Issue: Summer 2017

Summer Reading

Summer reading is one of the pleasures of the season. We offer a few selections that will titillate the followers of real Hollywood stories.

Even if you haven’t seen Michael Westmore in action as a mentor to the makeup artists on the Syfy show Face Off, you probably know his work. If you’ve seen Rocky, Raging Bull, Mask or Star Trek: First Contact, that was Michael Westmore. Star Trek fans have Westmore to thank for creating the new Klingons, Vulcans, Borgs and all the other fantastical creatures that appeared in the Star Trek Universe from 1987-2005. In his memoir, Westmore shares fascinating tales from behind the scenes of Hollywood’s first family of makeup from 1917 to today. Makeup Man takes you inside the Hollywood glamour mystique.

Capturing the glamorous and chaotic life of a young starlet, Michelle Morgan’sCarole Lombard: Twentieth-Century Star is an in-depth and insightful look at Hollywood in the 1930s. Lombard worked hard, took no prisoners and had a great passion for life. From the outside, her life was one of glamour and fun, yet she endured heartache and despair. With insightful testimonies and behind-the-scenes photographs, the book shares the ups and downs of a glitzy lifestyle and how Carole’s fun, witty and passionate personality affected so many in the movie business. Sadly, her life was cut short in a catastrophic plane crash. This is the story of a woman whose remarkable life and controversial death continue to enthrall.

Julie London was a pop-jazz singer and actress during the height of glamour in Hollywood. Go Slow: The Life of Julie London by Michael Owen follows Julie London’s life and career through its many stages: her transformation from the 1940s movie starlet to the coolly defiant singer of classic torch ballad “Cry Me a River” of the 1950s. Continuing her journey from Las Vegas hotel entertainer during the rock ‘n roll revolution of the 1960’s to the no-nonsense nurse she portrayed in the 1970s hit television series Emergency! The book offers an intimate look at her memorable public career and the sharp contrasts of her private life. DH