Customer Reviews

Forever Young : The Life, Loves, and Enduring Faith of a Hollywood Legend ; The Authorized Biography of Loretta Young

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I never thought a biography on my hero would ever be printed and now that it has happened, I am not disappointed. It would be a difficult task for any writer to chronicle 87 years of anyone's life, but the life of one of Hollywood's most productive actresses would be a formidable if not almost impossible task for most authors. Joan Wester Anderson rose to the task; she presents Loretta in a straight forward no-nonsense manner. Joan captures the essence of a great lady who avoided most of the pitfalls of Hollywood while striving to live according to her faith, the one constant in her life.

You do not need to be a Loretta Young fan to enjoy this book. If you know nothing about Loretta Young, this book will probably lead you to acquire a couple of her movies or episodes of her Television shows to see the mesmerizingly beautiful actress for yourself. If you are an old fan of hers like me, it will bring back memories of a Sunday night in those innocent 50's when a beautiful lady opened her door to bring you a half-hour of entertainment with an uplifting theme.

Just like its subject, Loretta Young, who was both beautiful inside and out, "Forever Young" is both beautifully written--easy to read--and beautifully packaged. "Forever Young" would make a great Christmas gift for yourself or the reader in your family.

I read this book primarily to learn more about Loretta Young the actress (as the cover states "A Hollywood Legend"), but found myself instead reading the story of a woman and her deep faith. While this is inspiring, and Young was indeed known and loved for her christianity, it isn't much of a movie star biography. It's obvious that Young chose Anderson knowing that the focus of her book would be religion and not really the story of her life. I think a better format would have been serialization in a magazine, rather than published as a biography.

While the author does relate the truth about Loretta's daughter with Clark Gable (Judy Lewis), she also makes backhanded assertions, like Spencer Tracy's daughter Susan telling Loretta, "There were only two women in my father's life. My mother, and you," in essence an attempt at de-legitimizing Tracy's long association with Katharine Hepburn.

I've never read this author's work before, but it does seem to me that she's got her own agenda going with stories of angels and miracles and spirituality. I really wanted more about Young's life in Hollywood and less about the religion, but this is not the book for that (and the cover is a bit misleading).

Bottom line: if you are a Loretta Young fan who wants to know more about her deep faith, this is the book for you. Hollywood fans, look elsewhere.

Certainly this book shows Loretta Young's best qualities, which are considerable. Still Joan Wester Anderson, the author (whose previous spiritual books I have enjoyed) does an injustice to herself and her subject. The author seems to have an agenda, promoting angels, inserting them, interpreting, according to her "angelic" philosophy of life. The author tries too hard to make miracles. She asserts that Ricardo Montalban miraculously came to meet Loretta's sister, the exact girl of his prior dreams and future wife. Yet other books show that Montalban had already met another of Loretta's sister, Sally, with whom he worked in Mexico. His friendship with that sister led quite naturally to meeting his beloved via natural, not supernatural, means of intervention. The book is written in a rather fawning, fanlike style, which is distracting. Also, many factual errors do occur, minor to be sure, but enough to unsettle the reader and create unnecessary suspicion about the author's perceptive abilities, and Loretta Young's true motives in life. (Also, for the author to assert that, due to Loretta's early good influence, stars like William Holden never were found to have a drinking problem was rather incredible!). Loretta's husband, Tom Lewis, and her daughter, Judy, are seen in too much of an unflattering light, as if the author were determined to please Ms.Young at all costs. I recommend your reading two well-written, thoughtful books on Loretta Young: one written by her daughter, Judy Lewis, called Uncommon Knowledge (1995) and a 1986 biography, Loretta Young: An Extraordinary Life, by Joe Morella and E. Epstein. Both these books are ruthlessly honest but not unkind, and both illustrate how Loretta and her daughter were caught in the circumstances of the times, whereby both needed to do what each felt was right. So I'm disappointed in this book, though I laud Loretta's courage in finally validating her daughter in acknowledging the truth of the latter's birth. Loretta Young really tried to do good in life, and I feel she deserves a more comprehensive treatment, bold enough to characterize her flaws, while illumining her radiant aspects.

