In this digital age, it is more exciting than ever to seek a career in the entertainment industry-from stuntmen and musicians to actresses, dancers, and even make-up artists. With the advent of social media, YouTube, Facebook, and more, someone with talent in any medium can (and needs to) create their own brand, steer their career, and master the art of "virtually auditioning" at all times with every post. This is a far cry from the "old days" of paper headshot and cattle calls. Forbes Riley, an overnight success 20+ years in the making, shares her insights, obstacles, and successes as she pursued her career as an actress, dancer, and TV host. For her, meeting Will Quinones and hearing his dream of building his audition platform, Virdition, to help struggling artists of all levels was a dream come true. Virdition takes auditioning to a whole new level and helps aspiring entertainers truly understand the possibilities from contest shows like The Voice and American Idol to feature film casting.

This fresh new book exposes the most famous Hollywood entertainers of the 1920s to 1960s. These "Classic" performers are remembered for epic careers as actors, musicians, singers, and comedians. Here they appear in postcard portraits with personal quotes that help define their characters. 180 of the best-loved stars fill these pages with their incomperable personalities. See June Allyson, Jack Benny, Gary Cooper, and Helen Hayes, along with so many more of their fellow STARS. Read their quotes on life and enjoy the individuality they display. Today's fans continue to relish in the personalities of these great STARS.

This book addresses the notion posed by Thomas Kilroy in his definition of a playwright's creative process: 'We write plays, I feel, in order to populate the stage'. It gathers eclectic reflections on contemporary Irish theatre from both Irish theatre practitioners and international academics. The eighteen contributions offer innovative perspectives on Irish theatre since the early 1990s up to the present, testifying to the development of themes explored by emerging and established playwrights as well as to the (r)evolutions in practices and approaches to the stage that have taken place in the last thirty years. This cross-disciplinary collection devotes as much attention to contextual questions and approaches to the stage in practice as it does to the play text in its traditional and revised forms. The essays and interviews encourage dialectic exchange between analytical studies on contemporary Irish theatre and contributions by theatre practitioners.

Perhaps best known as the snarky narrator and co-founder of the viral YouTube channel CinemaSins, Jeremy Scott cracked the code of turning a passion for film and sarcasm into a full-time job.

Original Sin: From Preacher's Kid to the Creation of CinemaSins is Jeremy's compelling story of family, career, and deep love for movies that launched him into internet stardom. In his trademark, unapologetic voice, Jeremy gives an irreverent and honest take on the wild ride to creating a YouTube sensation. This memoir-with-a-twist sprinkles readers with his personal advice on the combination of dumb luck, know-how, and je-nais-se-quois it takes to be successful on Youtube while hilariously relaying how two friends stumbled into fame.

With anecdotes of laugh-out-loud misadventures and insightful, actionable advice for aspiring YouTubers, Original Sin is the ultimate behind-the-scenes look into the inception of an internet sensation. But more than that, it's one man's love letter to humankind's greatest escape, a pastime that allows us to dream and dwell on beauty, art, and truth. Original Sin is Jeremy Scott's ode to cinema and how often life can imitate the movies.

In the closing pages of her 1988 autobiography Debbie: My Life, Debbie Reynolds wrote about finding her brave, loyal, and loving new husband. After two broken marriages, this third, she believed, was her lucky charm. But within a few years, Debbie discovered that he had betrayed her emotionally and financially, nearly destroying her life. Today, she says, When I read the optimistic ending of my last memoir now, I can't believe how naive I was when I wrote it. In Unsinkable, I look back at the many years since then, and share my memories of a film career that took me from the Miss Burbank Contest of 1948 to the work I did in 2012...To paraphrase Bette Davis: Fasten your seatbelts, I've had a bumpy ride. Unsinkable shines a spotlight on the resilient woman whose talent and passion for her work have endured for more than six decades. In her engaging, down-to-earth voice, Debbie shares private details about her man and money troubles, including building and losing both her Las Vegas dream hotel and her treasured Hollywood memorabilia collection. Yet no matter how difficult the problems, the show always goes on. Debbie also invites us into the close circle of her family life, speaking with deep affection and honesty about her relationships with her children, Carrie and Todd Fisher. She looks back at her life as an actress during Hollywood's Golden Age- the most magical time you could imagine, including her lifelong friendship with (and years-long estrangement from) the legendary Elizabeth Taylor. Here, too, are stories that never reached the tabloids about numerous celebrities such as Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger, Gene Kelly, and many more. She takes us on a guided tour through her movies with delightful, often hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes about every film in which she was involved, from 1948 to the present. Frank and forthright, and featuring dozens of previously unseen photos from her personal collection, Unsinkable is a poignant reminder that there is light in the darkest times. It is a revealing portrait of a woman whose determination is an inspiration.

