Donald Spoto Livres

La couverture porte en sous-titre : Histoire d'une femme d'exception.

Focusing on the complexities of Joan Crawford's life, this biography delves into her multifaceted personality, moving beyond the negative portrayal in Christina Crawford's memoir. Author Donald Spoto presents a well-researched and intimate look at Crawford's illustrious career and the dramatic events that shaped her. Offering a nuanced perspective, this work aims to reveal the true essence of a woman who was both a legendary film star and a misunderstood figure in Hollywood history.

In 1956, at the age of 22, Alan Bates was cast in John Osborne's controversial play, Look Back in Anger. Drawing on dozens of interviews with his family, lovers, colleagues and friends - and mining a rich store of primary research - Donald Spoto chronicles Alan's achievements as a performer against the backdrop of a complicated personal life.

Almost as old as the century, Marlene Dietrich, the daughter of a Prussian police officer, grew up in an atmosphere of privilege and German-Victorian rectitude before plunging into the hectic, sexually liberated (and sexually ambiguous) world of 1920s Berlin. When she was cast by Josef von Sternberg in The Blue Angel the major influences on her life and career were in place. remains this century's great icon of cosmopolitan glamour and elegant sexual allure, yet she persistently denied any similarity between her public image and her private self. In forty years as a film actress she seduced, and was seduced by the camera. When her film career faltered she created a new role for herself which led to a remarkable contribution to the Allied effort in World War II. In later years she revived almost single-handed the European nightclub-cabaret tradition. lovers included John Wayne, Jean Gabin, Maurice Chevalier and Generals Patton and Gavin. Her lesbian love affairs were if anything more intense on her part. Her life at every stage was more dramatic, more unpredictable and more colourful than any Hollywood scenarist could invent. Short in stature, less than outstanding as an actress and singer, she nonetheless established an image and a legend which made her one of the most sought-after women of our age, and which in the end, made her their prisoner.

The inspiration behind BBC2's The Girl starring Toby Jones and Sienna Miller, Spellbound by Beauty examines Hitchcock's relationship with his leading ladies including Tippi Hendren and Grace Kelly.

In this revelatory biography, Spoto draws on interviews with those who knew her - from James Stewart and Cary Grant to Fred Zimmerman - as well as a series of taped interviews with Kelly which have never before been published.

Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto strips away the legends from the life of Francis of Assisi to reveal the true story of a man who has too often been obscured by pious iconography. Drawing on unprecedented access to unexplored archives, plus Francis's own letters, Spoto places Francis within the context of the multifaceted ecclesiastical, political, and social forces of medieval Italy, casting new light on Francis and showing how his emphasis on charity as the heart of the Gospel's message helped him pioneer a new social movement. This nuanced portrait reveals the multifaceted character of a man who can genuinely be said to have changed the course of history.