Biographies D to G

The Girl Who Walked Home Alone
Bette Davis: A Personal Biography
Charlotte Chandler
Noted film biographer Charlotte Chandler interviewed Bette Davis extensively in the last decade of her life, resulting in a biography in which the great actress speaks for herself. Chandler also spoke with directors, actors, and others who knew and worked with Davis, and includes brief synopses of all of her theatrical films. The Girl Who Walked Home Alone is a portrait of an enduring icon from Hollywood's golden age as well a biography of the real woman behind the star. Softcover, 348 pp. $20.95.

Considering Doris Day
Tom Santopietro
The biggest female box-office attraction in Hollywood history, Doris Day remains unequaled as the only entertainer who has ever triumphed in movies, radio, recordings, and a multi-year weekly television series. Tom Santopietro uncovers the unexpected facets of Day's surprisingly sexy acting and singing style. Considering Doris Day is a book that grants Doris Day her rightful place as a singular American artist. Hardcover, 388 pp. $31.95.

Untouchable: A Biography of Robert De Niro
Andy Dougan
Compelling and full of insight, Untouchable: A Biography of Robert De Niro is the definitive account of a great actor's career, and a fascinating view of his complex inner world. Softcover, 316 pp. $23.95.

De Niro: A Biography
John Baxter
Based on scrupulous research and conversations with friends and colleagues of De Niro, this new biography provides the first full portrait of one of the greatest screen actors of our time. A fascinating insight into the American film industry and a revealing portrait of a remarkable actor. Softcover, 404 pp. $19.95.

Scenes From My Life
Judi Dench
In Scenes From My Life, Judi Dench offers an unprecedented look at her life on and off the stage. This collection of photographs -- featuring some pictures that have never before been published -- shows Judi in the wings, off sets, in dressing rooms and often happily larking about. Here, too, are scenes showing a happy marriage to actor Michael Williams and with daughter Finty and grandson Sam. Fans will treasure this fresh and delicious take on the life and career of Dame Judi. Hardcover, 223 pp. $24.95.

Darling Judi: A Celebration of Judi Dench
John Miller
Judi Dench is one of Britain's best-loved actors. Now, to mark her seventieth birthday, her biographer John Miller has invited fellow actors, writers, people of the theatre, film and television to illustrate her genius and character from their own experience and perspective.  Darling Judi includes contributions from the likes of David Hare, Billy Connolly, and Richard Eyre - among many others.  Darling Judi offers a unique perspective of one of the most fascinating actors of our time. Hardcover, 195 pp. $39.95.

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Close Up and Personal
Catherine Deneuve
Despite her international appeal, Catherine Deneuve has always chosen to avoid the ferocious glare of Hollywood and seldom allows the public into her private life. In Up Close and Personal, Deneuve takes her fans behind the scenes of her life and career in this fascinating collection of seven previously unpublished diaries that she kept while working abroad. Softcover, 198 pp. $18.95.

Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion
Denis Meikle
Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion is a mind-blowing account of the life of one of the world's most beautiful actors, both onscreen and off. Beginning with his humble childhood in Kentucky, and continuing through his days as a teen idol on 21 Jump Street, this startling portrait ends with Depp's meteoric rise to the Hollywood A-list. Softcover, 429 pp. $16.95.

Johnny Depp Starts Here
Murray Pomerance
From beloved bad-boy to cool and captivating maverick, Johnny Depp has inspired media intrigue and has been the object of international acclaim since the early 1990s. He has attracted attention for his eccentric image, his accidental acting career, his beguiling good looks, and his quirky charm. In Johnny Depp Starts Here, film scholar Murray Pomerance explores our fascination with Depp, his riddling complexity, and his meaning for our culture. Softcover, 308 pp. $32.95.

Things I've Said but Probably Shouldn't Have
Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern is one of Hollywood's harderst working actors and most outrageous personalities. His career has run the gamut from B movies to Z movies to be coming an Oscar nominee and has included some of the most indelible performances in modern cinema. He has worked with practically every iconic actor and director in the last fifty years - and he's not afraid to say what he thinks about all of them. Hardcover, 298 pp. $26.99.


Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination
Neal Gabler
From Neal Gabler, the definitive portrait of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American entertainment and cultural history. Seven years in the making and meticulously researched - Gabler is the first writer to be given complete access to the Disney archives - this is the full story of a man whose work left an ineradicable brand on our culture but whose life has largely been enshrouded in myth. Walt Disney showed how one could impose one's will on the world. This is a masterly biography, a revelation of both the work and the man - of both remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life. Softcover, 851 pp. $26.00.

The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney
Michael Barrier
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was one of the most signifcant creative forces of the twentieth century, a man who made a lasting impact on the art of the animated film, the history of American business, and the evolution of twentieth-century American culture. Based on decades of research in the Disney studio's archives and dozens of public and private archives in the United States and Europe, The Animated Man offers illuminating accounts of Disney's childhood and young adulthood in rural Missouri and Kansas City. Barrier describes how Disney transformed himself from Midwestern farm boy to scrambling young businessman to pioneering artist and, finally, to entrepreneur on a grand scale. Hardcover, 393 pp. $38.95.

Kander and Ebb
James Leve
John Kander and Fred Ebb, one of the greatest and longest lasting composer-lyricist partnerships in Broadway history, created some of the most memorable musicals of all time, including Chicago, Cabaret, and Zorba. This book examines their artistic accomplishments as individuals and as a team. Kander and Ebb is essential reading for students of Musical theatre and lovers of Kander and Ebb's songs and shows. Hardcover, 365 pp. $49.99.

I Feel Bad About My Neck
Nora Ephron
In I Feel Bad About My Neck, Academy Award nominated writer Nora Ephron treats readers to a hilarious, poignant look at the experience of women reaching middle age. In 15 candid essays Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent in a manner that is at once utterly courageous, uproariously funny, and unexpectedly moving in its honesty. Softcover, 137 pp. $14.95.

King of the Cowboys, Queen of the West
Raymond E. White
Raymond E. White presents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in the most comprehensive and inclusive account to date. Par narrative, part reference, this impeccably researched, highly accessible survey spans the entire scope of their carrers and highlights their place in twentieth-century American popular culture. Softcover, 530 pp. $33.95.

Hollywood Animal
Joe Ezterhas
The rebel who became the screenwriter of the world-wide hits Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge and Flashdance and wrote the legendary disasters Showgirls and Jade. His films grossed more than a billion dollars at the box office and he became the most famous -- or infamous -- screenwriter in Hollywood. He is the first screenwriter picked as one of the industry's 100 Most Powerful People. Softcover, $29.95.

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts
Tom Farley Jr. & Tanner Colby
The Chris Farley Show is a deeply moving biography feauturing more than 100 exclusive interviews from industry professionals, family, and friends that knew him best. It charts his rise through the ranks of Chicago's ImprovOlympic and Second City, takes us behind the scenes for his dramatic tenure at Saturday Night Live, and follows his harrowing descent into years of insecurity and addiction. Softcover, 348 pp. $17.50.

Alice Faye
A Life Beyond the Silver Screen
Jane Lenz Elder
In the 1930's and 1940's Alice Faye reigned as queen of 20th Century Fox musicals; and today, to a select cult of admirers, she remains a beloved star. This book captures the special essence of Alice Faye, her work in film, radio, and popular music, and indeed her graceful survival and many accomplishments beyond the silver screen. Softcover 313 pp. $38.00.

Stepin Fetchit: The Life & Times of Lincoln Perry
Mel Watkins
The first African American movie star, Lincoln Perry, a.k.a. Stepin Fetchit, is an iconic figure in the history of American popular culture. In the late 1920s and 30s he was both renowned and reviled for his surrealistic portrayals of the era's most popular comic stereotype -- the lazy shiftless Negro. However, Perry lived a life far richer than his on-screen persona, and in Stepin Fetchit, Mel Watkins has given us the first definitive, full-scale biography of an entertainment legend. Softcover, 338 pp. $21.00.

One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine's Frizzy Life in Pictures
Steve Cox & Jim Terry
Certainly one of the most famous trios in the history of show business, The Three Stooges are genuine icons of comedy. This is their story as revealed by Larry Fine, in his own words, augmented by fascinating anecdotes from family members and friends. This tumultuous trip is based on Larry's memoirs, now published for the first time, along with his astonishing collection of rare photographs -- including 50 images in full colour. Hardcover, 241 pp. $37.95.

Albert Finney:
In Character
Quentin Falk
This new paperback edition of Albert Finney: In Character bring the actor's colourful life- on and off screen - right up to date. Softcover, 244 pp. $22.95.

Errol Flynn: Satan's Angel
David Bret
Long regarded as the prodigal son of Hollywood, Errol Flynn packed more into his fifty years than most of his high-living contemporaries could have done in a dozen lifetimes. The quintessential hedonist and an insatiable womaniser, Flynn was notorious for his drinking binges and high-spirited bacchanalia. In this hard-hitting and uncompromising study, bestselling show business biographer David Bret traces the fascinating life, loves and career of the first star of action-adventure movies. Softcover, 273 pp. $19.95.


My Life So Far
Jane Fonda
New York Times #1 Bestseller, now availble in trade paperback! We know Jane Fonda as an actress and an activist, a feminist and a wife, a workout guru and a role model. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, Fonda reveals that she is much more. From her youth among Hollywood's elite and her early film career to the challenges and triumphs of her life today, Jane Fonda reveals intimate details and universal truths that she hopes "can provide a lens through which others can see their lives and how they can live them a little differently." Includes bonus DVD! Softcover, 584 pp. $22.95.

Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist
Michael J. Fox
In Always Looking Up, Michael J. Fox writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery. Hardcover, 279 pp. $33.99.

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Clark Gable: Tormented Star
David Bret
Clark Gable was the archetypal Hollywood supermensch, the kind of man red-blooded women lusted after, and whom their envious husbands yearned to be. But David Bret reveals that there was more about Gable then what met the eye. Bret draws on a wealth of unpublished material to examine every aspect of Clark Gable's career and personal life, telling his story as it has never been told before. Softcover, 276 pp. $17.50.

Michael Gambon: A Life in Acting
Mel Gussow
This is the first book devoted to the actor who has created a judicious blend of high-definition performances on the British stage and a wide range of award-winning television and film roles. New York Times writer Mel Gussow interviewed Gambon on many occasions, and those conversations comprise the majority of this book. Gussow also draws insights from some of the people who have worked with Gambon including the playwrights Dennis Potter, Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter, directors Peter Hall and Deborah Warner, and the highly acclaimed actor Simon Russell Beale. Softcover, 231 pp. $16.95.

Garbo and Gilbert in Love
Hollywood's First Great Celebrity Couple
Colin Shindler
In 1926, John Gilbert was the greatest male film star in the world. Millions of women were in love with him; but once he met his new co-star, a young Swedish actress still struggling to speak English, on the set of Flesh and the Devil, there would only ever be one true love in his life. Her name was Greta Garbo. Garbo and Gilbert in Love is one of Hollywood's great untold love stories. Set in the era of jazz and Prohibition, this tale of a celebrity couple caught in the full glare of the media spotlight and unable to escape is as relevant today as it was then. Softcover, 296 pp. $18.95.

Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy
Mark A. Vieira
With her breathtaking beauty and enigmatic persona, Greta Garbo is the ultimate Hollywood icon. Though many books have tried to unlock the mystique of the "Swedish Sphinx" by focusing on her personal life, this remarkable volume is the first to pay serious attention to what made her an icon: her twenty-four Hollywood films. Illustrated throughout, with ravishing black & white photographs, Greta Garbo: A Cinematic Legacy is a must-have for all fans of this enduring screen legend. Hardcover, 288 pp. $72.50.

The Great Garbo
Robert Payne
The spectacular life and career of Greta Garbo are lovingly chronicled in this richly illustrated biography. Hardcover, 297 pp., $41.95.

