Biography Television

When producer Ira Rosen walked into the 60 Minutes offices in June 1980, he knew he was about to enter television history. His career catapulted him to the heights of TV journalism, breaking some of the most important stories in TV news. But behind the scenes was a war room of clashing producers, anchors, and the most formidable 60 Minutes figure: legendary correspondent Mike Wallace.

Tim Bowden has been writing and sharing his stories with the public since the early '60s in his home state of Tasmania. This quirky and eclectic series of recollections and anecdotes is Tim at his best, with a wry view on life, his own personal stories, and some amusing moments from his life as a reporter and broadcaster. A must for Tim Bowden fans.

This highly respected veteran newsman shares the stories he's long kept under wraps. Schieffer goes beyond the news everyone is familiar with to share the compelling anecdotes only his colleagues were previously privy to. Says the author, "I want to tell you about the parts that didn't get on television or in the paper." The result is an eye-opening glimpse behind the scenes of the news business.

Fess Parker grew up in Texas, served in World War II, and later became TV's incredibly popular Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. After his film and TV career, Parker became a successful businessman, hotel builder, and vintner. William R. Chemerka's authorized biography is a respectful tribute to an amazing man that features thoughtful recollections from Parker's family, friends, co-stars, and fans.

Fran Drescher, iconic star and co-creator of The Nanny, shares her candid thoughts about the fall of Les Moonves, a surprising critique of her NBC show Indebted—and explains what she sees wrong with American “sick care.” Think you know Joan Collins? If your knowledge begins and ends with her run as Alexis Carrington on Dynasty in the Eighties, darling, you would be so very wrong. Emmy-winning actor, producer, and director Danny DeVito gets behind The Originals bar and serves up drink recipes, quarantine-friendly lymph system workouts, tips for not murdering co-star Jim Carrey, and more.

Marisa Burke is a top-rated, local anchorwoman at one of the most respected local ABC affiliates in the country. She enjoys celebrity status, six-figure salaries, a gorgeous home, and beautiful family. But rather than reporting the news, Marisa suddenly becomes the subject of it when her husband, an admired educator, the father of her two young girls, and the man she truly believed was her loving soulmate, was arrested for unlawful sexual relationships with underage boys.

The world was not the least bit surprised when Branden James became a finalist on season eight of America's Got Talent, receiving high praise from the judges for his emotional, operatic vocals. Coming out and sharing intimate details of his broken ties with his religious family on the show, he received countless messages from fans who could relate to his personal struggles.

Jeff Dugan began his career in television as an ashtray holder for Forrest Tucker doing every possible job up to executive producer for the Discovery Channel. Dugan worked alongside some of the most powerful people in the world, from the pope to Oprah, and things rarely went smoothly. Ted Kennedy thought he was an assassin. And on the biggest series of his career, he almost killed his celebrity narrator on the first day of shooting. Ins & Outs is a humorous look behind the scenes of American television written by a guy who made it to the top despite the carnage he left behind.

In this hilarious, frank, and affecting autobiography Ned Sherrin looks back on his life and career with inimitable wit and a good deal of wisdom.

Hailed by the New Yorker as "a crucial forebear of generations," award–winning director Joyce Chopra came of age in the 1950s, prior to the dawn of feminism, and long before the #MeToo movement. As a young woman, it seemed impossible that she might one day realize her dream of becoming a film director. In this engaging, candid memoir, award–winning director Joyce Chopra describes how she learned to navigate the deeply embedded sexism of the film industry, helping to pave the way for a generation of women filmmakers who would come after her.

In In the Volume, actor Hyde-White shares his story from Hollywood’s front lines, which spans more than four decades of the most transformational period in film and television history. This memoir chronicles Hyde-White’s early life growing up in England; moving to Palm Springs in the 1960s; graduating from high school at 16; getting started in Hollywood; working as a cab driver, bartender, waiter, and ski shop clerk while looking for acting gigs; playing his first part in a movie as the photographer in The Toy; and more, acting in some huge box office hits.

Roughly ten per cent of all murders in the UK go unsolved. Here, Britain's top ex-undercover cop shines new light on cases up and down the country in search of answers. Peter Bleksley's life has been devoted to investigating. As an undercover detective for the Metropolitan Police and in his ability to get to the bottom of a case was legendary as he dealt with some of the world's most feared criminals. His success rate in solving murders as a serving officer was one hundred per cent.

Walter's Perspective provides a unique glimpse into the rough-and-tumble Chicago news business as seen through the eyes of one of its legendary players. From his first news job working as a legman to his later role as a news anchor and political commentator, Jacobson battled along the front lines of an industry undergoing dramatic changes.

Emmy-nominated television producer and executive Andy Friendly takes listeners behind the scenes of the TV and movie business, beginning with his iconic father Fred Friendly's pioneering work in television news with the legendary Edward R. Murrow, through the extraordinary film and television career of his wife, Golden Globe-winning actress Pat Crowley, as well as Andy's own dramatic and at times hilarious adventures working with many of the most talented names in the business: from Richard Pryor, George Clooney, Jimmy Cagney, and Paul McCartney to news and talk legends Tom Snyder, Tim Russert, Dan Rather, Oprah Winfrey, and Vin Scully, among dozens of other top stars.

Lisa Millar has spent her whole life showing up, getting things done and making things happen. Despite the risks, despite the fear, despite life getting in the way. As a child growing up in country Queensland, she had dreamed of a big life. Working as a foreign correspondent gave her that. But it also meant confronting the worst of what humanity can bring - the dead children at Sandy Hook, the sorrow of grieving relatives after the Bataclan theatre terrorist attack and the aftermath of Manchester. Three decades as a journalist witnessing grief and unspeakable tragedy had a cost.

Each eye-wateringly funny script in this book is based on real life events featuring Sting, Jim Berryman and related characters. It is set in 60s and 70s Newcastle before Sting rose to fame as the frontman of the band The Police.

In this dazzling Hollywood memoir, Jeff Margolis takes us on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of television’s most memorable variety series and specials spanning the past fifty years—from the most iconic variety shows of the 1970s to the Oscars. Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of event television, Margolis is not only a technical ringmaster but also a confidante and sage to the stars who headline the shows. Students of television will savor the “how-to” of event television while fans will love the intimate stories of beloved stars.

Growing up in the shadow of Nancy's fame, John Dickerson rarely saw his mother. This frank memoir - part remembrance, part discovery - describes a freewheeling childhood in which Nancy Dickerson was rarely around unless John was in trouble or she was throwing a party for the president and John was instructed to check the coats. By the time John was old enough to know what the news was, his mother was no longer in the national spotlight and he didn't see why she should be. He thought she was a liar and a phony. When he was 14, his parents divorced, and he moved in with his father.

When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, Black faces were still rare on television, Black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow “Flip” Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as “TV’s first black superstar”? Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture.

From Bob Beckel, the popular co-host of The Five on Fox News Channel, a deeply moving, redemptive memoir about his life as a political operative and diplomat, his long struggle with alcohol and drugs, and his unlikely journey to finding faith. Growing up poor in an abusive home, Bob Beckel learned to be a survivor: To avoid conflict, mask his feelings, and to lie - all skills that served him well in Washington, where he would become the youngest-ever Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and manage Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign.