Gary Fishgall's Books

Gonna Do Great Things

The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.

By: Gary Fishgall

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Gonna Do Great Things

The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.

By: Gary Fishgall

A major reappraisal of the life of legendary entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr., Gonna Do Great Things is at once an intimate portrait and an exuberant celebration of a wholly American icon. Through his multifaceted talent and personality, Sammy became one of the most magnetic and contentious figures in modern entertainment history. His outstanding talents as a dancer, singer, actor, impressionist, and comedian, combined with his close association with megastars and his interracial marriage, made him a celebrity in the truest sense. Born in Harlem in 1925, Sammy debuted onstage with Will Mastin's vaudeville troupe when he was only three years old. He was an instant hit, and his talent propelled him into one of the most luminous entertainment careers of his generation. No one could please a crowd like Sammy, whose overwhelming energy and infectious humor exhilarated audiences for sixty years. However, Sammy's life was not without hardship, and his high-spirited attitude often masked a fragile ego. From an impoverished, broken home, he lacked even a single day of formal education, and the rigors of his blossoming show business career denied him the traditional pleasures of childhood. Racism constantly affected his life, particularly when he joined the army in 1943. Because he refused to acknowledge any race-related restrictions, his very existence became a political statement. An active member of the Civil Rights movement and America's first African-American superstar, Sammy paved the way for other black entertainers. As a charter member of the Rat Pack, Sammy spent the 1950s and 1960s basking in an image of "cool" and endearing himself to the public. But by the 1970s he was relying on cocaine and alcohol, flirting with Satanism, indulging in scandalous sexual behavior, and becoming the punchline of jokes on Saturday Night Live. Though his fans still adored him, his performances suffered. A four-pack-a-day smoker, Sammy succumbed to cancer when he was sixty-four, shortly after celebrating six decades in the spotlight. Renowned biographer of Hollywood giants Jimmy Stewart, Burt Lancaster, and Gregory Peck, Gary Fishgall brings an actor's and director's understanding of the entertainment industry to Sammy's complicated existence. Meticulously researched and filled with insights gathered from interviews with those who knew Sammy best, Gonna Do Great Things reveals the fascinating and controversial life of this beloved entertainer.

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Page Count

732

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1439131570

ISBN 13

9781439131572

Gregory Peck

A Biography

By: Gary Fishgall

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Gregory Peck

A Biography

By: Gary Fishgall

In Gregory Peck: A Biography, Gary Fishgall meticulously recounts Peck's influential life, revealing the effects of the actor on the film industry and of the film industry on the actor."--BOOK JACKET.

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Page Count

392

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

068485290X

ISBN 13

9780684852904

Natural Selection

Gary Giddins on Comedy, Film, Music, and Books

By: Gary Giddins

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Natural Selection

Gary Giddins on Comedy, Film, Music, and Books

By: Gary Giddins

Long recognized as America's most brilliant jazz writer, the winner of many major awards--including the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award--and author of a highly popular biography of Bing Crosby, Gary Giddins has also produced a wide range of stimulating and original cultural criticism in other fields. With Natural Selection, he brings together the best of these previously uncollected essays, including a few written expressly for this volume. The range of topics is spellbinding. Writing with insight, humor, and a famously deft touch, he offers sharp-edged perspectives on such diverse subjects as Federico Fellini and Jean Renoir, Norman Mailer and Ralph Ellison, Marlon Brando and Groucho Marx, Duke Ellington and Bob Dylan, horror and noir, the cartoon version of Animal Farm and the comic book series Classics Illustrated. Giddins brings to criticism an uncommon ability, long demonstrated in his music writing, to address in very few words an entire career, so that we get an in-depth portrait of the artist beyond the film, book, or recording under review. For instance, Giddins offers a stunning reappraisal of Doris Day, who he terms "the coolest and sexiest female singer of slow ballads in film history." He argues eloquently for a reconsideration of the forgotten German-language novelist Soma Morgenstern. In a section on comedy, he offers fresh perspectives on the three great silent film stars--Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd--while resurrecting the legendary Jack Benny and reevaluating the controversial Jerry Lewis. There's also a memorable look at Bing Crosby's film career (he calls Crosby's blockbuster Going My Way "a neglected masterpiece") and a close examination of Marcel Carne's beloved Children of Paradise. Of course, Giddins also supplies excellent commentary on jazz: major and underrated figures, and especially the uses of jazz in film. A wonderful gathering of little-known treasures, Natural Selection will broaden the perception of Gary Giddins as one of our most important cultural critics.

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Page Count

434

Published Date

ISBN 10

019517951X

ISBN 13

9780195179514

Gregory Peck

A Biography

By: Gary Fishgall

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Gregory Peck

A Biography

By: Gary Fishgall

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Page Count

392

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

068485290X

ISBN 13

9780684852904

Guts

The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books

By: Gary Paulsen

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Guts

The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books

By: Gary Paulsen

The author relates incidents in his life and how they inspired parts of his books about the character, Brian Robeson.

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Page Count

148

Publisher

Random House of Canada

Published Date

ISBN 10

0440407125

ISBN 13

9780440407126

Book's by Gary Fishgall

Gonna Do Great Things

Gonna Do Great Things

Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

Natural Selection

Natural Selection

Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

Guts

Guts

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