Joan Wester Anderson's biography of movie and TV star Loretta Young is an inspiration to Christians and non-Christians alike. What comes across to this reader is Miss Young's pure integrity, one she would not sacrifice to Hollywood's worship of power, prestige and money. Anderson addresses sensitively the issue of Miss Young's daughter Judy, the child of Clark Gable amd Miss Young. Stars at that time would either have had an abortion or given the child up for adoption. Miss Young, the breadwinner for her family of mother and three sisters, kept her child and raised her the best she could. An admirable solution to a dilemma that could have destroyed two burgeoning careers: her own and Gable's. One of the most touching stories is that of her love for Spencer Tracy: her letter breaking off her relationship because Tracy was married and they were both Catholic, is a tribute to her and illustrates the beauty of her soul. How poignant it was when Tracy's daughter returned the note to Loretta after her father's death. He kept it all those years! If one had to describe Anderson's biography of Loretta Young, one could say it is a story of Love: Loretta's love for her family, church and God. No doubt about it: in an age when belief blows thither and yon with every new wind, Loretta Young kept the faith and fought the good fight. Hollywood won't see her kind again.

While this new "authorized" biography of Loretta Young was an interesting and quick read (2 nights), I was disturbed that there were some errors in it. While I can't remember them all at this point in time, I remember actor Frederic March's name being mispelled as Marsh, as one of them. I would have liked more interviews with those who worked with Loretta on her films.

Wow! What a book! A friend recommended "Forever Young" to me but I was skeptical at first. I am a bit young to remember the life and film career of Loretta Young but I found her story amazing and inspiring. This book is beautifully and powerfully written by Joan Wester Anderson. It is easy to read and hard to put down. Loretta's story is incredible and is told with such detail and insight. Her story will leave an indelible mark on your life. Let your teen-aged daughter read "Forever Young", it will change her outlook on love, life and career. I'm a new fan of Loretta Young and her author, Joan Wester Anderson. Read "Forever Young" and you too will become "Forever a Fan" of Loretta and Joan Wester Anderson!

Joan Wester ANDERSON, I salute you for a well written book about the life of a well respected actress, LORETTA YOUNG.Loretta knew what she doing in trusting you with her life story. From early childhood to adult life,her life is well decribed and forthcoming. Her affair with Clark GABLE is explained fully, her silence is understood as she was ashamed of that part of her life. Her mother was a great help in that time of her life. What interested me the most was how she overcame her reading deficiency,while an actress and in her life.Loretta was indeed a very strong woman, being raised without a father and making decisions to further her life. Yes Joan Wester ANDERSON, your book makes Loretta Young--Forever Young, in our heart.I am glad to have been a Loretta Young fan for the past 65 years, this book explains why. She was a lady in the highest degree. I recommend that every young girl, thinking about a career, to read this book to get a better outlook on life.

This book was given to me as a gift, so I guess I can't complain too much. My wife knows how much I enjoy reading Hollywood biographies, especially the early stars, so naturally she assumed I would like this one. In truth, I found myself skipping large sections of the book. This really isn't about Hollywood or Ms. Young's stellar career. Instead, it's a feel-good spiritual tome, clearly the story Ms. Young WANTS you to know. The problem is with her choice of biographer. Ms. Anderson seems a competent writer, but as she admits, this was her first biography project and she just doesn't have the critical eye. For her to make the assertion that Loretta Young, and not Katherine Hepburn, was the true love of Spencer Tracy's life is simply beyond belief.

If you're a person of deep religious faith, buy this book. If not, skip it. Other than the Clark Gable angle, there's not much here.

Very revealing in some aspects of the life of my favorite star. This book was difficult to read in that it jumped from one aspect of her life to another with little cohesion. The one major fault I found in this book is that Loretta Young was undoubtably the most photographed star in Hollywood and the book contained very few photos in proportion to my expectations. The fact that Loretta Young managed to keep private from her fans the true circumstances of Judy's birth without being revealed by those involved in the cover-up and subsequent adoption is surely something that could never happen in today's society. She seemed in some respects too good to be true, but after seeing her son Peter on Larry King some time back and the printed view of others who came in contact with her, both famous and non, this truly seemed to be a wondefull human being, secure in her faith, strong in her convictions and accepting of others less secure with themselves. Her strong sense of family was also heartwarming regarding her reconciliation with her daughter after the publication of Judy's book. Loretta Young was truly an example of class and elegance and the kind of women all of us middle-aged women can aspire to be like.

It has been a long time since a book touched me so much that I am constantly recommending it to everyone I know. I have read other bios on other stars, but the way Joan wrote this book, made it seem like Loretta Young was telling HER story! Ms. Young had such a strong faith you could feel it coming through the pages straight to your heart. I hope Joan Wester Anderson writes more bios on other people. She has a gift of letting that person shes writing about truely come through! THANK YOU JOAN, for letting us see Loretta Young as she truely was.