books: biographies ***. .Talent Development Resources -..home page...site map

 
**collections / multiple names:

********** .They Made America: Two Centuries of Innovators from the Steam Engine  to the Search Engine - by Harold Evans "The most exciting discovery in looking at the whole span of 200 years of innovation is how much the innovators were democratizers, bringing reality to the rhetoric of liberty and equality." -- Sir Harold Evans, author, They Made America > Ida Rosenthal [1886 - 1973] - Russian Jewish immigrant, Brassiere Tycoon > Madam C.J. Walker [1867 - 1919] - Born to recently freed slaves in 1867, Louisiana native Sarah Breedlove Walker transcended poverty, illiteracy, and prejudice to become one of the most important businesswomen in America. > Gary Kildall [1942 - 1994] - wrote the first software for a microprocessor, and then created a disk operating system for it. His creations for the personal computer underlie every desktop or laptop system in use today.   > quotes, images from PBS program site  //  ...They Made America

~ ~ ~ ~

Birth of the Chess Queen: A History - by Marilyn Yalom "The queen sent out vibrations that sexualized the playing field," writes Marilyn Yalom in "Birth of the Chess Queen: A History," in which she unravels the history of the game's most powerful piece. The queen did not even exist in the game's earliest ancestor, India's chatarunga. The queen replaced the vizier, a male messenger to the king, when Persian traders brought chess to Europe. Yalom, author of cultural histories of the breast and the wife, writes passionately and accessibly about this esoteric topic. She argues that the real queens of European history paved the way for their board game equivalents and tracks actual and chess queens on a whirlwind tour of Europe, from Iceland to Russia. Along the way, she writes capsule biographies of Toda of Navarre, Isabella of Castile and Elizabeth I of England. from review by Jennifer Shahade, LA Times, April 25 2004

~ ~ ~ ~

 
Frank X. Barron.  Creators on Creating : Awakening and Cultivating the Imaginative Mind
This collection of more than three dozen essays seeks to provide a meaningful investigation into the creative process. Such diverse voices as Henry Miller, Federico Fellini, Rainer Maria Rilke, Isadora Duncan, Frank Zappa, and Mary Shelley offer their thoughts on what prompted them to a creative life, and how they managed to capture their inspirations and persist to produce works of art. ... Mary Shelley on "The Genesis of Frankenstein," Tony Kushner on the "myth of the individual" in making art, Maya Angelou describing her day, Ingmar Bergman on the set of Fanny and Alexander, Richard Feynman in the classroom, Karen Finley feigning madness etc.  [amazon.com summary]

Peter Biskind. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And-Rock-'N'-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Biskind did hundreds of interviews with people who make the president look accessible: Scorsese, Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Geffen, Beatty, Kael, Towne, Altman. He also spoke with countless spurned spouses and burned partners, alleged victims of assault by knife, pistol, and bodily fluids. Rather more responsible than some of his sources, Biskind always carefully notes the denials as well as the astounding stories he has compiled. He tells you about Scorsese running naked down Mulholland Drive after his girlfriend, crying, "Don't leave me!"; grave robbing on the set of Apocalypse Now; Faye Dunaway apparently flinging urine in Roman Polanski's face while filming Chinatown; Michael O'Donoghue's LSD-fueled swan dive onto a patio; Coppola's mad plan for a 10-hour film of Goethe's Elective Affinities in 3-D; the ocean suicide attempt Hal "Captain Wacky" Ashby gave up when he couldn't find a swimsuit that pleased him; countless dalliances with porn stars; Russian roulette games and psychotherapy sessions in hot tubs. But he also soberly gives both sides ample chance to testify. [Amazon.com summary]

Harold Bloom.  Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds
Bloom strictly profiles "geniuses of language" - poets, dramatists, novelists, philosophers, and religious writers - and, except for a core group that includes Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dante, Milton, and Tolstoy, has selected his 100.. not because they're the top geniuses, but because their quests were in some measure cosmic, their language transcendent, and their lives intriguing. Literature is a spiritual calling for Bloom and his geniuses, so he has organized this bountiful volume according to the Kabbalah's 10 divine attributes or emanations, the Sefirot, which chart "the process of creation." This makes for some wonderfully fresh and provocative juxtapositions, and for an elevating concentration on how each writer extends the path toward wisdom. ... [from Booklist review by Donna Seaman]

Marie Brenner Great Dames : What I Learned from Older Women   "..these ten terrific dames certainly have a lot of lessons to teach us all. Some gained fame through intellectual, artistic, philanthropic or political means, or became an icon because of their sheer flamboyance or the mystery of personality. Several married well. In these short pieces about Constance Baker Motley, Luise Rainer, Jacqueline Onassis, et al., Brenner creates something akin to instant, colorful snapshots."  [review by Emily Mitchell, Time Mag.]

