Hollywood Heyday: 75 Candid Interviews with Golden Age Legends

by David Fantle, Tom Johnson (Editor)

Overview

"What audacity!" exclaimed actor Robert Wagner when he heard about the authors' adolescent exploits in nabbing interviews with Hollywood celebrities. In 1978, Fantle and Johnson, St. Paul teenagers, boarded a plane to meet with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. They had written the stars requesting interviews--and to their amazement, both agreed.

Over the years, more than 250 other stars also agreed--Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, George Burns, Rod Steiger, Milton Berle, Frank Capra and Hoagy Carmichael, to name a few. Published for the first time and with exclusive photos, this selection of 75 interviews chronicles the authors' 40-year quest for insights and anecdotes from iconic 20th century artists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476632834
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	04/04/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	305
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David Fantle has been interviewing, writing and speaking about Hollywood’s Golden Age stars for 40 years. His work has appeared in media outlets worldwide. He is an adjunct professor of film and pop culture at Marquette University and lives in Milwaukee. Tom Johnson was a senior editor at Netflix and has written movie reviews and features for E! Online, Moviefone and People magazine, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles.
David Fantle has been interviewing, writing and speaking about Hollywood's Golden Age stars for 40 years where his work has appeared in media outlets throughout the world. He is an adjunct professor in film and pop culture at Marquette University and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Tom Johnson was a senior editor at Netflix and has written movie reviews and features for E! Online, Moviefone and People magazine, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by Robert Wagner delete
Preface: Origin Story delete
Vaudeville Was Not a Place! Will Ahern and Eddie Parks
It Ain’t Easy Being Green Eddie Albert
Alphabet Soup Steve Allen
Read All About Him Ed Asner
That Nimble Tread Fred Astaire
Having (Less Than) a Ball with Lucy Lucille Ball
What’s the Buzz? Rona Barrett
The Biggest in the Business Milton Berle
Dog Day Afternoon Jacqueline Bisset
Blanc’s Slate Mel Blanc
The Importance of Being Ernest Ernest Borgnine
Comedy in Three Acts George Burns
Measuring Up James Cagney
What Makes Sammy Run? Sammy Cahn
The-Great-Minneapolis-Kidnap-Caper Frank Capra
Stardust and Residuals Hoagy Carmichael
The Gamine Leslie Caron
Jacked! Jack Carter
“Beautiful Dynamite” Cyd Charisse
“Mannix”: The Last Interview Mike Connors
Festering Jackie Coogan
Fred and Ed (and Johnny) Fred de Cordova and Ed McMahon
Angie Angie Dickinson
Testy(monial) Sparring with Stanley Donen
You Must Remember This Julius Epstein
Common and Preferred Peter Falk
With a Song in Her Heart Kathryn Grayson
Man Tan George Hamilton
This One’s for the Birds Tippi Hedren
Holy Moses!—Heston on High Charlton Heston
All the Best Lines Al Hirschfeld
On the Road with “Old Ski Nose” Bob Hope
“To the Greats Without a Microphone” George Jessel
“How Do You Like Them Apples?” Shirley Jones and Rod Steiger
The Real McCoy DeForest Kelley
Passing Time with Gene Kelly
The Last of the Great Anchormen Ted Knight
Clock Watching with Martin Landau
The Art of Perfect Timing Burton Lane
Janet and Tony and the Art of Crowd Control Janet Leigh and
deleteTony Curtis
Mum’s the Word Mervyn LeRoy
Jerry-Rigged Jerry Lewis
“Great Songs, Drudge Assignments, It Never Mattered”
deleteJay Livingston and Ray Evans
Nice and Easy Does It Every Time Karl Malden
The “Toy King” Louis Marx
Frankly Speaking Billy May
Baked Alaska Virginia Mayo
Tops in Taps Ann Miller
MGM’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Vincente Minnelli
TV’s Funniest Shrink Bob Newhart
The Great American Flyers The Nicholas Brothers
Fred Astaire’s Silent Partner Hermes Pan
Of Mockingbirds and Maniacs Gregory Peck
Maledictions in a Minor Chord André Previn
Unsinkable Debbie Reynolds
The Merchant of Venom, Defanged Don Rickles
Behind the Tinsel Mickey Rooney
The ­Also-Ran Benny Rubin
A Delicate Balance Eva Marie Saint
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Clarinet Artie Shaw
By George! George Sidney
The Untouchable Robert Stack
A Long Meander with RJ Robert Wagner
Benchwarmer Eli Wallach
A Friend of Dorothy Charles Walters
Lullabies and Nightmares Harry Warren
A Short Take on The Three Stooges: Jules White
In the Swim with Neptune’s Daughter Esther Williams
His Favorite Things Robert Wise
Afterword: A View from the Terrace delete
Index delete

Editorial Reviews

Fans of the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood are in for a delicious treat with the release of the new book/memoir Hollywood Heyday...The story behind the making of this dishy delight is almost as fascinating as the intimate conversations with the legendary stars themselves.”—PROVOKR; “this book is an entertaining collection of vignettes, a mixture of stories from the stars and the authors’ own observations”—The News & Observer (Raleigh, North California); “If you love old Hollywood, chances are your favorite person is in here.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; “will change the way you look at some of Hollywood’s classic movies and television shows”—ABC7; “The book was forty years in the making: worth every minute to bring it to fruition.... Start at the beginning and work through, pick and choose at random; either way, you’ll become immersed in this Milky Way of Hollywood luminaries.”—Lavender; “how [Fantle and Johnson] landed these interviews is just as fascinating as what their subjects had to say about their careers as movie stars...deeply fascinating...the list of celebrities who are featured in the book is quite impressive...a riveting collection”—Montreal Times; “This is a fine example of the kind of book I love to have on the bedside table, for bedtime. Also, for morning and for insomnia. These profiles are so well done that it’s hard not to go on to just one more and be late for work. Be a good friend. Get two copies.”—Dick Cavett; “Guys, your book will be with me: in the car, in the bathroom, in the tote to the dentist, to the doctor, to the rehab, to the movies...anywhere that I might want a wonderful ‘lift’ to my day. It’s full of fascinating reminiscences. Thank you!”—Angie Dickinson; “Hollywood Heyday took me back to many a year. Dave and Tom are very good writers.”—Eva Marie Saint; “These are in-depth interviews and not the usual. They’re things that people will really want to know about, not gossip.”—Jane Powell; “In a book that includes Bob Hope, George Burns, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, among others, Don (Rickles) is where he belongs.”—Bob Newhart.

From the Publisher