Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Most Depressing Biographies: If This Was Happiness, Barbara Leaming and Bombshell: the Life and Death of Jean Harlow, David Stenn.
Reading these two bios while being shack-wacky and suffering through PMS was probably not a wise choice. I thought I'd try the Rita Hayworth one as a way to alleviate the crushing sadness I felt reading the life story of Jean Harlow - dear Lord, big mistake! Both women's families saw their daughters as cash cows and pushed their daughters into work while the girls were still in their teens: Harlow had Mother Jean while Rita had her father, Eduardo Cansino. The antics of Rita's weasel face big band husband # whatever, Dick Haymes, just gave me a headache. And, what was the attraction with this Aly Khan guy, can anyone enlighten me? While reading about his playboy tendencies, I imagined a sleek and sexy creature that stepped out of a Mughal painting. He looks like a balding bureaucrat. Anyhoo, still looking for mid-winter pick-me-up, seeing as any kind of trip down south is out of the question.
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3 comments:
want a Rita Hayworth pick me up that is dense with academic intellect, read "BEING RITA HAYWORTH" by Adrienne something.
FWI- Rita fell in love with Aly Khan because a he was a smoothe talking playboy who promised her a way out of her life as a Hollywood contract star. She wanted out. She wanted to stop working which she had been doing since she was 13. And the only man who could save her, was a man who lived in Europe. But it didn't work, as you well know.
If you're looking for happy reading in a Hollywood bio, you've got a long search ahead of you! That said, James Cagney's autobiography Cagney by Cagney is mostly upbeat and has a happy ending. If you can find a copy, Myrna Loy's autobiography Being and Becoming Myrna Loy is also a good read.
Thanks for the recommendations!
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