Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten

Biographies & Memoirs

O'Brien, Scott

Arts & Literature

Bear Manor Media

Aside from referencing over 130 entries from Kay Francis' personal diaries, I Can't Wait To Be Forgotten pays tribute to Kay's compassionate nature, her concern for others, her great contributions on behalf of those serving in the armed forces during World War II, and the financial legacy she contributed to The Seeing Eye. Kay felt that being of some service to others was far more important than focusing totally on promoting herself and a film career. Readers will be surprised to learn about the "real" Kay Francis in retirement. Her godsons paint a portrait of a woman who lived in the moment, and generated a great deal of loving warmth. Many rare, unpublished photos from Kay's youth and retirement years are featured in her biography. Interviews from co-workers, friends and children of her "ex's" complete the picture of one of Hollywood's most glamorous and intriguing stars.

Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to be Forgotten: Her Life on Film and Stage

BearManor Media

In 1912, producer Henry Miller became smitten with his young discovery Ruth Chatterton. They teamed on stage for several box-office successes for over a decade. In 1928, Hollywood beckoned. Chatterton's faultless English was her ticket to stardom. Nominated for Best Actress in popular tearjerkers like Madame X and Sarah and Son, Chatterton proved equally adept in a feminist turn, Female. In 1936, she offered her cinematic piece de resistance as the superficial wife in the Academy Award nominated Dodsworth. A friend of Amelia Earhart, Ruth also earmarked her career as an aviator and sponsor of successful air derbies in 1935-36. By 1950, the actress/aviator became recognized as a novelist whose controversial work made The New York Times best-seller list. She tackled Anti-Semitism, McCarthyism, racism, making a positive ripple amid society's prejudices. Author O'Brien had access to Chatterton's private collection of letters, telegrams, photos, unpublished writing, as well as personal conversations with her favorite cousin's daughter. The narrative includes material from over 80 personal interviews that Chatterton gave to newspapers and theatre/film/sports/national periodicals from 1912-1959. Her story is supplemented by the memoirs of those who knew her best: agent Scoop Conlon, Ruth Gordon, Bette Davis, Christopher Plummer, Fritz Lang, Brian Aherne, Grace Moore, Mary Astor, Patsy Ruth Miller, Helen Hayes, and Dorothy Arzner.

Ruth Chatterton, Actress, Aviator, Author

Ann Harding. Laurence Oliver, who starred with her in Westward Passage (1932), referred to her as an "angel." Director Henry Hathaway, who directed her and Gary Cooper in Peter Ibbetson (1935), claimed she was a "bitch." Critics hailed her as the finest actress to venture from Broadway to Hollywood. The Ann Harding story follows her from humble beginnings as the daughter of a career army office who moved around constantly, to her youth settling in New York. After spending a year attending Bryn Mawr college, she found work as a clerk and freelance script reader with a film company. Then, she made her stage debut in 1921, and eight years later, she made her film debut in an early talkie, Paris Bound, opposite Fredric March. She was the Gallant Lady (1933), an unwed mother, who gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies. Her unique, natural screen presence in Holiday (1930) earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. From 1929-1936, she reigned as cinema's "Gallant Lady." Her co-stars included Ronald Coleman, Mary Astor, Conrad Nagel, Leslie Howard, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Dix, and William Powell, among many others. Ann's ethereal quality belied a passionate nature. Her affairs with three remarkably talented and very married men associated with the film industry could have easily outraged fans and quashed her career. Theater visionary-director Jasper Deeter, Ann's life-long mentor, remarked that Ann was a master at hiding her childish, stubborn temperament. Friends of Ann's daughter, Jane Otto, claim that despite Ann's highly publicized custody battles, she was a detached mother. In the 1950s and 1960s, she appeared extensively on American television in series such as The Defenders (1961), Dr. Kildare (1961), Ben Casey (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961), and Burke’s Law (1963). Scott O’Brien’s richly researched and illustrated biography draws heavily from Ann’s family, friends, and personal papers. The book includes behind-the-scenes anecdotes, contemporary reviews, and synopses of Ann’s films. He pays tribute to her career and unveils a complex portrait of one of stage and cinema’s most remarkable talents.