Buffy Childerhose, Sarah McLachlan From Lilith to Lilith Fair : The Authorized Story   "... chronicles the festival.. from its seedling stages to full bloom with insights from most of Lilith's 1997 artists... Most chapters begin with a portrait of a pioneering woman, from 16th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi to Canadian suffragette Nellie McClung. The historical stories point most frequently to women's struggles to be heard, honored, and even considered through the ages. The Lilith Fair artists relate more contemporary stories of discrimination and prejudice, and ultimately of triumph."

Dawn Chipman, Pamela Nelson (Editor) Cool Women    "The roster of female role models in Cool Women is extremely eclectic, spanning history and national boundaries to include Cleopatra and Amelia Earhart. Mexican freedom fighters stand side by side with Soviet WWII fighter pilots, Mother Jones, and Rosie the Riveter. Editor Pam Nelson places emphasis on women who overcame their own fears to go beyond society's expectations and succeed on their own terms. Cool Women also introduces many young readers to women about whom they might otherwise not learn until adulthood, such as Dorothy Parker, Janet Flanner, and Jane Goodall."

Mario Falsetto  Personal Visions : Conversations With Contemporary Film Directors
17 filmmakers discuss their creative visions, their careers and the state of today's film industry: Neil Jordan; Michael Radford; Tom DiCillo; Atom Egoyan; Alan Rudolph; Lynne Stopkewich; Alison Maclean etc

Carol Lee Flinders Enduring Grace : Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics

Diana Burgess Fuller  et al. Art/Women/California 1950-2000 : Parallels and Intersections
During the years 1950 to 2000, art by women in the Golden State manifested concerns coursing through the Western world. Ethnic backgrounds and their impact are looked at in the book's first section, while the second part examines points where kindred themes coincide. The effects of feminism, technological breakthroughs, and political as well as societal upheavals are reflected in thought-provoking commentary and accompanying reproductions of compelling paintings, prints, and murals; photographs and stills from video and film; and documentation of performances, conceptual art, and new media.  from Booklist review by Alice Joyce

Gillian Gaar  She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll
[bn.com:] "A lively history of women in rock and pop, featuring interviews with dozens of performers and a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry. From Big Mama Thornton, who topped the charts with "Hound Dog" three years before Elvis did, to Madonna, who has been topping charts for years, here is a spirited retelling of rock history. 50 photographs."

Mollie Gregory.  Women Who Run the Show: How a Brilliant and Creative New Generation of Women Stormed Hollywood, 1973-2000
Documentary film producer and director Gregory interviews over 100 powerful women who've made their mark in film in this hefty book. She organizes it by decade; thus, the 1970s chapter is called "Beachhead," the '80s is "Securing the Perimeter" and the '90s is "Breakthrough." She investigates the barriers women like The Sting producer Julia Phillips came up against and lauds the accomplishments of Mimi Leder, who directed The Peacemaker. Dense and very thorough. [from Publishers Weekly review]

Susan Griffin. The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues
While they charmed some of Europe's most illustrious men.. the great courtesans gained riches, power, education, and sexual freedom in a time when other women were denied all of these. From Imperia of fifteenth-century Rome; Mme. de Pompadour... to Sarah Bernhardt, who, following in her mother's footsteps, supported herself in her early career with a second profession. ... They were strongwilled, autonomous, and plucky. An open secret, their presence can be felt throughout our culture. The muses who enflamed the hearts and imaginations of out most celebrated artists, they were also artists in their own right. They wrote poetry and novels, invented the cancan at the Moulin Rouge, and presented celebrated acts at the Folies-Bergere. They helped to influence and shape the sensibility of modern literature, painting, and fashion.

Harmony Hammond._ Lesbian Art in America : A Contemporary History
"Although the text of Harmony Hammond's wonderfully rich book is a little too dense for
casual consumption, the history she offers -- especially of the middle decade represented here,
the 1980s, with its porn wars and the emergence of both postmodernism and postfeminism
alongside a remarkable boom in the art market -- can be found nowhere else, and certainly not
in so graceful a form, lavishly illustrated and perceptively annotated.  Regina Marler [Amazon.com]

Nancy Heller.  Women Artists
"Beginning with sixteenth-century Sofonisba Anguissola, the first woman artist to establish an international reputation, here are professional painters and sculptors who developed their skills and talents, despite having limited access to education and few opportunities to exhibit. You may not have heard of many of them, but they were often well known during their lifetimes. Lady Elizabeth Butler painted monumental battle scenes that won her both fame and fortune. When Queen Victoria had a public showing of one of Butler’s works at Buckingham Palace, she had to hire extra policemen to control the overwhelming crowds. Women Artists also includes contemporary artists like Kiki Smith, African-American Carrie Mae Weems, and Laurie Anderson. There are photographs of many of the artists, as well as full-color reproductions of their work." [review on girlscando.com]

Erica E. Hirshler. A Studio of Her Own : Women Artists in Boston 1870 - 1940

Susan Horowitz.  Queens of Comedy: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and the New Generation of Funny Women

Barbara Isenberg.  State of the Arts
Longtime arts reporter Isenberg brings her fascination with California culture, which is as diverse and impressive as the state's spectacular landscapes, to this collection of more than 50 interviews with writers, painters and sculptors, actors, musicians, photographers, and architects. [Booklist review]

Gene Landrum  Profiles of Female Genius : Thirteen Creative Women Who Changed the World

Gene Landrum  Profiles of Power & Success : Fourteen Geniuses Who Broke the Rules

Emma Laskin & Howard Gardner. Leading Minds : An Anatomy of Leadership

Helena Lumme. Great Women of Film
"..celebrates 30 maverick women who have made a difference in the motion picture industry. From actors to directors to producers and screenwriters, cinematographers and film editors to composers and lyricists, production designers and costume designers to makeup artists and visual-effects technicians ... features incisive interviews, entertaining anecdotes, and personal reflections..."

Sharon Bertsch McGrayne Nobel Prize Women in Science : Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries   "Exploring the reasons why only nine of the more than 300 recipients of the Nobel Prize in science have been women, science writer McGrayne examines the lives and achievements of 14 women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project. Their stories are case studies of triumph over relentless gender discrimination."

Cindy Nemser.  Art Talk: Conversations with 15 Women Artists

Clifford A. Pickover. Strange Brains and Genius : The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen

Trina Robbins.  The Great Women Cartoonists

Howard Schatz, Beverly J. Ornstein Gifted Woman    "Fifty duotone portraits accompanied by the biographies of fifty women who have reached extraordinary heights in their chosen professions... subjects include such widely known figures as writers Jessica Mitford, Maxine Hong Kingston and Isabel Allende, Reps. Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi and Delancey Street Foundation director Mimi Silbert. Others have forged careers in a wide range of disciplines--art, drama, journalism, therapy, music, law, natural history, poetry, design, medicine..."

~ ~
 
 

Chris Strodder. Swingin' Chicks of the 60's
An affectionate tribute to the women who waged a cultural revolution, this book offers photos, profiles,
and little-known details of the lives of 101 defining divas of the decade. Twiggy, Annette Funicello,
Ann-Margret, Diana Rigg, Patty Duke, Janis Joplin, Mia Farrow, Marianne Faithfull, Cher, Jane Fonda,
Edie Sedgwick, plus ninety more. Includes more than 300 photos.    [Amazon.com summary]

~ ~

Marc Woodworth  Solo : Women Singer-Songwriters in Their Own Words
[examples of quotes:] Sarah McLachlan: "When I sang and played I'd get completely lost in what I was doing. During that time, I was no longer this stupid, useless little ten-year-old who didn't have any friends. I was someplace else, where none of that could touch me." // Jewel: "Fame exists in other people's minds. I can't experience my own fame at all but I experience it in other people's eyes when I look at them and see that they're scared." // Shawn Colvin: "Giving up addiction was the springboard into adult thinking. I realized that everything was a choice. The world was an open book."

Ellie Wymard  Conversations With Uncommon Women : Insights From Women Who've Risen Above Life's Challenges to Achieve Extraordinary Success    "Based on candid interviews with 100 women of achievement, it provides resounding inspiration and guidance for all women who are hungry for real-world role models. One of the women found here transformed a 60-seat steak house into an $80-million franchise with more than 44 restaurants worldwide. Another created a multi-million dollar business from a quilt! Yet another is the governor of New Jersey. But whatever their positions or accomplishments, all these women have one thing in common--they all want to support other women, and to offer practical guidance and realistic examples for those coming behind them who want to accomplish more."

  ~ ~ ~

**individuals:

Woody Allen on Woody Allen :  In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman

< photo from book:  ** Lacombe : Cinema/Theatre

 Laurie Anderson  // RoseLee Goldberg. Laurie Anderson   "... delivers a comprehensive look at Anderson's multifaceted career, from her performance pieces of the early 1970s to her 1999 electronic opera, Songs and Stories from Moby Dick. ..."

Dorothy Arzner // Directed by Dorothy Arzner   by Judith Mayne

Drew Barrymore:

     Little Girl Lost -- by Drew Barrymore

     Happily Ever After : The Drew Barrymore Story -- by Leah Furman, Elina Furman

~ ~ ~

"I've never sought success in order to get fame and money;  it's the talent and the passion that count in success."   Ingrid Bergman    [ photo from Casablanca ]   bio: Donald Spoto Notorious : The Life of Ingrid Bergman

**---

v**--- ~ ~ ~
** ---

"He's the most keenly aware, the most empathetical human being alive... He just knows. If you have a scar, physical or mental, he goes right to it. He doesn't want to, but he doesn't avoid it... He cannot be cheated or fooled. If you left the room, he could be you."    Stella Adler - in book: Richard Schickel Brando: A Life in Our Times

another book Lawrence Grobel   Conversations  With Brando

Marlon Brando by Patricia Bosworth (Brando says his favorite prank was his disabling of the school's bell. The noise so maddened him that one night he shimmied up to the bell tower and cut the clapper off, then buried it.) He writes, "I had a great deal of satisfaction challenging authority successfully. I had no sense of emotional security. I didn't know later why I felt valueless or that I responded to worthlessness with hostility." He has said he was encouraged by only one teacher, Duke Wagner, who taught him Shakespeare and the glory of language and who perceived his great natural gift for mimicry. Once Brando transformed himself into the gangster John Dillinger and had all the students squirming in their seats.  On Thanksgiving in 1941 he performed in three one-act plays at Shattuck. The school newspaper wrote, "The new boy shows enormous talent."

**---~ ~ ~

Bernie Brillstein.  Where Did I Go Right? : You're No One In Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead
"More than a collection of .. anecdotes, the book offers some profound insights -- not just on the entertainment business, but on human nature, the lure of power, and the balance between creativity and organizational ability: all told with candor, in Brillstein's unmistakable, and frequently hilarious voice."
    Brillstein is founding partner of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment    [review from Beverly Hills 213]

Louise Brooks Lulu in Hollywood        [video: Louise Brooks: Looking For Lulu ]     Louise Brooks by Barry Paris

Tim Burton  Burton on Burton

Neve Campbell by Kathleen Tracy

Jane Campion.  Interviews

Frank Capra / The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography by Frank Capra

Jim Carrey: Funny Man by Joan Wallner

John Cassavetes: Lifeworks

Rosemary Clooney.  Girl Singer : An Autobiography

Judy Collins  Singing Lessons

The Coen Brothers //  Paul Woods. Joel & Ethan Coen : Blood Siblings

Roger Corman.  How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime

David Cronenberg.  Cronenberg on Cronenberg

On Cukor by Gavin Lambert

Matt Damon : A Biography by Maxine Diamond  //  Matt Damon: Chasing a Dream by Mark Bego

Claire Danes by Jennifer Ambrose

**---

Bette Davis Speaks by Boze Hadleigh

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over  lonely labor, to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life."  Bette Davis   [1908-1989]

**---

~ ~ ~

 

The most important thing I got from James Dean was his approach to his parts and the away he made them so personal. I don't know if it's appreciated so much now, but (Marlon) Brando and Dean brought a sense of reality to their parts.  And Dean tapped into this sensitivity and pain that had almost never been seen before. You try to emulate that when you act because it's so much more real. James Franco [CNN, Sep 9, 2002] Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean by Paul Alexander

