Books published by BearManor Media

This is the hardback version. Linda J. Alexander's exhaustive research has produced an unforgettable biography of Jack Kelly, the 1950s movie and television star. In real life, Jack was a child performer, the son of New York model Nan Kelly, brother of actress Nancy Kelly, and the brother-in-law of actor Edmond O'Brien and cinematographer Fred Jackman Jr. He was also a child star in the late 1930s. He appeared in A Crooked Road with Mickey Rooney (1954), To Hell and Back (1955) with Audie Murphy, and the Science Fiction classic The Forbidden Planet (1956) with Leslie Nielsen. Jack is perhaps best known today in his role as James Garner's brother on the classic American television Western series, Maverick (1957-1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s, he continued to appear on American television as the game show host of Sale of the Century, and he also starred in movies, such as Get Christie Love (1975), and again on television in the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, among many others. Jack was more than a Hollywood cinema star. He also served as a city councilman and two-term Mayor of Huntington Beach, California, in addition to his work as a newspaper publisher. He loved some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, became a husband, and would probably tell everyone that his greatest joy was in being a father. This biography draws from exhaustive research and numerous interviews with Jack's family, friends, and co-stars. The book includes a treasure trove of professional and personal family photographs.

Perhaps you've encountered that strange, unsettled feeling of familiarity - haven't you been here before? Hasn't this experience already happened in exactly the same way?What if that wasn't you. What if that was your duplicate, the result of an atomic experiment that has taken an unexpected turn, creating a process that can replicate and manipulate living matter - with untold potential, but terrifying consequences.

This is the hardback version. The Hollywood Canteen was the jewel in the crown of World War II Hollywood. From 1942 to 1945, over three million servicemen came through its doors on their way to fight in the Pacific - some never to return. There, in a converted barn in the heart of Hollywood, soldiers were fed, entertained by and danced with some of the biggest stars in the world. The Canteen was free to all servicemen or women, regardless of race, inviting them to jive to the music of Kay Kyser and Harry James, laugh at Bob Hope's jokes, be handed sandwiches by Rita Hayworth, or dance with Hedy Lamarr. Knowing they were so appreciated, the soldiers were armed with the kinds of hope and encouragement that would help them win a war."The Hollywood Canteen: Where The Greatest Generation Danced With The Most Beautiful Girls In The World" is the only complete history of the Canteen. Meticulously researched, it is filled with exclusive interviews and over 160 evocative photographs that preserve the memories that would otherwise be lost."Here's a welcome look inside the nightclub/restaurant co-founded by Bette Davis and John Garfield to entertain servicemen during World War II. While it's been mentioned in many surveys of 1940s Hollywood (and was the subject of a Warner Bros. feature film) this book chronicles the history of the institution, offering facts and figures along with personal anecdotes. Best of all, it is profusely illustrated, with many shots of stars (from Marlene Dietrich to Orson Welles) who volunteered there."- Leonard Maltin

The invention of the moving picture camera was one of the most innovative items to ever be introduced. From its earliest use, it allowed a person to be transported to another place and time. When the silent film era began it not only transported, it captivated audiences around the world as they watched the Keystone Cops, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, and hundreds of others grace the silver screen. By the dawn of the talkies, millions of women were swooning over Clark Gable, John Boles, and Errol Flynn. They were only a few of "the men" in the golden age of Hollywood and they are the role models that would shape the generations of actors to come. Join Hollywood reporter Sylvia Safran Resnick as she escorts you down memory lane to the days when Tyrone Power graced the stage and screen. Through the pages of The Evolution of the Hollywood Heartthrob, she'll take you on a biographical journey from the 1930s men you loved to the ones who make your heart skip a beat today. It's a fascinating look at Old Hollywood, New Hollywood, and the fabulous years in between!

Bring in the Peacocks begins with the fading of Hollywood's Golden Age to the author's Academy Award nomination for Dangerous Liaisons. The book tells anecdotes of the famous or near-famous personalities of Hollywood. You will learn more of Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Reynolds, Joan Fontaine, Debbie Reynolds and hundreds of other stars. It's a feel-good book which, hopefully, will make you laugh.

From the prolific fingers of master silent movie pianist Stuart Oderman comes a collection of rare interviews with some of the most important people of a bygone film era: Marlene Dietrich, Frank Capra, Colleen Moore, Jackie Coogan, Madge Bellamy, Aileen Pringle, Allan Dwan, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Anita Loos, Anita Garvin, Leatriee Joy, Dorothy Davenport (Mrs. Wallace) Reid, Patsy Ruth Miller, Ann Pennington, Claire Windsor, Betty Bronson, Billie Rhodes, Minta Durfee, Jerry Devine, Lois Wilson and Constance Talmadge. Includes photographs taken at the time of their interviews. All photos and many of these interviews have never been seen before outside of this collection.

Master comedy writer/master plant guy/fish cookbook guru!Joel Rapp was raised in Beverly Hills, surrounded by show-business legends. His father, Philip Rapp, created The Bickersons and Baby Snooks, his godmother was Fanny Brice and his godfather was Eddie Cantor.Joel inherited the writing gene and went on to write or co-write 16 motion pictures and over 200 sitcom episodes, among them Gilligan's Island, The Lucy Show, McHale's Navy, My Favorite Martian, The Patty Duke Show, The Joey Bishop Show, and The Donna Reed Show. In 1969 he quit his job as Vice-President in charge of Comedy Development at Universal Pictures and went into the indoor plant business, soon becoming known as "Mr. Mother Earth, Plant Man to the Stars," a persona in which he wrote 14 best-selling books on indoor gardening and cooking, spent eleven years with Regis & Kathie Lee as their TV gardener, and for almost ten years was heard weekly dispensing gardening advice on WABC radio in New York.This memoir is filled with marvelous anecdotes from both his Show-biz and Grow-biz careers - stories of his friendships with Lucille Ball, John Huston, Ruth Buzzi, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Rickles, Ernest Borgnine, Lenny Bruce, Clark Gable, Dinah Shore, and many, many more."I really never knew the full extent of his incredibly exciting life until I read these memoirs. The story of the rise and fall of Mother Earth is fodder for a highly dramatic movie." - Roger Corman

This is the HARDBACK version. Ted Healy had a successful, if mysterious life. Starting from the lowest rung of show business, he soon conquered the stages of vaudeville, Broadway and the silver screen. Healy's biography also serves as the backstory to the rise of what became The Three Stooges act. He had an eagle eye in spotting and cultivating the talents of Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly, who served their apprenticeship in his act off and on from 1923 to 1934. As "father" of the act, he took his stooges to Broadway and Hollywood. Healy is the tree around which some mighty acorns fell. Healy died at age 41, four days after his only child was born in 1937. His passing quickly became one of the most notorious of Hollywood's celebrity death scandals. Was it foul play or natural causes? Author Bill Cassara, a retired law enforcement professional, explores all the possibilities.

When in the late 1990's I wrote the screenplay, Zappp!,it was a catharsis exercise in creation. The story is alight comedy concerning the comeuppance of anunscrupulous, thievish movie mogul and an unethical,amoral motion picture studio. I had just been the victimof this kind of larceny myself - not once, but twice -and began to feel sorry for myself, so I availed myselfof the wisdom of Aristotle, who advocated the easing ofdestructive emotions by bringing them to consciousnessand affording them expression. Being a writer, the resultwas Zappp!

In this one-of-a-kind volume, you'll learn everything under the sun about producer-director-star Robert Clarke's 1959 monster classic: Clarke's in-depth account of the making of his low-budget independent movie; reprints of TWO versions of the script, the first set in the jungles of Guatemala; the full story of SUN DEMON's world premiere at a Texas drive-in; anecdotal memories of the frantic filmmaking process from nearly a dozen cast-and-crew participants; the original "Showmanship Manual"; an outline for a follow-up SUN DEMON film proposed by Clarke in the 1970s; scores of rare and never-seen photographs; even an afterword from sexquisite co-star Nan Peterson! This is the first in a series of such books from longtime genre fan and chronicler Tom Weaver.

For anyone researching any aspect of radio history or radio's impact on the daily lives of four generations of Americans from the 1920s-1960s, this first-ever guide to 3,800 primary and secondary sources focuses on radio history and radio's contribution to America's cultural heritage from the 1920s-1960s. Includes 2,300 Special Collections in public and private repositories throughout the United States, a Bibliography with 1,400 citations grouped into 54 user friendly categories from Advertising to World War II, 100+ research oriented Internet sites and an Index that integrates all 3,800 listings and which can be searched by program title, person or subject.Listing of collections is especially valuable as it pulls together...a host of potentially valuable resources, annotating each one carefully.- Communication Booknotes Quarterly, Spring 2006An amazing achievement to have located all that material and put it into a form so easy to use. - Fuller French, The Broadcast ARTS LibraryThe real pleasure of this book lies in discovering the wealth of material scattered around the country in smaller facilities. - Chuck Howell, Curator, Library of American Broadcasting, College Park, MDThis guide is a wonderful new resource for anyone interested in research on Old Time Radio. - Jeanette M. Berard, Curator, American Radio Archives, Thousand Oaks Public Library

