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Drawing on historical documents and newspaper reports, this book provides a fascinating portrait of a diverse group of character actresses who left their stamp on Hollywood from the early sound era through the 1960s. The lives of 35 actresses are explored in detail. Some are familiar: Margaret Hamilton starred in dozens of films before and after her signature role as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz; Una Merkel nearly died when her mother committed suicide in 1945. Others are nearly forgotten: Maude Eburne owed her career to a spectacular fall on the Broadway stage in 1914; Greta Meyer, who played the quintessential German maid, came to Hollywood after years in New York's Yiddish theater--though she wasn't Jewish.
The name Larry Grayson will be instantly recognisable to anyone who can remember the 1970s when his catchphrase ‘Shut That Door' was on everybody's lips. However, Larry’s rise to fame was slow in coming, born of years of perfecting his craft in clubs and theatres across the country. This biography details Larry’s early life, how he was handed over as a baby to a miner's family in mysterious circumstances and brought up by his beloved foster sister, Flo, who was to become his lifelong companion. As a boy, encouraged by Flo, Larry would perform comedy routines for his school chums, standing on a tin bath in a wash-house yard, and he took his first steps into showbiz as a teenager with a ...
Malthus Kierin always dreamed of adventuring, of making his mark upon the world of Kalan. After he earns his robe and staff, rewards for passing the tests required to become a wizard, the door to his dreams stands open. However, a nightmare lurks on the other side, a black-hearted wizard who, along with his vile undead minions, systematically assassinates all of Kalans heroes, and then hunts Malthus. After a narrow and expensive victory that nearly split Malthuss band of companions apart, they control the Stone of Zoral, a powerful artifact that can reverse the tide of darkness sweeping across the land. A decisive battle approaches as the enemys forces converge on the few remaining outposts of free peoples remaining in Kalan. Can the Merranai of prophecy, wielding the Stone, reclaim lands lost and avert an age of darkness?
As a child, growing up Dublin, Jimmy Holmes dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Spotted in the local youth team by the great Matt Busby and invited to go to Manchester United, he was persuaded, instead, to sign for Coventry City, heralding the start of a glittering career in football. The young Jimmy had it all ahead of him, or so he believed, but just a few years later, a serious injury brought an abrupt end to his dreams. In this frank autobiography, Jimmy reveals how he endured years of heartache and disappointment following the accident as he struggled to come to terms with the fact that his time as a First Division footballer was over. From being highly sought after, representing the Republic of Ireland and playing top flight football, Jimmy suddenly found himself looking for ways to continue in the game he loved, before pursuing a new career in the police force. With forewords by Glenn Hoddle and Johnny Giles, The Day My Dream Ended tells the compelling story of Jimmy's meteoric rise to the top of his game and beyond, and the untimely end of one of the most promising football careers of his generation.
What would happen, I wondered, if I simply missed out the fifty per cent of the population whose voices have been credited with shaping this particular ‘cultural form’. If I coppiced the woodland, so to speak, and allowed the light to shine down to the forest floor and illuminate countless saplings now that a gap has opened in the canopy. . . There has, in recent years, been an explosion of writing about place, landscape and the natural world. But within this blossoming of interest, women’s voices have remained very much in the minority. For the very first time, this landmark anthology collects together the work of women, over the centuries and up to the present day, who have written a...
In 1973, after several years of bitter dispute, the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association decided to remove homosexuality from its official list of mental diseases. Infuriated by the Board's action, a substantial number of dissident psychiatrists charged the association's leadership with capitulating to the pressures of Gay Liberation groups, and forced the board to submit its decision to a referendum of the full APA membership. Ronald Bayer presents a political analysis of the psychiatric battle involved, from the first confrontations organized by gay demonstrators at psychiatric conventions to the referendum initiated by orthodox psychiatrists. The result is a fascinating view of the individuals who led the debate and the fundamental questions that engaged them: social and cultural values, the definition of disease, and the nature of sexuality. Available for the first time in paperback, the book includes a new afterword by the author.
"Reframing Vivien Leigh takes a fresh new look at one of the twentieth century's most iconic stars. Focussing on Vivien Leigh as a distinctly archival subject, the book draws upon original oral history work with curators, archivists and fan collectives and extensive research within a network of official and unofficial archives around the world to produce alternative stories about her place within film history. The study examines an intriguing variety of historical correspondence, costume, scripts, photography, props and memorabilia in order to reframe the dominant narratives that have surrounded her life and career. Whilst Leigh's glamour, collaborations with Laurence Olivier and mental health form important coordinates for any study of the star, the book foregrounds a range of alternative contexts which foreground her creative agency, examining her off-screen labor in areas such as theatrical training, adaptation, war work, producing, protesting and interactions with her fan base"--
This is the first concise handbook on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) health in the past few years. It breaks the myths, breaks the silence, and breaks new ground on this subject. This resource offers a multidimensional picture of LGBT health across clinical and social disciplines to give readers a full and nuanced understanding of these diverse populations. It contains real-world matters of definition and self-definition, meticulous analyses of stressor and health outcomes, a extensive coverage of research methodology concerns, and critical insights into the sociopolitical context of LGBT individuals’ health and lives.