Showing results for "B" in Entertainment & Celebrities

Life is full of choices. Right now, yours is whether or not to buy the autobiography of a mid-grade, kind of hammy actor.

One of my dad’s favorite jokes about getting older was: “I went out for coffee when I was twenty-one and when I got back I was fifty-eight!” I get what he meant now. Time flies. My first book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a "B" Movie Actor, was published back in 2001 and it chronicles the adventures of a “mid-grade, kind of hammy actor" (my words), cutting his teeth on exploitation movies far removed from mainstream Hollywood. This next book, an “Act II” if you will, could be considered my “maturing years” in show business, when I began to say “no” more often and gravitated toward self-generated material. Taking stock in the overall quality of my life, I fled Los Angeles and moved to a remote part of Oregon to renew, regroup and reload. If that sounds tame, the journey from Evil Dead to Spider-Man to Burn Notice was long, with plenty of adventures/mishaps along the way. I never pictured myself hovering above Baghdad in a Blackhawk helicopter, facing a pack of wild dogs in Bulgaria, or playing an aging Elvis Presley with cancer on his penis - how can you predict this stuff? The sheer lunacy of show business is part of the fun for me and I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Bo Joseph’s life reads like one of his own stories. Raw, reckless, and relentlessly real. A high school dropout and convicted felon, he spent his teens and twenties doing everything he could to derail his future. By thirty, he’d hit rock bottom. Divorced, bankrupt, and arrested more times than he could count. But somewhere between the wreckage and redemption, he found his voice. The B-Train: An American Loser is Joseph's brutally honest and darkly funny account of second chances, survival, and self-discovery.

Arguably the greatest choreographer who ever lived, George Balanchine was one of the cultural titans of the twentieth century—the New York Times called him "the Shakespeare of dancing." His radical approach to choreography—and life—reinvented the art of ballet and made him a legend. Written with enormous style and artistry, and based on more than one hundred interviews and research in archives across Russia, Europe, and the Americas, Mr. B carries us through Balanchine's tumultuous and high-pitched life story and into the making of his extraordinary dances.

Let the Music Play: How R&B Fell in Love with 80s Synths is the overlooked story of how R&B, disco, and funk were transformed by the explosion of music tech in the era of ghetto blasters and Ronald Reagan. It traces how pioneers like Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock inspired a new generation of black musicians and producers to reinvent music with a whole new set of rules.

One was a tough junkman's son, the other a cosseted mama's boy, but they dreamed the same mighty dream: that the right movies could make a profit and change both the culture and individual lives. Sharing a religion and an evangelical zeal for film, Louis B. Mayer (1884-1957) and Irving Thalberg (1899-1936) were unlikely partners in one of the most significant collaborations in movie history. Over the course of their decade-long relationship, as key players at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and major players in Hollywood, they joined forces in redefining and mastering the template for the film industry.

Sophia Chang is a badass of the music industry. As the daughter of Korean immigrants in predominantly white suburban Vancouver, she grew up shunning the “model minority” myth. Armed with a fierce sense of independence, she moved to New York City and infiltrated the world of hip-hop, yet remained mostly in the shadows of the artists she supported. With her debut memoir, Sophia Chang is finally ready to grab the mic for herself.

Marcus Berkmann's funny, instantly recognisable description of middle-age in A Shed of One's Own struck a chord and turned it into a bestseller. Now he looks at life ten years on. Well, as Marcus describes, the body continues to fall apart, along with the bank balance - but it's certainly not all doom and gloom. You have come to terms with your deficiencies and eccentricities (and if you have a partner they may be better adjusted to them too); you might have finally conquered your FOMO; and you have embraced the notion of the Power Nap.

James Tiptree, Jr. burst onto the science fiction scene in the 1970s with a series of hard-edged, provocative short stories. Hailed as a brilliant masculine writer with a deep sympathy for his female characters, he penned such classics as Houston, Houston, Do You Read? and The Women Men Don't See. For years he corresponded with Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison, Ursula Le Guin. No one knew his true identity. Then the cover was blown on his alter ego: A 61-year-old woman named Alice Sheldon.