~ ~ ~

No Intermissions: The Life of Agnes de Mille - by Carol Easton

Judi Dench : With a Crack in Her Voice by John Miller

Bo Derek. Riding Lessons : Everything That Matters In Life I Learned from Horses

Marlene Dietrich by Maria Riva

~ ~ ~

The things we heard, about the darker side of his personality, centered around an incredible drive for perfection. There were certainly people who worked for him that thought he was a little toodemanding, even a little tactless.  But these descriptions were never reflected by his family. His daughters described him as quite patient, a person who offered praise.  What Walt liked most was a new challenge. The best description we heard of him was from Peter Ellenshaw, an artist who worked for him, who said, "You won't find anyone who can really explain the magic of Walt. People see him in black or white, but he was an extraordinary mixture.  "He was a common man who was endowed with a touch of magic." from Inside the Dream : The Personal Story of Walt Disney by Katherine Greene et al

Remembering Walt :  Favorite Memories  of Walt Disney by Amy Boothe Green

The Man Behind  the Magic : The Story of  Walt Disney  by Katherine Greene,  Richard Greene

Patty Duke  A Brilliant Madness

Looking for Gatsby: My Life  - by Faye Dunaway
"I wanted it to be tasteful and elegant. I really wanted to talk about what forces shaped me and to take stock of myself and examine the American dream that I'm so much a part of.''  [USA Today 12/02/99]
       
         

Chronicles, Vol. 1 - by Bob Dylan "I'd come from a long ways off and had started a long ways down. But now destiny was about to manifest itself. I felt like it was looking right at me and nobody else."  > Bob Dylan Lyrics: 1962-2001 - by Bob Dylan

         

Clint Eastwood : A Biography by Richard Schickel

Atom Egoyan    by Carole Desbarats

Mia Farrow.  What Falls Away: A Memoir

Ralph Fiennes: The Biography by York Membery
 
 

Jodie Foster by Therese De Angelis Jodie : A Biography by Louis Chunovic   photo from Herb Ritts: Work

 

Michael J. Fox  Lucky Man: A Memoir

**---
**---

In a chapter he penned for Ava Gardner's autobiography, Gregory Peck admitted coaching her and urging her to reach outfor more.  "I must have told her hundreds of times that she had it in her to be a great actress," he wrote, "that all she needed was a little more courage to attack, to go at a scene with the intention of selling it, of grasping the audience's attention and holding it."  from Ava Gardner Museum site: avagardner.org Grabtown Girl: Ava Gardner's North Carolina Childhood and Her Enduring Ties to Home - by Doris Rollins Cannon

***
*** **---Judy Garland by Scott Schechter

A/K/A: Jennifer Garner the Real Story by Maggie Marron

Terry Gilliam.  Gilliam on Gilliam

Lillian Gish by Charles Affron
 
 

My Side - the autobiography of Ruth Gordon

Seth Green: An Unauthorized Biography by Elina Furman, Leah Furman

Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow

Audrey Hepburn, an Elegant Spirit - by Sean Hepburn Ferrer [her son]

Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179: A Visionary Life by Sabina Flanagan
Hildegard was an herbal healer, mystic, writer, composer, Abbess
"We cannot live in a world that is not our own. In a world that is interpreted for us by others.
An interpreted world is not a HOME. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening.
To use our own voice. To see our own light."
 
 

Hirschfeld on Line  by Al Hirschfeld Anne Bancroft in Occupant, 2002, The Fogg Museum, Harvard University [detail] - drawing by Al Hirschfeld - from Margo Feiden Galleries site

Donald Spoto. The Dark Side of Genius : The Life of Alfred Hitchcock

Dustin Hoffman: Hollywood's Antihero by Jeff Lenburg

Anthony Hopkins: The Authorized Biography by Quentin Falk
   
       

.. .. Anyway, the force from somewhere in Space which commands you to write in the first place, gives you no choice. You take up the pen when you are told, and write what is commanded. There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you. > Zora Neale Hurston

I have been in sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands. Zora Neale Hurston  (1891-1960)- writer,  anthropologist, and folklorist quote above from The Harlem Renaissance  and the Flowering of Creativity site ...Speak, So You Can Speak Again : The Life of  Zora Neale Hurston - by Lucy Hurston This photo- and facsimile-filled volume offers a marvelous multi-media introduction to one of the most celebrated American writers of the 20th century... including CD of her speaking and singing. [Publishers Weekly]

       

The Diary of Frida Kahlo : An Intimate Self-Portrait  | Hayden Herrera    Frida : A Biography

