Showing titles in Actors

With unforgettable performances such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, the anguished astronaut George Taylor in 1968's Planet of the Apes, and the eponymous Ben-Hur - for which he won an Academy Award - Charlton Heston cemented his place in the pantheon of 20th-century Hollywood royalty. But his fame as an actor was matched by his political activism. A Democrat in his early years, Heston became a staunch supporter of Richard Nixon and Reagan Republicanism.

Lisa Jakub had what she was supposed to want: She was a working actor in Los Angeles. She had more than 40 movies and TV shows to her name. She had been in blockbusters like Mrs. Doubtfire and Independence Day. She walked the red carpet and lived in the house she had bought when she was 15. But something was missing. Passion. Purpose. Happiness. In this funny and insightful book, Lisa chronicles the adventures of growing up in the film industry and her difficult decision to leave behind the only life she had ever known.

As a young boy growing up on the outskirts of Dublin, the stage and screen legend sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and commentary on stardom, the actor-writer returned to Broadway and Audible to reflect on a life’s journey.

The iconic actor best known for his role as Jim McDonald in Coronation Street, Charlie Lawson unveils a life as dramatic off-screen as his on-screen roles. In his own words, he recounts his shenanigans at boarding school, his experience of the Troubles in his native Northern Ireland, his time at drama school and his first acting roles–as well many boisterous nights out and a short-lived attempt to run an illicit club night in 1980s East London.

When John Huston died at 81 on August 28, 1987, America lost a towering figure in movie history. The director of such classic films as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Prizzi's Honor, and The Dead, John Huston evoked passionate responses from everyone he encountered. He was at the center of a dynasty, with three generations of Oscar winners (Walter, John and Anjelica).

This book follows its fascinating subject from the Indiana farm where he spent an active but troubled boyhood to the crucial, early training ground of the New York theater world to his meteoric rise to international stardom in the movies. It shows how postwar Hollywood was still a charmed, leisurely community, yet one ripe for the explosive ascension of a dynamic new presence like James Dean.

“Kids, Wait Til You Hear This” is the autobiography of EGOT icon Liza Minnelli. This fascinating, untold story reveals the intimate truth of the only child born to Hollywood legends Vincent Minnelli and Judy Garland. For the first time, here is Liza up close: Raw, strong, sexy, hilarious and heartbreaking. Liza decided at the age of 16 that “sympathy is my mother’s business. I give people joy.

Raymond Sarlot bought the Chateau Marmont in 1975, but what was originally a business purchase became a love affair as he delved into the hotel's incredible history. From its perch overlooking the Sunset Strip, the glamorous Marmont reigned for decades as the spot for artists, writers, musicians, and actors of every stripe and remains a home-away-from-home for A-listers like Scarlett Johansson and Johnny Depp. Here, Sarlot and coauthor Fred E. Basten share a wealth of scandalous and intriguing tales about them all.

He's played a deranged groundskeeper, a bellowing lounge singer, a paranormal exterminator, and a grouchy weatherman. He is William James "Bill" Murray, America's greatest national treasure. From his childhood lugging golf bags at a country club to his first taste of success on Saturday Night Live, from his starring roles in Hollywood blockbusters to his reinvention as a hipster icon for the 21st century, The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray chronicles every aspect of his extraordinary life and career.

In this hilarious collection, you'll find essays like “Thoughts About My First Agent’s Girlfriend’s Vagina”, wherein Olivia skewers what it’s like to live in Hollywood. In “Sex: What You Can Do to Help Yourself Have More of It”, she frankly gets down to the business of getting it on, including advice on how to appropriately wrap it and bag it.

In “What to Do When the Robots Invade (Yes, When!)” Olivia offers valuable information on...what to do when the robots invade!

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Color of Money, and Nobody’s Fool. But Newman was also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool.

Los Angeles in the 1960s and '70s was the pop cultural capital of the world - a movie factory, a music factory, a dream factory. Eve Babitz was the ultimate factory girl, a pure product of LA. The goddaughter of Igor Stravinsky and a graduate of Hollywood High, Babitz posed in 1963, at age 20, playing chess with the French artist Marcel Duchamp. She was naked; he was not. The photograph, cheesecake with a Dadaist twist, made her an instant icon of art and sex. Babitz spent the rest of the decade rocking and rolling on the Sunset Strip, honing her notoriety.

Ingrid Bergman (August 29, 1915 - August 29, 1982) was a Swedish actress often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history, having won four Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and 3 Academy Awards. Bergman won Best Actress Oscars for Gaslight in 1944 and Anastasia in 1956, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1974's Murder On The Orient Express. The following recording is from a 1973 television interview.

From Crimea with Love documents the mishaps, blunders, incompetence and downright corruption that made Sharpe’s Rifles go down in British television folklore for its unique tales of hardship. Follow the cast through intense depravation and constant catastrophe until they become every bit the jaded, battle-hardened soldiers we saw on screen. Jason brings you an eye-opening, jaw-dropping insider’s account of one of the best-loved shows ever made.

Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905-1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood's most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos—with a touch of defiance—"Orientally yours." Now, more than a century after her birth, Yunte Huang narrates Wong's tragic life story, retracing her journey from Chinatown to silent-era Hollywood, and from Weimar Berlin to decadent, prewar Shanghai, and capturing American television in its infancy.

Fred MacMurray was one of the most durable stars in motion picture history. Fred arrived in Hollywood in 1934 and within a year he was one of the top leading men in the movie industry. He was the leading actor or one of the leads in films through 1973 when Walt Disney Studios released his final starring role in a motion picture, Charley and the Angel. Thirty-nine years - five separate decades. Few stars have equaled that distinction. Of course every star career has its peaks and valleys.

The career of Stefanie Powers is one of so many stage, screen, and television credits that her name alone recalls memories as varied as her roles-on screen and off. From movie roles including John Wayne's daughter in McLintock! and Lana Turner's rival in Love Has Many Faces, to being terrorized by Tallulah Bankhead in Die, Die My Darling and befriending a Volkswagen in Herbie Rides Again.

Matthew Perry was a man who brought joy to millions while quietly enduring unimaginable pain. To the world, he was the quick-witted Chandler Bing, whose one-liners became iconic in television history. But behind the laughs and the charm was a man waging a relentless battle against addiction, self-doubt, and the weight of fame. Matthew Perry: The Tragic Final Act presents a deeply moving exploration of his life—a story of triumph, vulnerability, betrayal, and the legacy he left behind.

Ian Halperin, New York Times best-selling author of Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, explores the relationship of the world’s most famous celebrity couple with exclusive revelations and personal anecdotes. This supercouple, unlike any other, consistently turns heads, rolls cameras, and delivers action.

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees?