Close-Ups: The Movie Star Book [Paperback]

Danny Peary (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 606 pages
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co (May 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894800442
• ISBN-13: 978-0894800443
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,119,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a boy I was passionate about sports, movies, television, and music, and now I make my living by writing about each of these topics. Pretty amazing. I was born in West Virginia, grew up in South Carolina and New Jersey, got a B.A. in History at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an M.A. in Cinema at USC. I have been living in New York City since 1977 with my wife Suzanne (our married daughter Zoe and granddaughter Julianna live too far away in Maryland), publishing books and articles on movies and sports (mostly baseball). I watch an insane number of movies and politely root for the A's, Lakers, Giants, and UConn women in basketball. I am the writer-researcher on the long-running television interview show, "The Tim McCarver Show," and have done three books with Tim, who is a close friend. I also worked with the dear Ralph Kiner on his autobiography, "Baseball Forever." My twenty-first book, written with Tom Clavin, is my first biography, "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" for Touchstone/Simon&Schuster. We have a facebook fan page for the book, for which we interviewed 130 people. I also contribute celebrity interviews on brink.com and am the New York correspondent for the Australian magazine, "FilmInk." I love to write, but there's nothing more exciting than creating a project or more satisfying than finishing it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Hollywood Cavalcade, February 3, 2002

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close-Ups: Intimate Profiles of Movie Stars by Their Co-Stars, Directors, Screenwriters, and Friends (Paperback)

This is a movie lovers book that should have some appeal to connosieurs. From Mary Pickford to the Three Stooges to Marlon Brando to Richard Dreyfuss, the selection is large, with names familiar to every movie-goer, including some not so familiar. The authors are also a diverse lot (usually directors or film writers), having either a personal or professional familiarity with their subject. This is both a boon and a bane. A boon, because of the opportunity for anecdotes or insights which only intimate friends or professionals can provide; a bane, because the tone and content of too many articles is too respectful. Readers would be better served by a greater critical distance between author and subject, so that the flaws of a more rounded human being can emerge. Too bad more profiles don't reach the level of Alvah Bessie's unforgettable reminiscence of Bette Davis, which is just the right mixture of sugar and spice. Still the entertainment value is high, and no book that includes the likes of Claude Rains, Lee J. Cobb, or Louise Brooks, can afford to be overlooked.