{"product_id":"the-first-lady-of-hollywood-a-biography-of-louella-parsons-paperback","title":"The First Lady of Hollywood: A Biography of Louella Parsons - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSamantha Barbas\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHollywood celebrities feared her. William Randolph Hearst adored her. Between 1915 and 1960, Louella Parsons was America's premier movie gossip columnist and in her heyday commanded a following of more than forty million readers. This first full-length biography of Parsons tells the story of her reign over Hollywood during the studio era, her lifelong alliance with her employer, William Randolph Hearst, and her complex and turbulent relationships with such noted stars, directors, and studio executives as Orson Welles, Joan Crawford, Louis B. Mayer, Ronald Reagan, and Frank Sinatra--as well as her rival columnists Hedda Hopper and Walter Winchell. Loved by fans for her \"just folks,\" small-town image, Parsons became notorious within the film industry for her involvement in the suppression of the 1941 film \u003ci\u003eCitizen Kane \u003c\/i\u003eand her use of blackmail in the service of Hearst's political and personal agendas. As she traces Parsons's life and career, Samantha Barbas situates Parsons's experiences in the broader trajectory of Hollywood history, charting the rise of the star system and the complex interactions of publicity, journalism, and movie-making. Engagingly written and thoroughly researched, \u003ci\u003eThe First Lady of Hollywood \u003c\/i\u003eis both an engrossing chronicle of one of the most powerful women in American journalism and film and a penetrating analysis of celebrity culture and Hollywood power politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis significant book is the first full length biography of one of the most influential women in Hollywood. It spans a momentous time in terms of the film industry and, with superior scholarship, examines that era through a different and important lens.--Cari Beauchamp, author of \u003ci\u003eWithout Lying Down\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book makes an important contribution to the study of the relationships among journalism, publicity, and celebrity, skillfully connecting issues that have impact on Parson's life and career and thoroughly documenting her rise to extraordinary power. The research is extensive and fills in details that will interest even those who know parts of the story well.\"--Charles Affron, author of \u003ci\u003eLillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"More than just an addictively engrossing study of the infamous gossip columnist, Barbas' \u003ci\u003eThe First Lady of Hollywood: A Biography of Louella Parsons\u003c\/i\u003e, is a deftly written historical, political and cultural chronicle of the United States during the first half of the 20th century.\"--Susan King, Los Angeles Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who speaks for Louella Parsons? Now nearly forgotten, she was once the most powerful woman in Hollywood, the vehicle through which the stars spoke to the world. Samantha Barbas' enviably thorough and readable biography restores Parsons' voice and her position in the movie firmament. It's about time.\"--Kenneth Turan, columnist for the Los Angeles Times\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSamantha Barbas\u003c\/b\u003e has a Ph.D. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of \u003ci\u003eMovie Crazy: Fans, Stars, and the Cult of Celebrity\u003c\/i\u003e (2001).\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 426\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.08 x 8.92 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 24, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45424840573030,"sku":"9780520249851","price":57.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/clB2YWo4MDkzcWlieGg2SnJyNkVMdz09.webp?v=1775613027","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/the-first-lady-of-hollywood-a-biography-of-louella-parsons-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}