Maurice Tourneur (1876-1961), the French and American director, actor, and theatrical manager, is the focus of this work that takes a look at his life and career in the film industry. He began in France during the years 1912 to 1914, making a number of silents of which the subject was often gamin and orphan seeking shelter and love. Tourneur spent 1914-1926 in New Jersey and Hollywood, directing more than 50 films, using his French interests and talents to help shape the industry, and bringing 'stylization' to the screen. He was known in America for his mastery of lighting, design, and atmosphere. Tourneur worked in many genres, but one theme that ran throughout his work dealt with the tricks and ruses of love that women often faced - and sometimes used - to find happiness. While special attention is paid to facts about his films, a notable feature of this work are the photographs of Tourneur and his film subjects.

A juicy saga of a film icon's early love affairs, revealing what really lay under the trench coat of history's most famous movie star. This is a radical expansion of one of Darwin Porter's earlier Bogart biographies, incorporating a wider timeline - in this case, the years between Bogart's birth in 1899 until his marriage to Lauren Bacall in 1944. This revelatory book is based on dusty, unpublished memoirs, letters, diaries and personal interviews from the women and the men who adored him, as well as shocking allegations from those who didn't.

Robert Mitchum - aka 'Mr Bad Taste', 'Trouble Himself', 'The Man with the Immoral Face', 'Daddy Bad' - was the original Hollywood bad-boy and one of the greatest screen actors of the twentieth century. But his pre-fame life is cloaked in mystery, the truth hidden within conflicting tales of time spent as a Depression-era hobo, prizefighter, escaped felon - and secret poet. Writer and broadcaster Lloyd Robson trailed the Eastern Seaboard in search of Mitchum, his poetry, America, a surrogate father, and how to be a man. "Oh Dad!" is the result - a boozy, drug-fuelled attempt to define masculinity in the modern age and to match the standards set by the ultimate man and the personification of Film Noir, Robert Mitchum.

"Stories of Oprah" is a collection of essays that explores Oprah Winfrey's broad reach as an industry and media brand. Contributors analyze a number of topics touching on the ways in which her cultural output shapes contemporary America. The volume examines how Oprah has fashioned a persona--which emphasizes her rural, poverty-stricken roots over other factors--that helps her popularize her unique blend of New Age spirituality, neoliberal politics, and African American preaching. She packages New Age spirituality through the rhetoric of race, gender, and the black preacher tradition. Oprah's Book Club has reshaped literary publishing, bringing Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, and Cormac McCarthy to a broad number of readers. Her brand extends worldwide through the internet. In this volume writers analyze her positions on teen sexuality, gender, race, and politics, and the impact of Winfrey's confessional mode on mainstream television news.

The book also addresses twenty-first-century issues, showing Winfrey's influence on how Americans and Europeans responded to 9/11, and how Harpo Productions created a deracialized film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" in 2005. Throughout, "Stories of Oprah" challenges readers to reflect on how Oprah the Industry has reshaped America's culture, history, and politics.

What happens when an actor owns shares in the stage on which he performs and the newspapers that review his performances? Celebrity that lasts over 240 years. From 1741, David Garrick dominated the London theatre world as the progenitor of a new 'natural' style of acting. From 1747 to 1776, he was a part-owner and manager of Drury Lane, controlling most aspects of the theatre's life. In a spectacular foreshadowing of today's media convergences, he also owned shares in papers including the St James's Chronicle and the Public Advertiser, which advertised and reviewed Drury Lane's theatrical productions. This book explores the nearly inconceivable level of cultural power generated by Garrick's entrepreneurial manufacture and mediation of his own celebrity. Using new technologies and extensive archival research, this book uncovers fresh material concerning Garrick's ownership and manipulation of the media, offering timely reflections for theatre history and media studies.

For over a decade, Tyler Perry has been a lightning rod for both criticism and praise. To some he is most widely known for his drag performances as Madea, a self-proclaimed ""mad black woman,"" not afraid to brandish a gun or a scalding pot of grits. But to others who watch the film industry, he is the businessman who by age thirty-six had sold more than $100 million in tickets, $30 million in videos, $20 million in merchandise, and was producing 300 projects each year viewed by 35,000 every week. Is the commercially successful African American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, and producer ""malt liquor for the masses,"" an ""embarrassment to the race!,"" or is he a genius who has directed the most culturally significant American melodramas since Douglas Sirk? Are his films and television shows even melodramas, or are they conservative Christian diatribes, cheeky camp, or social satires? Do Perry's flattened narratives and character tropes irresponsibly collapse important social discourses into one-dimensional tales that affirm the notion of a ""post-racial"" society?In light of these debates, From Madea to Media Mogul makes the argument that Tyler Perry must be understood as a figure at the nexus of converging factors, cultural events, and historical traditions. Contributors demonstrate how a critical engagement with Perry's work and media practices highlights a need for studies to grapple with developing theories and methods on disreputable media. These essays challenge value-judgment criticisms and offer new insights on the industrial and formal qualities of Perry's work.

