop in at any moment. Evenings are filled with the adrenaline of an opening-night performance or the chatter of a smart restaurant where casting for the next production is discussed. Existing somewhere between glamour and penury, Sweetpea finds herself surrounded by dynamic personalities and struggling to trust her own creative instincts. Over the years her apprenticeship takes in unusual demands, misbehaving actors, divinely inspired directors and a hot-air balloon ride with British theatre's finest. GET ME THE URGENT BISCUITS is a keenly observed memoir about the vanishing world of London's West End in the 1980s and 1990s, in which a young woman is swept into the orbit of a theatrical impresario. Shrewd, poignant and irresistibly funny, above all it is a coming-of-age story about the search for independence and an ode to the beguiling nature of theatre.

Madeline Kahn: Being the Music, A Life (Hollywood Legends Series)


William V. Madison - 2015
    In private, she was as reserved and refined as her characters were bold and bawdy. Almost a Method actor in her approach, she took her work seriously. When crew members and audiences laughed, she asked why--as if they were laughing at her--and all her life she remained unsure of her gifts.William V. Madison examines Kahn's film career, including not only her triumphs with Mel Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich, but also her overlooked performances in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and Judy Berlin, her final film. Her work in television--notably her sitcoms--also comes into focus. New York theater showered her with accolades, but also with remarkably bad luck, culminating in a disastrous outing in On the Twentieth Century that wrecked her reputation on Broadway. Only with her Tony-winning performance in The Sisters Rosensweig, fifteen years later, did Kahn regain her standing.Drawing on new interviews with family, friends, and such colleagues as Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett, Gene Wilder, Harold Prince, and Eileen Brennan, as well as archival press and private writings, Madison uncovers Kahn's lonely childhood and her struggles as a single woman working to provide for her erratic mother. Above all, Madison reveals the paramount importance of music in Kahn's life. A talented singer, she entertained offers for operatic engagements long after she was an established Hollywood star, and she treated each script as a score. As Kahn told one friend, her ambition was "to be the music."

A Rose for Virtue


Norah Lofts - 1971
    As Napoleon struggles for power on the battlefields of Europe, so Hortense charts her way through the French court -- a chessboard world where the motives are jealousy and greed and the prizes are thrones of conquered countries. Despite attempts to retain her individuality, Hortense finds herself married to Napoleon's brother Louis, but her heart is with Charles de Flahaut, a gallant young officer. Unwilling to cross her stepfather, Hortense must wait and see if time will take her to her lover.

The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way


Diahann Carroll - 2008
    The first black woman to star in her own TV series—NBC’s Julia—Carroll displays all the grace, wit, style, and honesty that carried her to the top as she reveals intimate details about her career, her life, and her loves, including her marriage to Vic Damone and her torrid relationship with Sidney Poitier. The Legs Are the Last to Go is an unforgettable self-portrait and revealing Hollywood memoir at its finest.

Damaged: My Story


Paul Stewart - 2017
    It was a dream that would lead him into a nightmare of sexual and physical abuse from which he has still not recovered. Stewart was abused every day for four years by his junior football coach. He suffered in silence and embarked on a successful career that saw him play for Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Sunderland, scoring in an FA Cup final and winning caps for England. Behind it all, he was a broken man – many times he wished he could end his life. He turned to drink and drugs as a way of coping with his devastating secret. In 2016, Stewart was sitting at his office desk one morning when he read a Daily Mirror story about a footballer who had been abused. His world was about to change… Paul Stewart: Damaged is one of the most powerful and emotionally charged football life stories you will read.