~ ~ ~

Code Name Ginger: The Story behind Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World - by Steve Kemper "He's an intense and unreasonable person - which makes him so inspiring." an employee at Dean Kamen's company [from a TechLive news story 12/9/02 techtv.com] the Segway Human Transporter is available from Amazon.com

 

Diane Keaton: Artist and Icon by Deborah C. Mitchell

**--- Grace Kelly : A Life in Pictures by Jenny Curtis

**----

 

Mimi Kennedy  Taken to the Stage : The Education of an Actress   ["Abby Finkelstein" of "Dharma & Greg"]

Nicole Kidman: The Biography - by Lucy Ellis, Bryony Sutherland

Jewel Kilcher. Chasing Down the Dawn

Michelle Kwan // Edward Epstein. Born to Skate : The Michelle Kwan Story

Queen Latifah  Ladies First : Revelations of a Strong Woman

Richard Lewis.  The OTHER Great Depression

Jennifer Lopez by Patricia J. Duncan  [Bilingue: Espanol E Ingles]

Ida Lupino:  Annette Kuhn.  Queen of the 'B's

David Lynch  Lynch on Lynch
 
 

Madonna: In Her Own Words***** Madonna: An Intimate Biography by J. Randy Taraborrelli   photo from Herb Ritts: Work

~ ~ ~

"Why did Alma Schindler (1879-1964), the beautiful and musically gifted daughter of a well-connected Austrian landscape painter, marry Gustav Mahler, who demanded that she stop composing? ...  Her diaries reveal a young woman with an iron will.. who nevertheless craved a submissive role. If her genius husband brought Western music to the edge of modernism, Alma seems balanced on the brink of the modern age... a combination of proto-feminist and femme fatale." New Yorker review Diaries 1898-1902 by Alma Mahler-Werfel

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Vivir para contarla - by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Vivir para contarla es, probablemente, el libro más esperado de la década, compendio y recreación de un tiempo crucial en la vida de Gabriel García Márquez. En este apasionante relato, el premio Nobel colombiano ofrece la memoria de sus años de infancia y juventud, aquellos en los que se fundaría el imaginario que, con el tiempo, daría lugar a algunos de los relatos y novelas fundamentales en la literatura en lengua española del siglo XX.  ... [Amazon.com summary] ... memoir - Spanish only

~ ~ ~ ~

 
Penny Marshall : An Unauthorized Biography   by Lawrence Crown
 

~ ~
 

**************

"I put too much art in my life," Modotti once wrote to [Edward] Weston. "Consequently I have not much left to give to art." photographer Tina Modotti  [1896-1942]  book:   Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti

~ ~ ~ ~

Marilyn -- by Andre de Dienes, Steve Crist   Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting -- by Bert Stern   Marilyn Monroe: The Biography -- by Donald Spoto

Marilyn Monroe  and G.I. fans with cameras -  from book:  Vanity Fair's Hollywood

~ ~Mary Tyler Moore.  After All

~ ~

You get the sense that in her prime, she was absolute bloody dynamite. She was very modern for her time in that she said what she believed and didn't hide behind social decorum.  Kate Winslet - about Iris Murdoch, whom she portrays in the film "Iris" bio:  Iris Murdoch: A Life by Peter J. Conradi

**---A Beautiful Mind - A Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994 by Sylvia Nasar

Willie by Willie Nelson
 
 

Jack's Life : A Biography of Jack Nicholson by Patrick McGilligan   photo from Herb Ritts: Work

Anais Nin  The Diary of Anais Nin

Invisible Writer: A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates by Greg Johnson
 
 
 

My mother. No one speaks of my mother. Not then, not now. I knew she was dying. No one told me she was, but I knew. In my house you had to go with your gut. With no one around to answer the questions, I made up my own. I made a judgment, I deduced, I calculated, I became an authority on nearly nothing and almost everything. I taught myself to juggle, to spin a ball on one finger, to balance a chair in the palm of my hand.  Simple skills that gave me a feeling of safety, or superiority. I can do many amazing card tricks, and although I know the magician's code says you should not reveal the secrets, I do so willingly to anyone who asks. I know the peace found in knowing the truth, the sham, the unspoken.  Rosie O'Donnell - from her memoir: Find Me

~ ~ ~

 .

In a career that has lasted more than sixty years, I have acted, punched, swashbuckled, and shot my way through an absurdly masculine profession... As a woman, I'm proud to say that I stood toe-to-toe with the best of them and made my mark on my own terms. Maureen O'Hara - in her memoir 'Tis Herself

.