A spirited dive into the life and career of a performer, writer, and director who dominated twentieth-century American comedy Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926, is one of the great comic voices of the twentieth century. Having won almost every entertainment award there is, Brooks has straddled the line between outsider and insider, obedient and rebellious, throughout his career, making out-of-bounds comedy the American mainstream. Jeremy Dauber argues that throughout Brooks's extensive body of work-from Your Show of Shows to Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein to Spaceballs-the comedian has seen the most success when he found a balance between his unflagging, subversive, manic energy and the constraints imposed by comedic partners, the Hollywood system, and American cultural mores. Dauber also explores how Brooks's American Jewish humor went from being solely for niche audiences to an essential part of the American mainstream, paving the way for generations of Jewish (and other) comedians to come.

This biographical dictionary is devoted to the actors who provided voices for all the Disney animated theatrical shorts and features from the 1928 Mickey Mouse cartoon Steamboat Willie to the 2010 feature film Tangled. More than 900 men, women, and child actors from more than 300 films are covered, with biographical information, individual career summaries, and descriptions of the animated characters they have performed.Among those listed are Adriana Caselotti, of Snow White fame; Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck; Sterling Holloway, best known for his vocal portrayal of Winnie the Pooh; and such show business luminaries as Bing Crosby, Bob Newhart, George Sanders, Dinah Shore, Jennifer Tilly and James Woods. In addition, a complete directory of animated Disney films enables the reader to cross-reference the actors with their characters.

Colleen Moore (1899-1988) was one of the most popular and beloved stars of the American silent screen. Remembered primarily as a comedienne in such films as Ella Cinders (1926) and Orchids and Ermine (1927), Moore's career was also filled with dramatic roles which often reflected greater societal trends. A trailblazing performer, her legacy was overshadowed by the female stars that followed her, notably Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. An in-depth examination of Moore's early life and film career, the book focuses on the ways in which her family and the times in which she lived influenced the roles she chose. Included are forewords written by film historian Joseph Yranski, a friend of the actress, and by Moore's stepdaughter, Judith Hargrave Coleman.

This day-by-day account of the legend's life-the first of its kind-succeeds in the daunting task of tracking Judy's myriad professional pursuits, the personal crises she triumphed over, and her many accomplishments. Lavishly illustrated with eighty rare photos, this volume contains new information to enthrall even the most knowledgeable Garland fan. For those just encountering Judy, this book provides the perfect introduction, an engrossing narrative bursting with information: her performance dates, concert set lists, and recording session schedules; the evolving critical reception to her work; the many celebrities that came into contact with and adored Judy, from the Beatles to Elvis to Sinatra; her filming itineraries and guest appearances; excerpts from rare interviews and press conferences; and much more. Here is Judy Garland as never viewed before, in a way that allows readers to see her whole life on a daily basis and come to their own conclusion about what her life was really about. They will encounter a survivor, parent, friend, and one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known, who overcame one obstacle after another in order to devote forty-five of her forty-seven years to delighting her fans. From her debut performance as a Gumm Sister at age two to her final day, Judy Garland is the definitive chronicle of this remarkable icon.

"The most complete and engrossing biography yet of this exotic Southern girl...Excellent."--Liz Smith
She was the sex symbol who dazzled all the other sex symbols. She was the temptress who drove Frank Sinatra to the brink of suicide and haunted him to the end of his life. Ernest Hemingway saved one of her kidney stones as a sacred memento, and Howard Hughes begged her to marry him--but she knocked out his front teeth instead.
She was one of the great icons in Hollywood history--star of "The Killers," "The Barefoot Contessa," and "The Night of the Iguana"--and one of the few whose actual life was grander and more colorful than any movie. Her jaw-dropping beauty, charismatic presence, and fabulous, scandalous adventures fueled the legend of Ava Gardner--Hollywood's most glamorous, restless and uninhibited star.
"A seductive book."--"The New York Times"
"Deliciously entertaining."--"Publishers Weekly"
"Irresistible and finally heartbreaking."--"The ""Newark"" Star-Ledger"
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"Super."--"USA"" Today"
In this acclaimed first full biography of Gardner, Lee Server recreates--with great style and vivid detail--the actress's life, from her beginnings as a barefoot North Carolina farm girl to her heady days as a Hollywood goddess. He paints the full spectacle of her tumultuous private life--including her string of failed marriages to Mickey Rooney, Sinatra and Artie Shaw--and Gardner's lifelong search for adventure and love.
"Ava Gardner": ""Love is Nothing"" is both an exceptional work of biography and a richly entertaining read.

