Here is a list of the best Hollywood Biography books, some I have read myself, some that I did research on, and all have great reviews!
- Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood (2002)
- The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors From Hollywood’s Golden Age (2018)
- Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age at the American Film Institute (2007)
- Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, the Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me (2011)
- Hollywood’s 10 Greatest Actresses: Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Joan Crawford (2013)
- Hollywood’s Hard-Luck Ladies: 23 Actresses Who Suffered Early Deaths, Accidents, Missteps, Illnesses and Tragedies (2019)
- Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography (2003)
- My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood (2018)
- Best in Hollywood: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful (2009)
- William Powell: The Life and Legacy of One of Early Hollywood’s Most Acclaimed Actors (2019)
- Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes (Hollywood Legends Series) (2014)
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood (2002)
We watched her mature on the movie screen before our eyes—in Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story, Splendor in the Grass, and on and on.
The Name Below the Title: 65 Classic Movie Character Actors From Hollywood’s Golden Age (2018)
During the golden age of American cinema, the character actor’s contribution often goes unacknowledged or, though perhaps not forgotten, underappreciated; the unsung heroes. Hollywood studios had large stables of contract and stock players from all walks of life and in all shapes, sizes and ages. This great population of personalities formed the league of character actors. They played the sidekicks and best friends of the stars who headlined the movies in which they appeared.
Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age at the American Film Institute (2007)
The first book to bring together these interviews of master moviemakers from the American Film Institute’s renowned seminars, Conversations with the Great Moviemakers offers an unmatched history of American cinema in the words of its greatest practitioners.Here are the incomparable directors Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, King Vidor, David Lean, Fritz Lang (“I learned only from bad films”), William Wyler, and George Stevens; renowned producers and cinematographers; celebrated screenw…
Starmaker: Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, the Rat Pack and 600 More Stars Who Fired Me (2011)
His women were tens, his guns were .38s, and his collection of jewel-encrusted walking canes numbered in the hundreds. For nearly 50 years, Jay Bernstein was a Hollywood fixture, owning one of the most powerful PR firms in Hollywood, making stars of Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers, and producing dozens of television films and series.
Hollywood’s 10 Greatest Actresses: Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, and Joan Crawford (2013)
*Includes pictures. *Includes a unique introduction of each actress. *Includes quotes by the actresses about their lives and careers. *Includes bibliographies of each actress for further reading. In 1999, the American Film Institute released its list of the 50 greatest Hollywood stars of the 20th century, and selecting the 10 best actresses out of the bunch was certainly a tall task.
Hollywood’s Hard-Luck Ladies: 23 Actresses Who Suffered Early Deaths, Accidents, Missteps, Illnesses and Tragedies (2019)
In the era of Hollywood now considered its Golden Age, there was no shortage of hard-luck stories–movie stars succumbed to mental illness, addiction, accidents, suicide, early death and more. This book profiles 23 actresses who achieved a measure of success before fate dealt them losing hands–in full public view.
Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography (2003)
Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s most important and enigmatic figures, a legend from the sixties who is still hugely influential today. He has never granted a writer access to his inner life – until now.
My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood (2018)
In the 1940s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was at the epicenter of the film world. Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Elizabeth Taylor were only a few of the many stars under contract at the studio. The author, Claude Jarman Jr., takes us from his discovery in a small school in Nashville, Tennessee, through his life among the movie elite.
Best in Hollywood: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful (2009)
The sheriff of Hazzard County is finally gonna spill the beans about those darn Duke boys! Actor James Best’s autobiography. He writes, “You can share with me the Golden Age of Hollywood, when movies had unequaled World Class. Now solidly in my eighties, I’m one of the few living actors who can hope to tell of the past glory and glamour of Hollywood as the industry really was way back when. “This was the Hollywood where I lived, loved, and worked during the time when she was the ruling queen.
William Powell: The Life and Legacy of One of Early Hollywood’s Most Acclaimed Actors (2019)
*Includes pictures*Includes a bibliography for further reading”My first scene with Bill, a night shot on the back lot, happened before we’d even met. Woody was apparently too busy for introductions. My instructions were to run out of a building, through a crowd, and into a strange car. When Woody called ‘Action,’ I opened the car door, jumped in, and landed smack on William Powell’s lap. He looked up nonchalantly: ‘Miss Loy, I presume?’ I said, ‘Mr.
Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes (Hollywood Legends Series) (2014)
Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes is the first major biography of the effervescent, scene-stealing actress (1906-1979) who conquered motion pictures, vaudeville, Broadway, summer stock, television, and radio. Born the child of vaudevillians, she was on stage by age three. With her casual sex appeal, distinctive cello voice, megawatt smile, luminous saucer eyes, and flawless timing, she came into widespread fame in Warner Bros.
Best Hollywood Biography Books: The Ultimate List
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some hollywood biography books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Jayne Mansfield Biography: The Tragic Life of the Hollywood's Blonde Bombshell, Inside Rumors and More
Author(s): Chris Dicker
ID: 3479902, Publisher: Digital Publishing Group, Year: 2018, Size: 152 Kb, Format: epub
Paul Hollywood--The Biography
Author(s): Andrew Dagnell
ID: 3596833, Publisher: John Blake, Year: 2016, Size: 1 Mb, Format: epub
Paul Hollywood: Bread, buns & baking : the unauthorised biography of Britain’s best-loved baker
Author(s): A. S. Dagnell
ID: 2090162, Publisher: John Blake Publ, Year: 2013, Size: 3 Mb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are really hot items according to The New York Times, others are written by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.