Ava Gardner: "Love is Nothing"
Lee Server
In this first full biography of sex symbol Ava Gardner, Lee Server re-creates the actress's life, from her beginnings as a barefoot North Carolina farm girl to her heady days as a Hollywood goddess. He paints a spectacle of her tumultuous private life--including her string of failed marriages to Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Artie Shaw -- and also of Gardner's lifelong search for adventure and love. Softcover, 551 pp. $21.95.

Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland
Gerald Clarke
A new biography of Judy Garland using notes from her unfinished autobiography. As exhilarating and poignant as the woman herself. Softcover, $22.95.

A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson
Michael Troyan
In this definitive biography, Michael Troyan provided a detailed and respectful look at the life an career of MGM's great lady, Greer Garson. Star of Pride and Prejustice, Random Harvest, and That Forsyte Woman, Garson is revealed here to be warm, gracious, lively, classy, and ultimately more complex than her screen image indicated. Softcover, 463 pp. $31.95.

In the Moment: My Life as an Actor
Ben Gazzara
For the first time ever, acclaimed actor Ben Gazzara shares his compelling and intimate account of more than fifty years in film, theatre, and television. In a career that has seen him brush shoulders with Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Elia Kazan, and Marilyn Monroe, Gazzara has amassed a stunning body of work. In In the Moment, Gazzara offers a vivid portrait of a life and career that will be an inspiration for generations to come. Softcover, 312 pp. $21.50.

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He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield
Robert Nott
John Garfield was a fascinating and enigmatic actor. Starting life as just another kid from the Bronx, he went on to become an earthy, rebellious and electrifying Hollywood actor during the 1940s; he died untimely death at the age of 39. This biography, superbly researched over a period of more than 10 years and compellingly written, is as exciting as the best of Garfield's films. Hardcover, 354 pp. $44.50.

Jean Genet
Stephen Barber
Genet's work is a distillation of preoccupations and reinventions of crucial matters -- sex, desire, death and revolution -- all of which became mediated in the form of his own travels, imprisonments, sexual and emotional relationships, political engagements and protests. This new short biography and critical work cuts directly to the essence of Genet's life and elucidates his provocative body of work. Softcover, 155 pp. $23.95.

John G: The Authorised Biography of John Gielgud
Sheridan Morley
John Gielgud has no place in the history of 20th century British theatre for the simple reason that he was that history. In a career spanning almost 80 years on stage, screen, radio and television, he effectively reinvented Shakespeare for the modern stage; he was the first great Hamlet of our time; with his brother Val he virtually created the BBC radio drama; decades before the founding of of the National Theatre or the RSC, he pioneered the idea of a resident classical company in the West End. He made stars of Alec Guinness and Paul Scofield as well as hundreds of other actors, directors and designers; from Peter Brook to Peter Greenaway, he worked with all the visionary artists of his time. John G is the story of one remarkable man in his time, playing many parts across a lifetime of 96 years, in private and in public. The definitive portrait of one of the most loved actors of the 20th century. Softcover, $24.95.

The Gordon File
Bernard Gordon
Hollywood screenwriter, Bernard Gordon -- whose most subversive act was joining the Communist Party during the 1940s -- was, for over two decades, the subject of intense FBI surveillance. Drawing on the very files that the Bureau kept, Gordon traces this twenty-six period without privacy, often humourously underscoring the facts the FBI got wrong. Within these pages, Gordon asks "Is is possible, that books like this will help to move our investigative agencies from the job of blackmailing those who are critical of our imperfect democracy to arresting those who are truly out "Hardcover, 344 pp. $44.95.

Cary Grant: A Biography
Marc Eliot
Although he came to be know as the quintessential, American leading man, Cary Grant was born Archibald Leach in Bristol, England. As biographer Marc Eliot reveals, this surprise is characteristic of Cary Grant's entire life -- a fascinating life, shrouded in its fair share of mystery. This is the definitive portrait Hollywood's most fascinating and timeless star. Softcover, 435 pp. $21.00.

