Classic Actor

Renowned for her screen performances, down-to-earth personality, and love affair with Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner left an indelible mark on Hollywood history. Her adventurous life story is told through authoritative text and hundreds of photos in Ava: A Life in Movies. Ava is an illustrated...

Now available in Spanish language for the first time! Featuring new material including excerpts from Desi Arnaz’s unpublished second memoir and a revealing epilogue by daughter Lucie Arnaz, here is the revised edition of the New York Times bestselling memoir of Cuban American entertainment...

Jeff Corey (1914-2002) made a name for himself in the 1940s as a character actor in films like The Killers (1946). Everything changed in 1951, when he was summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Corey refused to name names and was promptly blacklisted, which forced him to walk away from a vibrant livelihood as an actor and embark on a career as one of the industry's most revered acting instructors. In Improvising Out Loud: My Life Teaching Hollywood How to Act, Corey recounts his extraordinary story.

"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" These famous lines from The Graduate (1967) would forever link Anne Bancroft (1931-2005) to the groundbreaking film and confirm her status as a movie icon. Along with her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in the stage and film drama The Miracle Worker, this role was a highlight of a career that spanned a half-century and brought Bancroft an Oscar, two Tonys, and two Emmy awards. In the first biography to cover the entire scope of Bancroft's life and career, Douglass K. Daniel reveals how, from a young age, Bancroft was committed to challenging herself and strengthening her craft.

In this blisteringly raw and emotional coming-of-age memoir, the brilliant co-creator of Hulu's Pen15 grapples with the reappearance of her estranged father—and whether it's possible to reconnect. The doorbell rings again. The man on the other side is a mirror image of me, same hair, cheeks...

For the first time, the complete history of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks—from the landmark, original cult series that changed the course of television to its 25-years-in-the-making sequel—is told through fascinatingly detailed reporting and exclusive interviews with the show's...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize ""A masterpiece."" — Literary Review ""A novel to read and to remember."" —New York Times Widely regarded as the masterwork of celebrated author and Algonquin Round Table mainstay Edna Ferber—who also penned other classics including Show Boat, Giant, Ice...

Elise Hooper’s debut novel conjures the fascinating, untold story of May Alcott—Louisa’s youngest sister and an artist in her own right. We all know the story of the March sisters, heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa...

This is a story from the In the Ravine and Other Stories collection.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest shows ever broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio – including episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Burns & Allen, Gunsmoke, The Amos ‘n' Andy Show, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, Suspense, Dimension X, The Whistler, Sherlock Holmes and more. Radio’s finest actors perform before the microphones, including: Jack Benny, Tom Conway, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nigel Bruce, Chester Morris, Dick Powell, Howard Duff, George Burns, Gracie Allen, William Conrad, John Dehner and many more.

Screenwriter Jeb Rosebrook presents a captivating behind-the-scenes memoir of the making of Junior Bonner, a 1972 Western classic starring Steve McQueen and directed by Sam Peckinpah.

Young, impressionable Masha sees a tragic actor, Fenogenov, during his benefit night and falls madly in love with him. Masha decides to run away with the actor and marry him despite her father's clear disapproval. Her father disowns her, describing her husband as idle, stupid and of no fixed home or occupation. Masha later finds herself in desperate need of money and has to seek help from her farther. Read in English, unabridged.

Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English author of 21 novels and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works have been ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jacobs, his detective stories with Conan Doyle, his politico-science fiction with H. G. Wells, and his supernatural stories with Algernon Blackwood. In his stories of detection, Bramah hit on the idea of a blind detective, Max Carrados, whose triumphs are all the more amazing because of his disability.

The late film icon and screen legend Kirk Douglas was married to Anne Buydens for more than six decades. Here they both look back on a lifetime filled with drama both on and off the screen. Sharing priceless correspondence with each other as well as the celebrities and world leaders they called...

A collection of short stories by Anton Chekhov, featuring "A Tragic Actor", "In a Strange Land", "Oh the Public", "The Looking Glass", "Her Husband", and "Overdoing It".

These stories are small masterpieces. The scene is set quickly, and within a few sentences the storyline is underway. But all seem to contain elements of the unexpected.

Nicolas Cage: leading man or character actor? Action hero or goofball comedian? Internet joke or one of the greatest actors of his generation? Beyond the gif bait and easy punchline, Nicolas Cage continually frustrates easy categorization or understanding. In National Treasure, pop culture writer Lindsay Gibb studies Nicolas Cage’s acting style and makes sense of the trajectory of his eclectic career. In the process, Gibb debunks the common claim that Cage makes bad choices.

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection Final Acts. The third act of a play is cut short by the death of an actor onstage. Inspector Bristow must delve into the man's past and relationships with his colleagues to solve the mystery.