Harold Lloyd, born in 1893, became one of the greatest comic actors in America. This is a compendium of all things Lloyd, with entries on noteworthy persons, recurring themes, crucial elements of Lloyd's life (birth, education, marriage, family, hobbies, death, etc.), his prime co-stars and co-workers, the films that made him a legend (201 of them), and numerous other topics covering every facet of the man and the actor, all fully cross-referenced and accompanied by a vast collection of images and advertisements. Lacking the vaudeville training of his chief contemporaries, Lloyd nonetheless grew quickly from a gag technician to a skilled actor. In 1917, he created his famed Glass Character, but a live bomb amongst the props maimed his hand two years later. Keeping his handicap hidden by use of a revolutionary prosthetic, he continued to both charm and enthrall audiences. 'The action may be outlandish', he said of himself, 'but the characters - most particularly the central character - must not be'. An Appendix A lists the Lloyd shorts in the order produced, with the Production Code assigned by the Rolin Film Company officials. Appendix B is a proper filmography, listing each Lloyd film from 1913 to 1966 in chronological order.

From the obscure 1958 Sonja Henie vehicle Hello London to the 2000 Academy Award winner Gladiator (released posthumously), the screen career of dynamic British actor Oliver Reed (1937-1999) is thoroughly documented in this illustrated filmography. Following a concise capsule biography, the authors chronologically list all 96 of Reed's films, among them The Curse of the Werewolf, Oliver!, The Devils, The Three Musketeers and Tommy. Each entry contains extensive cast and production credits, a synopsis, critical commentary and contemporary reviews. Included are forewords by actors Sir Christopher Lee and Ron Moody, and an afterword by Oliver Reed's frequent director Michael Winner. Additional comments by Reed's friends and coworkers Janette Scott, Catherine Feller, William Hobbs, Jennie Linden, Jimmy Sangster and Samantha Eggar provide fascinating and insightful offscreen glimpses of a major cinema icon.

Since its foundation in 1991, Blue Raincoat Theatre Company is Ireland's only full-time venue-based professional theatre ensemble and has become renowned for its movement, visual and aural proficiencies and precision. This book explores those signatures from a number of vantage points, conveying the complex challenges faced by Blue Raincoat as they respond to changing aesthetic and economic circumstances. Particular consideration is given to set, costume, sound and lighting design. Influenced and informed by renowned international theatre makers such as Etienne Decroux, Jacques Copeau, Roy Hart and Anne Bogart, Blue Raincoat productions are generally non-natural in their sensibility, with a few notable exceptions. Productions such as the stage adaptations of Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman, At Swim Two Birds and The Poor Mouth, Samuel Beckett's Endgame and Eugene Ionesco's The Chairs speak to the artifice of the theatre itself, where actors and designers work collaboratively to reveal the function of the performance. W.B. Yeats's one act ritual dramas demand physical, vocal and technical rigour and flexibility. This book explores the marvellously textured and complex nature of Blue Raincoat's work, revealing the magic that results from their unique style of theatre making.

Dorothy Lee is best remembered for her screen appearances with the popular comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. She went from being a struggling vaudeville performer to the female vocalist in one of the most successful bands in the country--to becoming a star in the new-fangled ""talking pictures,"" all within the span of a few short years. During the Great Depression, she lived a fairy-tale existence, rubbing shoulders with Hollywood luminaries and earning an income that most people could only dream of. She retired and balanced domestic life with charity work. And she saw, to her amazement, a revived interest in the movie career she had written off long ago. Based on years of conversations between the authors and their subject, this book is an informative biography filled with revealing insights on navigating the studio system during Hollywood's Golden Age and the ephemeral nature of fame.

Kathy Garver, the teenage heartthrob from the hit series Family Affair (1966-1971), was no one-hit wonder, but a journeywoman actress who appeared in such classic films as Night of the Hunter and The Ten Commandments long before she became a television icon. This memoir is a recollection of a working actress's experiences, from the many films, television shows, and stage plays in which she performed, to her second career as a voice-over specialist in popular animated films and audiobooks. Featuring anecdotes, Hollywood history, and details of her relationships with such stars as Charlton Heston and Jon Provost, Surviving Cissy is a veritable quilt of Kathy's exciting life.