Z is for Zacherley, the legendary horror host of SHOCK THEATER fame, and in THE Z FILES the story of his uncanny career is uniquely told almost entirely via archival material. Feast your eyes, glut your soul on --VINTAGE NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES!HANDWRITTEN NOTES AND TYPEWRITTEN SCRIPTS FROM HIS TV HEYDAY!"CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE CRYPT"!SCORES OF SCARY PHOTOS!They're all from Zach's personal collection, unseen by human (and inhuman) eyes for more than 50 years. It's a coolish, ghoulish Transylvanian treasure trove you must Z to believe!

Barbara Nichols excelled in playing sassy, wisecracking "not so dumb" blondes. She was determined to reach stardom and on her way up she overpowered most of her competitors, but also made friends for life. Barbara Nichols, destined to play supporting parts in several classic movies, is one of the best examples of the phrase "There are no small parts, only small actors," she was often called upon to etch a striking characterization in a short amount of time. Richard Koper, author of Affectionately, Jayne Mansfield, researched in depth over several years to write the biography of Barbara Nichols. That Kind of Woman profiles the life and career of one of Hollywood's finest character actresses and comediennes. Over two hundred rare photographs are featured as well as a complete filmography and a listing of her most memorable television appearances.

"Julia's book will make you both laugh and cry. It's filled with wonderful insights about what Hollywood was like for a child actor who started working professionally when she was 6 and continued right on into adulthood. Julia was talented enough to be hand-picked by Shirley Booth to play Susie Baxter in the fifth and final season of Hazel. Her successful career continued into her young adult years. But then something tragic happened to Julia that would change her life forever. Her whole story is here - the good, the bad, the terrifying, and the eventual recovery. Julia Benjamin is a survivor, and now for the first time, she shares her life with everyone in one of the most emotional books ever written." Stu Shostak, TV Historian "I first met Julia Benjamin at Columbia Pictures when she signed on to the popular Hazel television series. She was, then and now, adorable. When A Minor Consideration started up in the early 90's Julia came back into my life as she began her courageous recovery from a vicious dog attack on Valentine's Day. Julia's will to bravely face Life's ups and downs is remarkable." Paul Petersen

Featuring in-depth interviews with screenwriters, directors, producers, and actors, this book sheds new light on the Tarantino oeuvre and mythos.

Robert Taylor was a reluctant, yet active, witness to history-Hollywood's, the country's, his own. He was dubbed "The Man With the Perfect Profile." Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood & Communism goes inside the personality to find the flesh-and-blood man underneath. The actor's meteoric rise was credited to his "pretty boy" looks, an image encouraged by MGM when studios owned their actors and created public personas. This, coupled with the sheltered, almost emasculating childhood he had endured, created in him a survivor who rose above family, the studio system, Barbara Stanwyck, and, as what he considered to be a curse, one of the most beautiful male faces in Hollywood history. The book delves into his marriage to Barbara Stanwyck, as well as usually discreet, but intense, love affairs. Beauties such as Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, and Yvonne DeCarlo fell under his spell. Attention is paid to his second marriage to Ursula Thiess, which brought about his roles as father and husband. Robert Taylor finally found happiness. A reluctant witness to the Second World War and what led up to it, Robert Taylor was a staunch Conservative, subpoenaed before the 1947 House Un-American Activities Committee hearings on Communism in American Films. He enlisted in the Navy. Afterward, he returned to civilian life, Hollywood, and Barbara. He and his wife had changed. He became a reluctant witness to their relationship's deterioration. He watched Hollywood evolve, ultimately becoming the longest-running contract actor in film history. He was a reluctant witness to the dawn of television; initially he wanted none of it. When he realized he had to go along or by the wayside, he gave in. In later years, he was a reluctant witness again to ever-changing winds of politics. Friends and compatriots who shared his ultra-Conservative views wanted him to stand publicly for shared values. They saw him as the right leader to move their state forward. Yet he was reluctant. Robert Taylor's career spanned nearly the entire history of Hollywood, from early days to beyond the fall of the strict studio system. His life was the American dream, from naïve, small-town Nebraska boy to a celluloid heartthrob known around the world. Reluctant Witness: Robert Taylor, Hollywood, & Communism tells it all.

Go behind the scenes of It, Child's Play, Trick 'r Treat, Escape from Tomorrow, Sick Girl, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, and loads more.