Jane Ellen Wayne

Garbo and Crawford. Ava, Hedy, Judy, Liz epitomized Hollywood's golden era. With a trembling lip or sultry eye, with a tear or song or husky whisper, these women held moviegoers across America in their sway from the hard times of the 1930s through the booming postwar years to the early sixties. They were royalty and box office, and led pampered public lives—furs, jewels, designer gowns; limousines, flash bulbs, handsome escorts—that captured the national imagination. They also signed seven-year contracts with a morals clause, and the more they slipped, the more the secret abortions, efficient cover-ups, legal legerdemain, and dropped charges bound them to the wizard in their Oz, Louis B. Mayer. The slips are here along with the successes. Here, too, are the Blonde Bombshell Jean Harlow, Million-Dollar Mermaid Esther Williams, Sweater Girl Lana Turner, and bad girl Ava Gardner ("She can't act. She can't talk. She's terrific," declared Mayer after her screen test). From Jeanette MacDonald and Norma Shearer to Princess Grace and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, the sixteen portraits in this lively, photograph-filled volume, each accompanied by the star's filmography, tell the tales that have long lay hidden behind the gossip and the glories of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's glamorous golden girls.

Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Others

The Golden Girls of MGM

Gable, Tracy, Stewart, Old Blue Eyes, and the King were Hollywood gods; men wanted to be them, women just plain wanted them. As celluloid royalty and soldiers in Louis B. Mayer's box office army, the men of The Leading Men of MGM captured the hearts and imaginations of the movie-going public during a thirty-year stretch encompassing three wars and the ultimate downfall of a studio empire. While their roles onscreen are some of the most memorable ever captured, they often pale in comparison to the lives these men lived behind the scenes. The Leading Men of MGM exposes these legendary figures in all of their salacious glory — from Clark Gable's clandestine homosexual encounters in bistro bathrooms to Elvis's pill-popping, and Sinatra and Lawford's icy post-Kennedy jousts. Also profiling such stars as Ramon Novarro, Billy Haines, and Van Johnson, the collection offers complete filmographies and insightful looks at the nature of stardom during an era when the phenomenon was being minted. Offering a warts-and-all look at fifteen-plus legendary tinsel town stars, in addition to exploring their successes as genuine Hollywood talent, author Jane Ellen Wayne has written a must-have volume for film buffs of all stripes.

The Leading Men of MGM

The Private Life of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn's Men

The Life and Loves of Lana Turner

Lana

The Private Life of Ava Gardner

Ava's Men

The author of The Golden Girls of MGM presents a compelling account of the private lives of Hollywood's greatest stars, including Clark Gable, Elvis, Billy Haines, Van Johnson, and Frank Sinatra, among others, accompanied by complete filmographies.

Mischievous misfits, indiscriminate lovers, closet homosexuals, spoiled scoundrels and handsome legends: 'The Golden Guys of MGM' uncovers the real lives of America's royalty during its heyday. Clark Gable, John Gilbert, Val Johnson, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy were the most admired and beloved actors in the history of Hollywood. Under the watchful eye of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer potentate Louis B Mayer they were pampered and protected, moulded and sculptured, glamorised and perfected. There were no secrets at MGM - who was sleeping with whom was well known to all. Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore and Robert Walker were dedicated alcoholics; Tracy, a married Catholic, had affairs with most of his leading ladies; Clark Gable had too many love affairs to mention, declaring he had 'had every one' of the MGM girls; while Sinatra romanced Lana Turner, Marilyn Maxwell, Marlene Dietrich and Ava Gardner while he was married. The Golden Guys of MGM tells the fascinating inside story of these dazzling silver-screen legends.

Privilege, Power and Pain

The Golden Guys of MGM

Wayne presents intimate insider biographies of the most radiant stars in movie mogul Louis B. Mayer's galaxy--their careers, the affairs, the heartbreak and the scandals. of photos.

Glamour and Grief

In this compelling rags-to-riches story, Jane Ellen Wayne charts the life and loves of the gorgeous green-eyed beauty, Ava Gardner. Spotted by an MGM scout who saw her photograph in a shop window, Ava's career took off when she was hired by movie mogul Louis B Mayer after a screen test. In this sizzling biography, the role of Ava's Men - including Howard Hughes, Clark Gabel, Robert Taylor, and third husband and love of her life Frank Sinatra - is central to a revealing and candid account of a great star, a sultry sex goddess, hell-raiser, diva and MGM's final screen legend. Shortly after arriving in Hollywood, Ava met and married film star Mickey Rooney. The marriage that lasted a year and a week. Her second husband was band leader Artie Shaw, one of the swing era greats. The marriage was also short-lived. Ava's third and last husband, and great love of her life, was singer Frank Sinatra. They were married in 1951 and divorced in 1956, unable to survive the pressure of their careers and their jealousy of each other. People Magazine classified Frank and Ava's marriage as one of the Romances of the Century.

Jane Ellen Wayne

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