The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks, by Tracey Goessel
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The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks, by Tracey Goessel
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Silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks was an absolute charmer. Irrepressibly vivacious, he spent his life leaping over and into things, from his early Broadway successes to his marriage to the great screen actress Mary Pickford to the way he made Hollywood his very own town. The inventor of the swashbuckler, he wasn’t only an actor—he all but directed and produced his movies, and in founding United Artists with Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith, he challenged the studio system. But listing his accomplishments is one thing and telling his story another. Tracey Goessel has made the latter her life’s work, and with exclusive access to Fairbanks’s love letters to Pickford, she brilliantly illuminates how Fairbanks conquered not just the entertainment world but the heart of perhaps the most famous woman in the world at the time. When Mary Pickford died, she was an alcoholic, self-imprisoned in her mansion, nearly alone, and largely forgotten. But she left behind a small box; in it, worn and refolded, were her letters from Douglas Fairbanks. Pickford and Fairbanks had ruled Hollywood as its first king and queen for a glorious decade. But the letters began long before, when they were both married to others, when revealing the affair would have caused a great scandal. Now these letters form the centerpiece of the first truly definitive biography of Hollywood’s first king, the man who did his own stunts and built his own studio and formed a company that allowed artists to distribute their own works outside the studio system. But Goessel’s research uncovered more: that Fairbanks’s first film appearance was two years earlier than had been assumed; that his stories of how he got into theater, and then into films, were fabricated; that the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios had a specially constructed underground trench so that Fairbanks could jog in the nude; that Fairbanks himself insisted racist references be removed from his films’ intertitles; and the true cause of Fairbanks’s death. Fairbanks was the top male star of his generation, the maker of some of the greatest films of his era: The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, The Mark of Zorro. He was fun, witty, engaging, creative, athletic, and a force to be reckoned with. He shaped our idea of the Hollywood hero, and Hollywood has never been the same since. His story, like his movies, is full of passion, bravado, romance, and desire. Here at last is his definitive biography, based on extensive and brand-new research into every aspect of his career, and written with fine understanding, wit, and verve.
The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks, by Tracey Goessel - Amazon Sales Rank: #177974 in Books
- Published on: 2015-10-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.60" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 560 pages
The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks, by Tracey Goessel Review “one of the most delightful Hollywood biographies to slide down the mast in years.” —New York Times Sunday Review “First-time author Goessel puts the silent film actor back in the spotlight where he rightly belongs with this salient and comprehensive biography.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review "[A] book that would be perfect for the cinephile in your life." —Retroist“Tracey Goessel's biography of Douglas Fairbanks is impeccably researched and elegantly written. It gives new relevance to one of the seminal figures of 20th century movies and manhood, and at the same time it gives us an amazingly intimate view of the tragic love affair between Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. This is not merely a worthy book, it's a necessary book.” —Scott Eyman, author of John Wayne: The Life and Legend and Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille“Tracey Goessel gives us for the first time the real, three-dimensional man, in all his vibrancy, creativity, and sexiness. Beyond being a mega-star, he was a daring, hands-on producer and industry leader.” —Cari Beauchamp, historian, journalist, and author of Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years“A lively biography of a lauded actor.” —Kirkus Reviews"a royal read." —The Huffington Post“Tracey Goessel has researched Fairbanks’s life and work more thoroughly than anyone before her, and her book will undoubtedly become a classic among film biographies.” —Kevin Brownlow, author, The Parade's Gone By“[The] prose is exuberant, buoyant and filled with humor, much like Fairbanks himself.” —Strictly Vintage Hollywood“this highly recommended book illuminates a vanished era of American film.” —Library Journal“In an epic new biography, pioneering film star Douglas Fairbanks finally gets an in depth exploration of his eventful life. This entertaining book is heavy on the detail, but also humorous and full of compassion for its subject.” —A Classic Movie Blog"doggedly researched and sharply written." —The Guardian
About the Author Tracey Goessel is on the board of directors of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and is the founder of the Los Angeles–based Film Preservation Society. She has published numerous articles on silent film history and has lectured widely on Douglas Fairbanks. She is a major collector of silent film ephemera, and her purchase of the Pickford-Fairbanks love letters started an eight-year quest to write the definitive biography of America's favorite swashbuckler.
