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HOW TO BE A MOVIE STAR: ELIZABETH TAYLOR IN HOLLYWOOD: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood Paperback – April 1, 2010

by William J. Mann (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 139 ratings
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Elizabeth Taylor has never been short on star power, but in this unprecedented biography, the spotlight is entirely on her—a spirited beauty full of magic, professional daring, and wit.

 

Acclaimed biographer William Mann follows Elizabeth Taylor publicly as she makes her ascent at MGM, falls into (and out of) marriages, wins Oscars, fights studio feuds, and combats America's conservative values with her decidedly modern love affairs. But he also shines a light on Elizabeth's rich private life, revealing a love for her craft and a loyalty to the underdog that fueled her lifelong battle against the studio system. Swathed in mink, disposing of husbands but keeping the diamonds—this is Elizabeth Taylor as she lived and loved, breaking and making the rules in the game of supreme celebrity.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    528 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Mariner Books
  4. Publication date
    April 1, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.25 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0547386567
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0547386560
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"How to Be a Movie Star is more than a well-told, thoroughly researched tale about the most compelling movie star of her time. It's the captivating story of how movie-making magic actually happens—and a truly lively portrait of the greatest screen magician of them all. Mann knows his subject intimately."
—Peter Richmond, author of Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee

"Was Elizabeth Taylor the greatest product of the Hollywood star machine or its greatest victim? Or was she, perhaps, its inventor? At a time when celebrity culture seems to be spiraling out of control, William J. Mann's smart, engaging, clear-eyed case study of Taylor's unique life in the spotlight locates the 'real' person somewhere between her private life and her public image. It's a fresh, unique and wholly successful approach to a fascinating story."
—Mark Harris, author of Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood

"A dazzling and sagacious red-carpet Technicolor guide book to the lost art of Stardom . . . essential reading for aspiring love goddesses and mere mortals alike."
—Lee Server, author of the bestselling Ava Gardener: "Love is Nothing"

"When I saw Elizabeth Taylor in person, I suddenly found myself screaming like a teen at a Beatles concert. Mann deftly describes how, with great self-assurance, Taylor shrewdly and methodically orchestrated that reaction on a global scale. This is a smart book about a surprisingly savvy superstar. It's one of the best Hollywood biographies I've ever read."
--Ed Sikov, author of Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis

"William J. Mann's portrait is meticulous and delicious, capturing the essence of a great movie star, a woman who epitomized the old Hollywood glamour even as she was bucking the system--every system! Through shrewd and intriguing detail, this lively book brings fresh insight into why and how Elizabeth Taylor mesmerized the world she was helping to change."
--Julie Salamon, author of The Devil's Candy and Hospital

"This is a juicy telling of a screen idol who always did things her own way." --San Luis Obispo Tribune

"...a richly enjoyable biography..." --The Sunday Times (UK)

"William Mann has picked the perfect title for a biography of Taylor. She was, truly, the last great movie star." --The Oregonian

"...she knew by instinct, generations before today's crop of starlets, how to interface her personal and professional lives with the public, who adored her for it. Taylor lived out loud, and the world sang along to her tune." --EDGE New York

"...the sorts of details a reader craves...all are rendered with a verve and fluidity that keep the book moving along in a fleet fashion. [Mann] has clearly done his research and just as clearly adores his subject [...] Taylor was at the furious center of it all, and provides as handy and captivating a guide through [the era] as any star of the 20th century could." --The New York Times Book Review

"Mann's eminently yummy entry is pretty much everything you'd want in a Hollywood biography... What does make How to Be a Movie Star distinctive is its focus on the changing nature of personal fame as embodied by a woman whose life has consisted of one superlative after another." --Salon.com

"William J. Mann's ridiculously entertaining biography of Elizabeth Taylor in her Hollywood heyday is yummier than digging into a hot-fudge sundae and a stack of Us Weeklys." --USA Today

"William J. Mann dissects the crafty machinations of her stardom..." --Bookpage

"...wickedly entertaining biography..." --The Times (UK)

"Mann shows what all the fuss was about." --The New York Post

"Mann is carving out a niche for himself as a writer and historian capable of presenting fresh information about oft-covered subjects." --The Washington Blade

"This is an entertaining work, revealing much of the machinery behind star-building and star-maintaining back in the day. The trajectory of gossip queen Hedda Hopper's relationship with Elizabeth--from adoration to loathing--is deliciously conveyed. [...] Mr. Mann does an excellent job capturing the media/public frenzy of her greatest years..." --Liz Smith, for wowOwow.com

"...brilliant combination of history, criticism, and biography...Mann has found the perfect figure for an exploration of the seismic changes that took place in Hollywood--and in American pop culture--between the 1940s and the 1960s. It's a terrific read." --Connecticut News

"Mann's book underscores the fact that Elizabeth Taylor is--above all else--a survivor...Perhaps that is why she is so relevant and remains, even more than half a century later, one of the country's most fascinating celebrities." --Lincoln Tribune

About the Author

WILLIAM J. MANN is the author of Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, which was named a New York Times Notable Book, as well as several other acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. He divides his time between Provincetown, Massachusetts, and New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; Reprint edition (April 1, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0547386567
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0547386560
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.25 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 139 ratings

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William J. Mann

William J. Mann

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I live in two of the most beautiful places on the planet ' Provincetown, Massachusetts, with its exquisite light and ever-shifting dunes in the summer and the fall, and Palm Springs, California, with its majestic mountains and invigorating desert air in the winter and the spring. I am indeed blessed.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
139 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tom O'Leary
5.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Taylor & William Mann---Perhaps Her Best Marriage Ever!
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2009
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"How to Be a Movie Star" is another in depth and delicious movie star biography by writer William Mann. This book focuses on the woman who rose higher and plummeted lower than any other star in Hollywood : Elizabeth Taylor. This book is a page turner that is written in Technicolor! One almost feels as if one were reading a supremely intelligent but also funny graduate thesis written by Pedro Almodovar. (Elizabeth Taylor directed by Pedro Almodovar, now wouldn't that have been something?)

The Elizabeth Taylor we discover within these delicious pages---stunningly well lit by millions of paparazzi through the decades---is a talented actress with a voracious appetite. An appetite for fame, for men, for diamonds, for food, for booze, for privacy, for motherhood and finally for more men. What Elizabeth seems to have little appetite for is what first made her famous: her acting.

Reading Mann's gorgeous book I got an inkling of why Elizabeth became such devoted friends with Michael Jackson. Both were thrust into the limelight against their will by bullying parents (her mother/his father) at an impossibly early age. Both tasted fame at that early age but then began to lose their fame as they aged. Both then became even more monstrously famous. In different decades, but very similarly, Elizabeth and Michael each were the most talked about person on planet earth.

Ms. Taylor's lack of true love for acting and her insatiable need for baubles, bust-ups and booze caused her to make some truly, truly dreadful late-in-her-career films. But her fans must be thankful that she never followed other screen divas down the horror movie path. (Paging Trog!) And we fans can be truly thankful for the many good movies Ms. Taylor did grace the screen in. And Elizabeth's late-in-life AIDS philanthropy (not really dealt with in this book) in many ways outshines even her greatest screen performances.

Thank you, William Mann, for hitting another home run out of the park. I can't wait to read your next beautifully-researched and delicious bio. Could I interest you in a book about 60's British Female Stars? I believe Vanessa, Glenda and Julie are awaiting your discerning eye and pen. Bravo!
5 people found this helpful
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Khezla Durr
4.0 out of 5 stars What I Found Out About Liz Taylor
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2011
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I didn't know much about Liz Taylor, she was before my time, being a star of the 1950's and early 1960's. I decided to get this book because I really liked her diet book, which was written after she got out of rehab, and wanted to find out more about her. In spite of the positive and sympathetic portrayal of her by the author, the more I read, the less I liked the woman. She came through as being greedy, demanding, and a spoiled brat. I learned several things about her from reading this book:

1. She gave up her US citizenship to avoid income taxes and kept her British citizenship. That meant she was not actually a US citizen when she was married to Senator Warner. She lost some of my respect there and so did he. Of course it was obvious he just used her to get elected.
2. The public hysteria was not spontaneous, it was hype generated by Taylor's personal publicists. I did not know that before I read this book.
3. She did not actually raise her several children herself, hired nannies did it and she just visited with the kids for a little while in the evenings. On the one hand, I think she would have been a better, more grounded person if she had been a more involved, hands-on mother, but on the other hand, it might have been hard on the kids. So who knows.
4. Mann tries to make the case that Taylor was single-handedly responsible for changing the times sociologically. I disagree. Times change, yes, but there are many factors involved. Taylor was just acting out the "me first want it all now no matter what" excesses that were normal for her. Typical of an addict, indulging her addictions was what her life revolved around, and so she could not understand the effect her behavior was having on other people.
5. Taylor never really succeeded in making the transition from film star to actress because she had no interest in doing that. She had no interest in acting. She just wanted to be a rich famous celebrity because of the lifestyle it afforded her, and wanted to marry a rich man to keep her. She was tired of working for a living and had the idea a woman is nothing without a man. So I guess she was a product of the thinking of that era. I think that is at the bottom of her many marriages, antiquated thinking.
6. Taylor's last major film was 1966 which is why I didn't know much about her before I read this book. It was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
7. Taylor managed to turn in a real acting performance with movies she made with Burton after the Cleopatra disaster, because she had his coaching and she wanted to please him. She never did anything noteworthy regarding acting after they split and her acting never ranked with the likes of Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn, or Sandy Dennis for example because she coasted on her looks. Her attempt at stage acting when she was married to Warner was because she was bored and trying to find something to do to get her out of town since she didn't fit in with the other Washington wives.

All in all, a very interesting book.
13 people found this helpful
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kay stevens
3.0 out of 5 stars How to be a movie star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2009
Verified Purchase
The subject matter for this book is interesting, being who she is, of course. The pictures are great but then she was and is a beautiful woman. The weird thing is that when you finish this book you come away thinking that all Ms. Taylor consists of is a person who is IN Love with eating and likes to curse. Those two themes are current and consistant thru this whole story. The only other point that is eye-opening is her relationship with Richard Burton; but it does not go deep enough into such a complex relationship. I think this writer just scratched the surface conerning Ms. Taylor and her life. You finish the book and you really don't know a lot about her.
8 people found this helpful
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Jery Tillotson
5.0 out of 5 stars A Gorgeous Read about a Phenomenal star!
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2013
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If you're a rabid fan of Elizabeth Taylor (and we are in the millions), then William Mann's superb, delightful and compassionate study of our lavender-eyed goddess should definitely be on your bookshelf.
I was happy the way the author gives us an entirely fresh look on the last great movie star. He doesn't regurgitate the usual facts about Taylor. He begins with those wild days on the "Cleopatra" set in Rome. He goes behind the scenes to show us just how extraordinary and shrewd this star was in handling publicity and her personal affairs.
I've read this bio several times and each time find something juicy and endearing about Taylor. I would put this book up with "Furious Love" as the two latest studies of Taylor that every fan should have at hand. So excuse me while I go back to "How To Be A Movie Star" and re-read another chapter on the glorious one.
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Top reviews from other countries

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ellen ripley
5.0 out of 5 stars buono
Reviewed in Italy on January 9, 2018
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Per chi ama le biografie dei divi del cinema, specie hollywoodiano, questo è un libro molto interessante e piacevole da leggere.
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Jojo
5.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Taylor lived the dream.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
Superb. A delve into the journey into super stardom of a much loved and admired icon. A masterclass in fame.
One person found this helpful
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Caramella
3.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Taylor. How to be a movie star. Review.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
Interesting biography and quite enjoyable to read but some important and significant events in Taylor's life seem to have been skimmed over as I have found more details of these events in other biographies.
Worth a read though.
One person found this helpful
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