~ ~ ~

Georgia O'Keeffe, Roxana Robinson. Georgia O'Keeffe : A Life The Art & Life of Georgia O'Keeffe by Jan Garden Castro Georgia O'Keeffe One Hundred Flowers

Life on the Wire: The Life and Art of Al Pacino by Andrew Yule

Gwyneth Paltrow by Valerie Milano

Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business by Dolly Parton

Michelle Pfeiffer: A Biography by Bruce Crowther
 

Sidney Poitier.  The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography Poitier wrote.. because he "felt called to write about certain values, such as integrity and commitment, faith and forgiveness, about the virtues of simplicity, about the difference between 'amusing ourselves to death' and finding meaningful pleasures -- even joy." ...  Poitier has been rich and poor.. popular and despised; and his extremely varied experiences have made him a wise man, as he demonstrates with statements like this one: "[W]hat we do is stay within the context of what's practical, what's real, what dreams can be fashioned into reality, what values can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character."   [Amazon.com review]

Natalie Portman : Queen of Hearts by James L. Dickerson

Leni Riefenstahl. Leni Riefenstahl: A Memoir
 
 

Julia Roberts by Wayne Wilson     photo from Herb Ritts: Work

 

Robert Rodriguez  Rebel Without a Crew : Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player

Holly George-Warren. Winona Ryder

Susan Sarandon: Actress-Activist by Marc Shapiro

John Sayles  Sayles on Sayles

Martin Scorsese  Scorsese on Scorsese     |   Martin Scorsese: Interviews

         

...Will in the World : How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare - by Stephen Greenblatt The sparse documentation has been analyzed and reanalyzed, and scholars have pored over the text of Shakespeare's words, seeking clues to who he was in the plays he wrote. Harvard University English professor Stephen Greenblatt took a different tack. "Will in the World" is not a scholarly work, but a book meant to be read by the general public, with no rarified knowledge of Shakespeare. Greenblatt has tried to rescue young Will from the dry world of academia and replant him in the ripe, bawdy, lethal world of Elizabethan England, to better understand who he might have been. ... Much of this, of course, is speculation, which has been noted in reviews... Greenblatt's response: "I plead guilty." [AP/CNN]

         

Steven Spielberg : Interviews

Oliver Stone, Charles L. P. Silet Oliver Stone : Interviews
**---
Martha Inc.: The Incredible Story of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia by Christopher M. Byron

biography: Sharon Stone
 

~ ~ ~

But back in the olden days, when I was in school, acting didn't seem like a serious thing to do. It seemed self-indulgent."    [What did you want to do?]  "I don't know. Save the world in some way."   Meryl Streep   [mrshowbiz.go.com interview] **book: **Meryl Streep : The Reluctant Superstar by Diana Maychick

**

Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire by Eileen Blumenthal, Julie Taymor In a number of interviews, director and designer Julie Taymor has talked about the rich and formative experience she had during her twenties, living in Indonesia and learning about its art and theater. "In Bali, there was no word for 'art' because that's what people do," she has commented. "It's just part of your devotion as a human being." ....

It's a commodity, but it's introducing people to what are not commodious things; these are ancient theatrical forms. What for me is very important in my work... is how basic and elemental it is." Taymor uses a range of technology in her stage and film work, and noted in our interview about her film "Titus" that she doesn't use special effects if she doesn't need to. "I use them only to be pivotal in a story, so they are special moments. Otherwise, it's just technique for technique's sake, which I detest." > from interview by Douglas Eby

Christine Vachon.  Shooting to Kill : How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies That Matter

Agnes Varda   by Alison Smith

Tom Waits //    Jay S. Jacobs. Wild Years: The Music and Myth of Tom Waits

Homesick: A Memoir by Sela Ward

Denzel Washington : His Films and Career by Douglas Brode

Mae West by Jill Watts

Billy Wilder  //    Cameron Crowe. Conversations With Wilder
 

The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey : A Portrait in Her Own Words by Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey Speaks.. by Janet Lowe, Oprah Winfrey

~ ~ ~

more biographies:  videos

~ ~ ~ ~

Amazon.com books front page

~ ~ ~ ~
       

** **home page :: Talent Development Resources**----** site contents**** **books etc

******** *sections :--- Women & Talent ------Teen / Young Adult talent