Donald Spoto – författare

The acclaimed biographer and theologian delivers an “engaging and at times gripping biography” of the fifteenth century heretic, saint, and savior of France (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Since her execution at the age of nineteen in 1431, Joan of Arc has maintained a remarkable hold on our collective imagination. She was a teenager of astonishing common sense and a national heroine who led men in to battle as a courageous warrior. Yet she was also abandoned by the king whose coronation she secured, betrayed by her countrymen, and sold to the enemy. In this meticulously researched biography, Donald Spoto captures her astonishing life and the times in which she lived. Neither wife nor nun, queen nor noblewoman, philosopher nor stateswoman, Joan of Arc demonstrates that everyone who follows their heart has the power to change history.

Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantlyresearched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature—the abusive, unstable mother portrayed in her adopted daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir, Mommie Dearest—to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and times.

Based on new archival information and exclusive interviews, and written with Spoto’s keen eye for detail, Possessed offers a fascinating portrait of a courageous, highly sexed, and ambitious womanwhose strength and drive made her a forerunner in the fledgling film business. From her hardscrabble childhood in Texas to her early days as a dancer in post–World War I New York to her rise to stardom,Spoto traces Crawford’s fifty years of memorable performances in classics like Rain, The Women, Mildred Pierce, and Sudden Fear, which are as startling and vivid today as when they were filmed.

In Possessed, Spoto goes behind the myths to examine the rise and fall of the studio system; Crawford’s four marriages; her passionate thirty year, on-and-off-again affair with Clark Gable; her friendships and rivalries with other stars; her powerful desire to become a mother; the truth behind the scathing stories in her daughter Christina’s memoir; and her final years as a widow battling cancer. Spoto explores Crawford’s achievements as an actress, her work with Hollywood’s great directors (Frank Borzage, George Cukor, Otto Preminger) and actors (Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore), and later, her role as a highly effective executive on the board of directors of Pepsi-Cola.

Illuminating and entertaining, Possessed is the definitive biography of this remarkable woman and true legend of film.

Elizabeth Taylor has been called the last great star of Hollywood''s Golden Age. Her legendary beauty and luminous performances continue to enthral movie fans nearly seventy years after she made her screen debut, aged only ten. From the wide-eyed MGM ingénue she became both a respected, double Oscar-winning actress and a larger-than-life, million-dollar movie star; a scandalous tabloid favourite and a dedicated activist. She was a wife, a widow, a lover and a mother; as multi-faceted as the diamonds she adored. Elizabeth Taylor''s life - and loves - never failed to capture the imagination of the world.With comprehensive and perceptive insights into her iconic movie career and her fascinating relationships, including her passionate romance with Richard Burton, Donald Spoto''s peerless biography offers a captivating portrait of a much-loved, and much-missed, Hollywood legend.

Laurence Olivier was the most famous actor of his century and one of the greatest of all time. His looks made him a matinee idol; his talent made him world-renowned as an actor, director, and producer. From his stage roles as Hamlet and Archie Rice to his screen roles as Heathcliff and Henry V, his range was unparalleled. But beneath the glamorous image, Olivier was often lonely, confused, and plagued by self-doubts.

In this revealing account, Spoto tells for the first time the truth about Olivier’s three marriages: to the diffident lesbian actress Jill Esmond, to the haunted and doomed Vivien Leigh, and to the young Joan Plowright. Olivier also reveals his relationships with Noël Coward and Danny Kaye, who loved him. Amid these personal dramas, Laurence Olivier’s life encompasses the history of the theater in our time. Based on formidable international research, this is a rich, definitive biography.

The story of the man who changed people’s relationships with their showers forever, thanks to Psycho, this is the classic, Edgar Award–winning biography of the enigmatic and intensely private Alfred Hitchcock. One of America’s greatest film directors, his suspenseful subject matter ranged from the dark drama of a man possibly trying to kill his wife, to the humorous problem of disposing of a body, to the ecological underpinnings of an attack by fowl fiends in a sleepy harbor town. Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions—with food, murder, and idealized love, among others—and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.