New York
Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, is set to release Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star by Stephan Michael Shearer, in September. The ARC says the book will be an impressive contribution on the controversial silent star who had a major hit with Sunset Boulevard in 1950, though t id not mark a comeback for her.
Lillian Gish makes an appearance on page one of the introduction. "In retrospect, Swanson has emerged as one of Hollywood's very first film icons. Where Charlie Chaplin, the "Little Tramp," made us laugh, Lillian Gish, the eternal virgin, brought us tears, Pearl White gave us thrills, Theda Bara sent temperatures rising, Douglas Fairbanks and William S. Hart were our heroes, and Mary Pickford was America's Sweetheart, a somewhat homely, gauche, and uneducated girl from Illinois named Gloria Swanson became the screen's very first glamour queen."
Described as "the definitive Hollywood horror movie,"Sunset Boulevard earned Swanson an Academy Award nomination in the Billy Wilder film. Shearer tells us Swanson was offered the lead role in a TV series, December Bride, in 1954 and she declined the role that eventually went to character actress Spring Byington.
Among other interesting tidbits, Swanson appeared on an episode of ABC's The Dick Cavett Show in 1970 with another guest, Janis Joplin.
James Patterson
Adviser, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theater
Bowling Green State University
415 516 3493
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