Ann Harding - Cinema's Gallant Lady

Humor & Entertainment

This is the HARDBACK version. Ann Harding. Laurence Oliver, who starred with her in Westward Passage (1932), referred to her as an "angel." Director Henry Hathaway, who directed her and Gary Cooper in Peter Ibbetson (1935), claimed she was a "bitch." Critics hailed her as the finest actress to venture from Broadway to Hollywood. The Ann Harding story follows her from humble beginnings as the daughter of a career army office who moved around constantly, to her youth settling in New York. After spending a year attending Bryn Mawr college, she found work as a clerk and freelance script reader with a film company. Then, she made her stage debut in 1921, and eight years later, she made her film debut in an early talkie, Paris Bound, opposite Fredric March. She was the Gallant Lady (1933), an unwed mother, who gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies. Her unique, natural screen presence in Holiday (1930) earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. From 1929-1936, she reigned as cinema's "Gallant Lady." Her co-stars included Ronald Coleman, Mary Astor, Conrad Nagel, Leslie Howard, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Dix, and William Powell, among many others. Ann's ethereal quality belied a passionate nature. Her affairs with three remarkably talented and very married men associated with the film industry could have easily outraged fans and quashed her career. Theater visionary-director Jasper Deeter, Ann's life-long mentor, remarked that Ann was a master at hiding her childish, stubborn temperament. Friends of Ann's daughter, Jane Otto, claim that despite Ann's highly publicized custody battles, she was a detached mother. In the 1950s and 1960s, she appeared extensively on American television in series such as The Defenders (1961), Dr. Kildare (1961), Ben Casey (1961), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961), and Burke's Law (1963). Scott O'Brien's richly researched and illustrated biography draws heavily from Ann's family, friends, and personal papers. The book includes behind-the-scenes anecdotes, contemporary reviews, and synopses of Ann's films. He pays tribute to her career and unveils a complex portrait of one of stage and cinema's most remarkable talents.

Ann Harding - Cinema's Gallant Lady (hardback)

Bette Davis answered, "George Brent" whenever asked to name her favorite co-star. Her longtime crush on the actor (they teamed in eleven films) culminated in an off-screen affair while filming Dark Victory (1939) for which she won an Oscar nomination and Brent gave what many consider his "finest performance." Hollywood's top stars clamored to play opposite Brent, who infused his easy-going warmth into such blockbuster films as 42nd Street (1933). Before long, Garbo demanded that MGM cast him opposite her in The Painted Veil (1934). Brent was perfect foil for cinema's leading ladies: Ruth Chatterton (his second wife), Ginger Rogers, Loretta Young, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck, Myrna Loy, Kay Francis, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine, Hedy Lamarr, Merle Oberon, and Ann Sheridan (his fourth wife). Not to be pigeonholed Brent's perfection as the dissipated Englishman in The Rains Came (1939) and surprise turn as the heavy in The Spiral Staircase (1946) fueled the longevity of his career. The personal life of George Brent remained undercover. Upon signing with Warner Bros., studio publicity fabricated a back-story for Brent: a graduate of Dublin University (he dropped out of school at 16); a player in the Abbey Theatre (for which no record exists); a dead mother (who was very much alive); and, a dispatcher for Michael Collins during the Irish Revolution (this . . . was true). Brent's biography offers a fascinating look into the life of Hollywood's elusive lone wolf. Scott O'Brien, whose biography on Ruth Chatterton made The Huffington Post's "Best Film Books of 2013," abetted by Irish filmmaker Brian Reddin, sheds new light on Ireland's gift to Hollywood and its leading ladies: George Brent. (Foreword by Wesleyan University's Chair of Film Studies, Jeanine Basinger.) 331 pages with 125 illustrations capture the glamour and private world of Hollywood's Golden Age.

George Brent - Ireland's Gift to Hollywood and its Leading Ladies (hardback)

This is the HARDBACK version. Sylvia Sidney was one of a kind. Author James Baldwin said of her, "She was the only American film actress who reminded me of reality." Film historian John Springer called her the "finest emotional actress" of Hollywood's Golden Age. Her work enhanced landmark films of the 1930s, yet it wasn't until 1974 that Sidney received an Academy Award® nomination (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams). Sidney was blunt and opinionated, offering salty assessments of her directors and co-stars. She had high praise for Spencer Tracy and James Cagney, but her opinion of Humphrey Bogart was less than enthusiastic. A whole new generation of fans enjoyed Sidney's about-turn in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1986). Along with acting, her passion for pug dogs and needlepoint contributed to the fascinating persona that was Sylvia Sidney. Author Scott O'Brien had input from Sylvia Sidney's co-stars and friends for this long overdue biography of one of cinema's best. Three of O'Brien's books have made the Huffington Post's "Best Cinema Books of the Year."

