Dan Van Neste Livres

A Best Actor Academy Award on his mantle, a four-decade-long acting career on his resume, 104 feature films in his filmography, enough great reviews to fill a dozen scrapbooks, the highest paid actor in Hollywood in 1938, and the second highest in 1937, a popular star admired and loved by coworkers and fans everywhere, a man beloved by his wife, family, and friends whose philanthropy, community service, and acts of kindness won him wide approbation. Those were but a few of the accomplishments of Warner Baxter, the actor and the man. Yet in spite of all his achievements, the life of Warner Baxter was no bed of roses. An insecure, troubled man bedeviled by grave self-doubts, negative thoughts and inner demons which he never seemed totally able to control, Baxter often appeared incapable of enjoying his many triumphs. On a surface level, his unhappiness and inner turmoil appear irrational, but when one learns his history, past experiences, and the astonishing series of accidents, injuries, and catastrophes which befell Baxter and those closest to him throughout his life, his insecurities and instability become considerably more understandable. Similarly sad is the fact that since his early death in 1951, Warner Baxter's fame and professional legacy have basically faded into oblivion, an unjust victim of time and neglect. Who was Warner Baxter? Why is he important? How is it possible such an acclaimed and popular actor, someone so admired by fans and Hollywood elites during his heyday could be disregarded and/or forgotten today? The Accidental Star chronicles the dramatic life and career of this talented, versatile and vastly underrated film star in an attempt to answer those questions. A native of Charlotte, Michigan, author, biographer Dan Van Neste has been chronicling entertainment history for over thirty years. He is the author of three acclaimed film books: The Whistler: Stepping Into the Shadows (2011), The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez (2017), and They Coulda Been Contenders: Twelve Actors Who Should Have Been Cinematic Superstars (2019). He lives in Lansing, Michigan.

With his dark good looks, muscular physique, heavy-lidded bedroom eyes and easy smile, Ricardo Cortez cut a dashing figure on the silver screen for over 5 decades. Originally signed by Paramount Pictures in 1922 as a cinematic “Latin lover”—a threat to Rudolph Valentino, by the early 1930’s, Cortez had successfully transitioned to sound motion pictures where he became one of the most popular and sought-after actors in Hollywood. Renowned for his professionalism, and for his ability to play a wide range of characters in all genres, Cortez eventually became recognized as one of the movies’ premier heavies. A list of his bad-guy impersonations on film is a veritable rogue’s gallery from sexy wastrels and trouble makers, to more nefarious gangsters, and maniacal murderers. Each bore the stamp of this underrated, long neglected actor’s unique artistry. At the peak of his popularity, in 1934 one astute critic proclaimed Ricardo Cortez the cinema’s “magnificent heel.” This is his dramatic story -- from his poverty stricken childhood as a Jewish immigrant’s son on the streets of Lower Manhattan, through his topsy-turvy personal and professional lives as an actor in New York and Hollywood. It’s all here -- the triumphs, the tragedies, the loves, the scandals, the personal and professional relationships, and most importantly, the film legacy of one of the most charismatic and prolific film stars of his day!