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Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful. A Thoroughly Delightful Read! By Donna Hill Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. could be described in many terms, "buoyant, breezy, daring, agile, enthusiastic, intensely earnest, peppery, live and wide-awake." In fact, I stole this quote directly from Tracey Goessel's new, and dare I say, landmark biography of Fairbanks entitled The First King of Hollywood The Life of Douglas Fairbanks published this month by Chicago Review Press.Douglas Fairbanks was many things besides as swashbuckler, he was also a pioneer, astute businessman, ardent lover and husband, sometimes mostly absent father and indubitably, a star. Goessel has been researching her subject for over a decade and this shows in the depth of detail uncovered in this volume and also in the rarity of the images used in the book (because I am a photo maven).One of the great strengths in this biography is Goessel's style of writing. Her prose is exuberant, buoyant and filled with humor, much like Fairbanks himself. Not only that, it's a very well written tome. It is rare in today's market for biographies to find one that is so scrupulously researched, so level-headed and crammed with details (especially in the footnotes, many of which made me laugh out loud). There is a lot of meat in this book, but, it does not feel like a heavy meal on your stomach. You (me) devour it with the relish of James Beard and are left hungry for more!We are not weighed down with psycho-babble analyzing Fairbanks' thoughts and feelings, nor is there any imaginary dialogue. Quotes are are sourced directly either from the horse's mouth or the person in question. Goessel also does not shirk form calling shenanigans if the memories of some do not line up with the facts. Fairbanks had his flaws, and Goessel is not shy in discussing them. It's clear as mud she loves her subject (who can blame her), but, nothing ever descends to fangirl blathering. Again, at the risk of sounding like a fangirl myself, this book is a pure pleasure to read.We are not also subjected to page after page of reciting of each lengthy plot from Fairbanks' equally long film career. This is a great blessing since the recitation of plotlines, today, often takes up a good portion of any biography. Now, not to say plotlines are not discussed, but, these are paragraph summaries, not page after page. (HOORAY). The various production details are fascinating.The true gold in this book are the quotations from some of Fairbanks letters to Mary Pickford, which she kept in a box until the day she died. It's rare to have something so personal survive and to end up being curated in such good hands, well it's a miracle. 90 years on, it's still a great love story. I confess, I got to the last page and I did shed a tear or two.It is a pity that Fairbanks is often relgated to a footnote, or only referred to as a swashbuckler from the silent era. Hopefully Goessel's fine book will do much to bring Fairbanks back to the forefront as a true pioneer (as his wife Mary Pickford is almost universally acclaimed to be) and remembered for his good works, as well as the incredible entertainment enjoyment his films bring to the viewer 90-100 years later.NOTE: If you are reading the kindle edition, the photo inserts are AFTER the index and they're not listed in the TOC.In short (or not), I give this book a healthy and solid ***** stars!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Excellent biography of an indispensable film actor By James M. Knuttel Douglas Fairbanks was one of the greatest stars of the silent era and while several books have been written about him in the past this one might well be the definite biography of him. The research the author did is extremely detailed, drawing on many production documents and even the personal love letters between Fairbanks and his second wife, Mary Pickford. A great deal of attention is payed to his early life and stage career as well to the first phase of his film career (1915-20). Doug's swashbuckling period during the 1920's is also given its due. Add to all this is a great deal of information about United Artists, the film distributing organization that Fairbanks and Pickford formed with Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith. All in all, this is a fine biography about one of the greatest and most important figures in movie history. I highly recommend it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Doug, Mary, And The Rest By G.I Gurdjieff I read this book compliments of NetGalley and the thoughts expressed in this review are mine alone.I took far too long reading this book because a lot of things came up, but the least of which was that it wasn't good. In fact it was undoubtedly one of the best researched and written books that I had read in quite a long time.I knew the basics about Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as well as the conflicting stories concerning his background, upbringing, and early career. I make my living through research and have come to realize that theatrical celebrities often exaggerate facts or completely obliterate them to create a totally new persona and truth or some semblance to it is often left behind.Unfortunately, Fairbanks is not a new personality that I have just discovered but he is one that I have known and appreciated for a very long time. He is mythic and being an early superstar his life and his career in a sense has defined what the public has come to expect. Larger than life and someone who eats up all the oxygen in the room, that is how I see him. Yet as this book's author Tracey Goessel has defined Fairbanks the reader goes on an interesting journey seeing him mature, develop as an actor on the stage, and later venture into the questionable and not quite proven medium of film acting. In this story Fairbanks stands out as a worthy subject for both his talent and extreme good looks as well as his daring, roguish behavior, and athleticism. If you were to dream up a star you couldn't and wouldn't get any better.Goessel shows the reader the actor as an entrepreneur, shrewd businessman, husband to three very different women, and an actor turned wannabe mogul which sets the stage for generation of film actors to follow.This book is factual, gossipy, interesting and ultimately a delight for a curious reader or die hard movie fan. It is hard to put down and ultimately very readable.Treat yourself to a book that not only tells of Fairbanks but the emerging early film industry as well.
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