BearManor Media Newsletter - November 24, 2010 + SALE

[bearmanor]

Hello! Happy Turkey!

And congrats to smyt...@hotmail.com for winning our FREE BOOK OF THE
WEEK CONTEST! Please email ord...@benohmart.com from your winning
email and let us know what book (anything without a * please) you
want.


New book coming from the prolific Philip J. Riley:

War Eagles
http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id547.html


Plus, a little mini Thanksgiving sale for ya! Please take $5 off any
and all of the following books:

50s Blondes
Bionic Man
Burlesque
Character Kings
Confessions of a Scream Queen
Don Ameche
Forever Amber
Life Goes On
Russell Arms
Russ Columbo
Verna Felton

If you're paying with credit card/paypal, we'll refund your $5 asap.
If you're ordering by phone, please leave a message for Sandra at
580-252-3547 (she'll be away this weekend, but just leave your order
and she'll get back to you. Mention this special!).


And now...

Q&A with Charles Tranberg
Author of Robert Taylor: A Biography
http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id537.html


1) You've tackled Agnes Moorehead, Fred MacMurray, Marie Wilson and
The Thin Man films as subjects of books, why Robert Taylor?

Like Fred MacMurray I didn't think that Robert Taylor got enough
recognition for his work as an actor. Many people thought he was this
man with the perfect profile--known more for his looks than his
talent. He was called "Beautiful Robert Taylor" which angered him and
he wanted to prove he was more than a leading man, but that he was an
able actor. I feel that from the beginning of his career he could
stand toe to toe with leading ladies like Irene Dunne in MAGNIFICENT
OBSESSION and GRETA GARBO in CAMILLE and deliver and as the years went
by he grew as an actor.

2) What do you consider to be his best films?

I think his all-time best film is WATERLOO BRIDGE opposite Vivien
Leigh. She was at the height of her career when she made that film--
coming off of GONE WITH THE WIND, but she doesn't bowl Taylor over.
She initially wanted Laurence Olivier to make the film with her, but
MGM insisted on Taylor and at first she resisted him, but as they
worked together she came to appreciate him and afterward always told
the press that WATERLOO BRIDGE was her favorite film. It was Taylor's
too. Other than that I think he was marvelous when he played against
type such as the would-be murderer in UNDERCURRENT. His leading lady,
Katharine Hepburn, also at first resisted him because she didn't think
of him as an actor--but as a personality. Later on she admitted she
was wrong that he was a much better actor than most people thought.
He showed skill as a burnt out war veteran in THE HIGH WALL. He was
at his best, and delivered one of his best performances, in ABOVE AND
BEYOND as the pilot who flew the mission which dropped the first
Atomic Bomb. He played an out and out villain in a picture called THE
LAST HUNT. While he didn't particularly care for them he also made a
career in the early to mid fifties in costume pictures like QUO VADIS,
IVANHOE & KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. They proved very popular.

3) Is it true he was the longest lasting contract player at MGM?

That is another part of the story--the studio system and how it worked
and I've really tried to weave it into this book because Robert Taylor
was a perfect example of the star molded by the studio system. He
remained under contract to MGM for nearly 25 years, only Lewis Stone
had a longer association with the studio. He outlasted people like
Gable and Crawford, Barrymore and others. He was comfortable in that
system, and unfortunately for Taylor once the studio system did
crumble his career suffered somewhat because of it despite that he
continued to work non-stop for the last ten years of his life after
leaving Metro.

4) What type of person was he?

Nearly everybody liked him. He was a personable man and an outdoors
man. He loved to hunt, fish, and fly. He served during World War II
as a flying instructor and was a very talented pilot. He smoked way
too much, which, sadly, shortened his life. He was married twice,
first to Barbara Stanwyck. They were married for 12-years. He
respected her deeply and she helped influence him as an actor and
taught him a great deal about the profession and professionalism. But
it's hard to say if there was a deep love--certainly a deep
admiration. I think she loved him, but all of his life he had been
influenced by strong women--particularly his mother and I think in
some ways Barbara was a mother figure to him. His second marriage to
Ursula Thiess lasted 16 years until his death and was very happy.
They had two children, Terry and Tessa. He was able to separate his
career from his private life which some actors are unable to do. He
was also strongly pro-American and anti-Communist and he testified
before the House Un-American Activities Committee and did name names--
and that hurt him not so much at the time, but later on.

5) Who did you interview for the book?

Well the key interviews were his family-- his widow, Ursula Thiess,
who has since died. She spoke with me about three times. I also had
interviews with his son Terry and daughter Tessa. His secretary and
good friend Ivy Mooring was a big help and offered lots of frank
comments. His ranch foreman and a good friend of his, Art Reeves, had
several colorful stories. I even interviewed one of his classmates
who was 97 at the time, but was sharp as a whip. Then of course some
of his colleagues like the late Fess Parker, Arlene Dahl, Ed Nelson,
Robert Loggia, the director Arthur Hiller, Marsha Hunt, Debra Paget,
Darryl Hickman, who as a child star made the movie SONG OF RUSSIA with
Taylor, among others. I was also honored to speak (by phone) with
Nancy Reagan, who was a dear friend of Robert and Ursula Taylor and is
the Godmother of Tessa Taylor. She spoke of the friendship that
Ronald Reagan and Robert Taylor had. It's a big book--I hope lots of
good and useful information in it. It's 404 pages and also has some
70 photos--some donated by Terry Taylor.

http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id537.html

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That's it for this trip. Thanks for reading - BearManor books!

Ben Ohmart
http://www.bearmanormedia.com