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I got to meet the lovely Sheana Ochoa at Book Expo America back in May . Her book Stella! Mother of Modern Acting is one of the best biographies I've ever read. She graciously agreed to an interview for this blog which you can read below. -------------------------------- What made you decide to wri read more

Marlene Dietrich, Astrology "Astrology! Of course. After all, everyone knows that the moon pulls the sea away from the land, and farmers don't plant when the moon is wrong. "Why should humans escape?"- Marlene Dietrich Marlene Dietrich was influenced by astrology. She followed her own horos read more

"Racing is the most exciting thing there is. But unlike drugs, you get high with dignity." - Steve McQueen Becoming a professional race car driver wasn't in the cards for Steve McQueen but that didn't stop him from pursuing racing as a hobby. Over the years he spent much of the money he made from read more

Lana Turner, Deep Sea Fishing On wanting her next role to be worthwhile... “Otherwise I’ll go fishing.” – Lana Turner Thanks to J.P. of Comet Over Hollywood for the tip on this one! Lana Turner had several hobbies and by far the most interesting of them was deep sea f read more

James Dean, Bongo & Conga Drums "When I can't sleep at night I like to get up and beat the skins. It drives away the blues." - James Dean Playing the bongo and conga drums was meditative for James Dean. He lived hard and died young but even during his short life he found something that sooth read more

Edward G. Robinson, Art Collector “I remember well what it was like to be a true collector, that soft explosion in the heart, that thundering inner 'yes' when you see something you must have or die"- Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson didn't like to think of himself as a collector. His read more

Sammy Davis Jr., Photography "Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter during the Ciro's period, early '50s, and he hooked me... I met Milton [Greene]. He got me involved with serious photography and using available light." - Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy Davis Jr. lost read more

Spencer Tracy, Polo "There's something about horses which, once you really become interested in them, just naturally makes you think this is a pretty good world." - Spencer Tracy Director John Cromwell encouraged Spencer Tracy to take up polo and Tracy trained with Reginald Leslie "Snowy Baker a read more

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's summer reading challenge. I'm impressed with everyone's efforts and I loved reading the reviews. I only managed to get 3 books in this summer, life got in the way and I should have paid more attention to my own advice. Alas, I still have a lot mo read more

Joan Crawford, Knitting "I took my knitting along so I could keep my hands busy, because I was so nervous."  Joan Crawford As any knitter will tell you, there is a lot of comfort to be found in the repetitive motions of a pair of knitting needles and some yarn as you knit and purl your way th read more

Steve McQueen: A Passion for Speed by Frederic Brun Hardcover - 192 pages ISBN: 9780760342480 MotorBooks October 2011 Barnes and Noble IndieBound (Your local bookstore) Powell's "McQueen will be remembered as one of the finest exponents of speed to ever grace the big screen." - Brun Steve read more

A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 Volume #1 by Victoria Wilson Hardcover – 9780684831688 1,056 pages Simon and Schuster November 2013 Barnes and Noble Powell's IndieBound Imagine you’re on a nature walk in a historic park. If you just want fresh air and exercise, youR read more

Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) When I heard the news about Lauren Bacall's death, I didn't want to believe it. One of the things I always admired about Bacall was her resiliency. Surely she could survive death rumors! Alas, it was then confirmed by the Bogart estate that Bacall passed away yesterday. read more

Woah. Hey there, Summer. Why don't you slow down a bit? The days of June and July felt like they were on fast forward. Next thing I noticed it was already August and I only have 1 out of 6 books reviewed. Yikes! I have to catch up. Right now I'm finishing a 1,000 page biography on Barbara Stanwyck ( read more

James Garner and his wife Lois Fleischman Clarke. Source: AP James Garner  1928-2014  I was very sad and somewhat shocked to hear of the death of actor James Garner. On screen, he was always charming and gave consistently good performances. And boy was he handsome! James Garner was read more

Sam Gatlin (Jack Webb) is the managing editor of an L.A. newspaper’s morning edition. We follow him and his staff through their nine hour evening shift as they put together the morning’s paper. -30- (1959) is more of a slice of life tale than a plot-driven movie and there are various st read more

I've had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Barrios, author of Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter. Check out my review of the book here. Raquel Stecher: Some people love musicals and other people hate them. It always seems to be one extreme or the other. Why do film lovers have suc read more

What’s not to love about Eli Wallach? He could play despicable characters and still be utterly charming. And over the years his charisma grew and as an old man he was just adorable in both a sweet way and one that just lent itself to adoration. Eli Wallach is one of my favorite actors and I read more

This is my first review for the 2014 Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge. Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter by Richard Barrios Oxford University Press ISBN 9780199973842 Hardcover - 288 pages May 2014 Barnes and Noble IndieBound (your local indie bookstore) Powells Amazon&n read more

Stella! Mother of Modern Acting by Sheana Ochoa Applause Theatre and Cinema Book Publishers (an imprint of Hal Leonard) ISBN 9781480355538 Hardcover - 354 pages April 2014 Barnes and Noble Powells IndieBound (Your local Indie bookstore) Amazon "…a vibrant woman, full of idealistic dreams an read more