The Wah-Wah Diaries
Richard E. Grant
In 2006 Richard E. Grant made his debut behind the camera with the acclaimed Wah-Wah, an autobiographical movie about his childhood in Swaziland. The Wah-Wah Diaries are the highly personal story of his first experiences as writer and director: a candid account of the highs and lows of movie-making, of the pain and pleasure of revisiting his early years, and above all of the grit, determination and humour it takes to realize a dream. Softcover, 261 pp. $17.99.

Alec Guinness
The Authorised Biography
Piers Paul Read
Sir Alec Guinness was a man who vigorously guarded his privacy and, despite publishing an autobiography and two volumes of his diaries, he remained an enigma and a mystery to even his family and closest friends. With full co-operation from Guinness's family, which included free access to Sir Alec's papers, Piers Paul Read has written an enjoyable, yet penetrating and perceptive account of this intriguing and complex man. Hardcover, 632 pp. $49.50.

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Richard Harris: Sex, Death, & the Movies
An Intimate Biography
Michael Feeney Callan
This biography of the late Richard Harris takes a close and precise look at his turbulent life. Analysing his career and choices, and his genius, which was occasionally overshadowed by his off-screen exploits. Callan delves into his frenzied existence, documenting his early days in Ireland, to his swansong as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. An intimate look at an enigmatic man. Softcover, 355 pp. $21.95.

Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom
Adrienne McLean
With arguments that are complex, coherent and eminently readable, McLean's Being Rita Hayworth explores how Hayworth, nee Margarita Carmen Cansino, spent her life subjected to others' definitions of her, no matter how hard she worked to claim her own identity. Softcover, 272 pp. $32.50.

Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer
David Chierchetti
Widely considered the most important figure in the history of Hollywood costume design, Edith Head defined cinema fashion during her over-50-years in the film industry. This unprecedented biography offers a priviledged glimpse into the personality and emotions behind the famously impenetrable "schoolmarm" facade, as well as a comprehensive account of her creative process. Softcover, 251 pp. $19.95.

Adieu Audrey: Memories if Audrey Hepburn
Klaus-Jergen Sembach
Delicately beautiful and in possession of genuine moral virtue, Audrey Hepburn was without a doubt the most humane of all movie stars. This respectful tribute, with a text by Klaus-Jurgen Sembach, includes the best stills, portraits, and private photographs by well-known and by unknown photographers from all over the world, who have provided us with an immortal image of Hollywood's most endearing star. Hardcover, 134 pp. $31.95.

Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit
Sean Hepburn Ferrer
Written by her son Sean, this tender portrait of Audrey Hepburn is a tribute to one of the most charming, graceful, and humane stars ever to shine in Hollywood. Eschewing the superficiality of a typical biography, Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit reveals an Audrey that only her son knew, ultimately narrating her life through the framework of a mother/son relationship. Softcover, 230 pp. $28.95.

How to Be Lovely: The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life
Melissa Hellstern
More philosophy than biography, How to Be Lovely revisits the many interviews Audrey Hepburn gave over the years, allowing us to hear her voice directly on universal topics of concern to women the world over: careers, love lives, motherhood and relationships. Enhanced by rarely seen photographs, behind-the-scenes stories, and insights from the friends who knew her well, this book uncovers the real Audrey, a beloved icon who found success as an actress, a mother, and an humanitarian. Hardcover, 195 pp. $26.00.

Katherine Hepburn Once Said...
Susan Crimp
It doesn't matter whether the words were originally hers or if they were written for her, every word spoken in that all-too-familiar staunch New England accent instantly became her own. Collected here are the words that made Katherine Hepburn "Kate" to millions of fans. Hardcover, 159 pp. $22.95.


Anthony Hopkins: The Biography
Quentin Falk
Meticulously researched and written with style, humor, humanity, knowledge and affection for its subject, this updated biography is a frank and revealing account of one of the most influential and legendary actors of our time. Softcover, 293 pp. $12.50.

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Last modified April 26, 2009
Please note that all prices are in Canadian dollars. All prices are subject to change without notice.