Description
Miriam Hopkins (1902--1972) first captured moviegoers' attention in daring precode films such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Story of Temple Drake (1933), and Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise (1932). Though she enjoyed popular and critical acclaim in her long career -- receiving an Academy Award nomination for Becky Sharp (1935) and a Golden Globe nomination for The Heiress (1949) -- she is most often remembered for being one of the most difficult actresses of Hollywood's golden age. Whether she was fighting with studio moguls over her roles or feuding with her avowed archrival, Bette Davis, her reputation for temperamental behavior is legendary.
In the first comprehensive biography of this colorful performer, Allan R. Ellenberger illuminates Hopkins's fascinating life and legacy. Her freewheeling film career was exceptional in studio-era Hollywood, and she managed to establish herself as a top star at Paramount, RKO, Goldwyn, and Warner Bros. Over the course of five decades, Hopkins appeared in thirty-six films, forty stage plays, and countless radio programs. Later, she emerged as a pioneer of TV drama. Ellenberger also explores Hopkins's private life, including her relationships with such intellectuals as Theodore Dreiser, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and Tennessee Williams. Although she was never blacklisted for her suspected Communist leanings, her association with these freethinkers and her involvement with certain political organizations led the FBI to keep a file on her for nearly forty years. This skillful biography treats readers to the intriguing stories and controversies surrounding Hopkins and her career, but also looks beyond her Hollywood persona to explore the star as an uncompromising artist. The result is an entertaining portrait of a brilliant yet underappreciated performer.
About the Author
Allan R. Ellenberger is the author of numerous books about the cinema, including Margaret O'Brien: A Career Chronicle and Biography. His articles have appeared in Classic Images, Films of the Golden Age, and the Hollywood Heritage Newsletter.
Reviews
As Ellenberger's approach mines detail after detail and anecdote after anecdote, from Hopkins's echt southern beginnings to every zigzag of her life afterward, the woman who emerges is complex and compulsively compelling."" - Sheila Benson, former chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times and writer for the National Society of Film Critics
""Outstanding for its authoritative research, Allan R. Ellenberger's Miriam Hopkins: Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel is a lively, interesting book about a lively, interesting woman."" - Emily W. Leider, author of Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood
""Allan Ellenberger's thorough, empathetic biography captures the passionate, full-blooded life of celebrated actress Miriam Hopkins, revealing the idiosyncratic and complex life of one of Hollywood's most intelligent women."" - Mary Mallory, author of Hollywood at Play: The Lives of the Stars Between Takes
Book Information
ISBN 9780813174310
Author Allan R. Ellenberger
Format Hardback
Page Count 424
Imprint The University Press of Kentucky
Publisher The University Press of Kentucky
In the first comprehensive biography of this colorful performer, Allan R. Ellenberger illuminates Hopkins's fascinating life and legacy. Her freewheeling film career was exceptional in studio-era Hollywood, and she managed to establish herself as a top star at Paramount, RKO, Goldwyn, and Warner Bros. Over the course of five decades, Hopkins appeared in thirty-six films, forty stage plays, and countless radio programs. Later, she emerged as a pioneer of TV drama. Ellenberger also explores Hopkins's private life, including her relationships with such intellectuals as Theodore Dreiser, Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and Tennessee Williams. Although she was never blacklisted for her suspected Communist leanings, her association with these freethinkers and her involvement with certain political organizations led the FBI to keep a file on her for nearly forty years. This skillful biography treats readers to the intriguing stories and controversies surrounding Hopkins and her career, but also looks beyond her Hollywood persona to explore the star as an uncompromising artist. The result is an entertaining portrait of a brilliant yet underappreciated performer.
About the Author
Allan R. Ellenberger is the author of numerous books about the cinema, including Margaret O'Brien: A Career Chronicle and Biography. His articles have appeared in Classic Images, Films of the Golden Age, and the Hollywood Heritage Newsletter.
Reviews
As Ellenberger's approach mines detail after detail and anecdote after anecdote, from Hopkins's echt southern beginnings to every zigzag of her life afterward, the woman who emerges is complex and compulsively compelling."" - Sheila Benson, former chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times and writer for the National Society of Film Critics
""Outstanding for its authoritative research, Allan R. Ellenberger's Miriam Hopkins: Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel is a lively, interesting book about a lively, interesting woman."" - Emily W. Leider, author of Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood
""Allan Ellenberger's thorough, empathetic biography captures the passionate, full-blooded life of celebrated actress Miriam Hopkins, revealing the idiosyncratic and complex life of one of Hollywood's most intelligent women."" - Mary Mallory, author of Hollywood at Play: The Lives of the Stars Between Takes
Book Information
ISBN 9780813174310
Author Allan R. Ellenberger
Format Hardback
Page Count 424
Imprint The University Press of Kentucky
Publisher The University Press of Kentucky