Lori’s obsession with Springsteen began in the summer of 1981, when she hid in the bathroom stall of a seaside bar for four hours because she heard Bruce might show up. That experience kicked off a journey of music, mayhem, and magic that’s lasted decades. This memoir is a tribute to the joy and connection Bruce has brought to her life and the lives of fellow fans who've shared their stories, their memories, and their hearts.

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Henry J Heinz, the man who invented tomato ketchup William Lever who made millions from soap Michael Marks, founder of the Marks and Spencer stores Henry Ford, who mass-produced cars and made them affordable Coco Chanel, the...

The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history. Contents: Pablo Casals, the Catalan cello-player Louis Armstrong, the American trumpet-player and singer Frank Sinatra, the Italian-American singer and actor Édith Piaf, France's famous singing star Maria Callas, the Greek opera singer...

Years ago, an enthusiastic filmmaker named Michael Uva acquired entry and dedicated his soul to the art of motion picture production, not just as a grip, but as a storyteller. His journey so far has been a rollercoaster of experiences, revealing the unvarnished truth of what goes on behind the scenes. So, Michael decided to pen a tell-all memoir titled Hollywood B.S.: Behind the Scenes.

Ein Auffahrunfall dort ist Anlass für die Erinnerung an das Musikgenie Jakob Händel, dessen Charme und Spiel sich niemand entziehen kann. Ein Nervenzusammenbruch jedoch zerstört seine perfekt komponierte Welt aus Affären, Scriabin und dem Meisterschülerstudium. Der Psychiatrieaufenthalt weist den Weg zur dunklen Quelle seines musikalischen Genies.

Yvonne De Carlo, Michael B. Druxman’s one-woman play, is set in 1974 when the actress is at an emotional crossroads. As she contemplates divorcing her husband of 18 years, she remembers the events that have brought her to this point in her life, beginning with a fatherless childhood in Vancouver, BC, and a destitute mother intent on making her daughter a ballet star. She further reminisces about the many men who have passed through her life, including romances with the likes of Howard Hughes and Aly Khan.

A native of New Jersey, Roy Scheider was his own man. He did his work well and was not afraid to butt heads with producers and directors with whom he disagreed, even to the detriment of his career. Michael B. Druxman’s Roy Scheider & the Bigger Boat finds the actor in 2002 during a lull in his career. He hasn’t done a major film for several years, as he ponders how he can change his luck.

Tradicionalment, els músics han estat objecte d'adoració. Una admiració que, a vegades, frega la devoció religiosa. Cues interminables, i fins a desmais, per als concerts, pòsters decorant les habitacions dels adolescents, portades de milers de publicacions i milers de biografies escrites sobre talentosos músics que, en general, representen la imatge de l'èxit. Amb humor despreocupat i un toc disbauxat, Santi Giménez i Malcolm Otero t'ensenyen el costat més fosc d'aquests genis que, molt probablement, han format part de la banda sonora de la teva vida.

A las puertas del centenario, la biografía definitiva de B.B. King, considerado -y por muchos llamado- Rey (de reyes) del Blues. He aquí la más vibrante y completa semblanza del que fuera gran pionero y el último en partir de toda una generación de profetas del blues. Riley "Blues Boy" King (1925-2015), más conocido como B.B. King, nació en la más absoluta pobreza en el corazón del Misisipi afroamericano subyugado por la América de Jim Crow.

Tradicionalmente, los músicos han sido objeto de adoración. Una admiración que, en ocasiones, roza la devoción religiosa. Colas interminables, y hasta desmayos, para los conciertos, posters decorando las habitaciones de los adolescentes, portadas de miles de publicaciones y miles de biografías escritas sobre talentosos músicos que, por lo general, representan la imagen del éxito. Con humor desenfadado y un toque gamberro, Santi Giménez y Malcolm Otero te enseñan el lado más oscuro de esos genios que, muy probablemente, hayan formado parte de la banda sonora de tu vida.

Merv Griffin had a way with stars. They loved him, and he’d given that “big break” to countless young hopefuls who became major celebrities, including Sonny and Cher, Dick Cavett, Richard Pryor, and Tony Orlando and Dawn. Merv was one of America’s best-loved TV personalities. Millions of fans were hooked on his sincerity, intelligence, and showmanship. Merv worked hard to get to the top. Here is the true public, private, and on-stage life of the man who won the hearts of America.