SYLVIA SIDNEY - Paid by the Tear (hardback)

American stage and film actress Kay Francis moved quickly from a brief run on Broadway during the late 1920s to her film debut in Gentlemen of the Press (1929) and the Marx Brothers film, The Cocoanuts (1929). Kay starred in nearly two dozen important films between 1929 and 1931, yet today she is largely forgotten, yet when author Scott O’Brien gained access to Kay’s personal diaries, he discovered the woman behind the mask: Kay's compassionate nature, her concern for others, her great contributions on behalf of those serving in the armed forces during World War II, and the financial legacy she contributed to The Seeing Eye, an organization that trains dogs for the blind. Discover her godson’s portrait of a woman who lived in the moment and generated a great deal of loving warmth, amplified by many rare unpublished photos, interviews from co-workers, friends, and family. The face behind the fame finally emerges in a complete the picture of one of Hollywood's most glamorous and intriguing stars. “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this book that author Scott O'Brien did on a magnificent lady that I was fortunate enough to have played her daughter in two movies . . . Mr. O'Brien’s book shows what lengths he goes to substantiate his stories and facts without filling in with apocryphal tales.” –Sybil Jason, author of My Fifteen Minutes and 5 Minutes More “A superb biography . . . a sympathetic look at a complicated woman and a talent actress. Yet while the biographer looks at his subject sympathetically, he doesn't make Kay Francis a saint. He brings forth a flesh and blood well-rounded human being with faults and foibles like everybody else, but who was essentially kind-hearted and misused by the studio in the later part of her film career. In the end Kay triumphs, and so does this well-written and researched book!” – Charles Tranbergm, author of I Love the Illusion – The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead “Extensively researched, considered, well-written. He talked to everybody. He nailed down facts, such as her real birthday—she was actually younger than some books have said—and he did right by his subject.” –Mick LaSalle, film reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle “. . . (Scott) O'Brien has a way about him, and his words vividly express how he feels about Kay's performances. His comments are often lively and he uses film dialogue to great advantage. You want to see the movies after he expressively describes them . . . O'Brien, however, sees Kay's faults and balances his remarks when it comes to her personal life.” –Laura Wagner from Classic Images

Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to Be Forgotten: Her Life on Film and Stage

Whether embracing the silky essence of Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932), or enduring the machinations of Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941), Herbert Marshall was the essence of smooth, masculine sensitivity. Dietrich, Garbo, Shearer, Stanwyck, and Hepburn eagerly awaited to be, as Shearer put it, “so thoroughly and convincingly loved” on screen. While many knew that Marshall had lost a leg in WWI, he preferred audiences to concentrate on his acting. Even so, he volunteered hundreds of hours to hospitals encouraging amputees during WWII. His legacy as a versatile actor, and morale booster is as compelling, as it is complicated. “Marshall’s personal story,” noted the late Robert Osborne, “is a fascinating one.” Herbert Marshall is Scott O'Brien's seventh biography of classic cinema legends. His books received positive reviews in such publications as Sight &amp; Sound, SF Gate, and Classic Images. Three of O’Brien’s books have made the Huffington Post’s “Best Cinema Books of the Year.”

Herbert Marshall: A Biography

Whether embracing the silky essence of Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932), or enduring the machinations of Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941), Herbert Marshall was the essence of smooth, masculine sensitivity. Dietrich, Garbo, Shearer, Stanwyck, and Hepburn eagerly awaited to be, as Shearer put it, “so thoroughly and convincingly loved” on screen.
While many knew that Marshall had lost a leg in WWI, he preferred audiences to concentrate on his acting. Even so, he volunteered hundreds of hours to hospitals encouraging amputees during WWII.
His legacy as a versatile actor, and morale booster is as compelling, as it is complicated. “Marshall’s personal story,” noted the late Robert Osborne, “is a fascinating one.”
Herbert Marshall is Scott O'Brien's seventh biography of classic cinema legends. His books received positive reviews in such publications as Sight &amp; Sound, SF Gate, and Classic Images. Three of O’Brien’s books have made the Huffington Post’s “Best Cinema Books of the Year.”

Herbert Marshall: A Biography (hardback)

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