Customer Reviews

The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More than 125 American Movie and TV Idols

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You're sitting there watching some great old movie on Turner Classics, when a familiar face stops you -- who IS that sweet old woman? and you realize that it's Auntie Em from "The Wizard of Oz." You gradually remember her name -- Clara Blandick -- and then you wonder whatever happened to her. So you pick up THE HOLLYWOOD BOOK OF DEATH, and it makes you sad to read that Auntie Em killed herself because she was in so much pain from arthritis.
But then you start flipping the pages, and you just can't stop reading. You find many of your old favorites, including stars who died accidentally or were murdered, or died from booze or drugs.
You start reading the group of "Puzzling Deaths," and when you look up several hours later, you realize that you forgot to watch that movie you really wanted to see.
How many books can do that to you?

Celebrities. There has always been an incredible fascination with the ins and outs of a celebrity and everything that goes with it. It's been that way for decades and decades. While some may be interested in what they do or spend, nothing is more interesting and fascinating than the tale of a star who's time has come and gone and are no longer with this. This decent sized book tells the tale of over 125 celebrities who have passed on to that big silver screen in the sky. Some big names, some you have probably never heard of before in your life. The big name stars that are featured in this book like Mary Pickford, W.C. Fields, River Phoenix, Bela Lugosi, Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, and a ton of others, are always interesting to read about. But it is the people you are not familiar with that comes across as more intriguing. The book is divided into a couple of different categories dealing with the way of death. There is the first section, "Accidental Deaths", which is pretty much self explanatory. People in this section include Sonny Bono, Grace Kelly, Brandon Lee, and a dozen others. Then there is the "Alcohol And Drugs" section, where such celebs as Belushi, Barrymore, Farley, and Holden among others will be found. There is "In Obscurity", a section with lesser known performers, although Martha Raye is in here along with Clara Bow and Hedy Lamarr. This section deals with entertainrs who, well, went into obscurity. The book rounds out with "Murders", "Natural Causes", which does have a lot of people in it but does not fill up the book at all like an earlier review said. Plus, there is "Puzzling Deaths" and "Suicides". Some entertainers get a lenghty enough tribute, while some others don't. But I found each one to be appropriate to the level of star they were talking about and gave as good enough of information as there needed to be. There were definitley some doozies in here in regards to the person themself and their demise. Their is definitley bizarre and sordid stories in here as the title of the book says. While some may of died of old age or some other kind of natural cause, there is still usually enough interesting things and facts written about them that still makes it worthwhile, even when the ones that died normally, well, died normally. Plus you get fun little tall tales about people like John Barrymore. As legend has it, his body was borrowed from the morgue and taken back to Errol Flynn's house by his buddies and propped up making it look as though he didn't die. This, of course, sent Errol running out of the house. There are a few odds and ends like that here and there, and it's part of the fun that this book has between it's pages. The author, James Parrish, put together a nice and interesting book that is sure to be eaten up by any fan intrigued by the subject. I know I was.

I have what is essentially two other copies of this book published under different titles that date back to pre-1994. This incarnation includes an index which matches cemeteries and their dead celeb residents. Beware that if you plan to use this as a cemetery tour book, there are some serious inaccuracies contained within.
What particularly irks me is that the author used bad sources for his information and didn't verify his information. This was not necessary as most of this information could have been verified online. Far better and more accurate information in print can be obtained by buying a recent book by Allen Ellenberg that covers LA County cemeteries. THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK IS ACCURATE AS OF ITS DATE OF PUBLICATION.
My biggest personal gripe with this book.....if you are going to repackage it as 'new', it would be really nice if an attempt were made to correct past errors. If this was done, it is not evident to me. As for the bulk of the book which contains stories of heartbreak and (eventually) death, this book is a good read. Parish is a good writer and manages to keep his reader hooked.

The Hollywood Book of Death is heavily padded with excruciating background that seems lifted from allmovie.com. Strangely, many of the dead actors best work or more interesting aspects of their life are left out. Author James Robert Parish slummed writing this book. Half the book is dedicated to death by natural causes (yawn), while the Murdered, Drugs, Accidents and Suicide sections are stunningly short. I could name another dozen actors to add to each of those categories.

Hollywood Book of Death is okay if you are a novice to such trivia.

This was a good read. It was published in 2002 so it has some very recent stories, not just the old recycled stories we've all heard before, like Dean, Presley, and Monroe. Absent from this book are Margaux Hemingway, Frances Farmer, Robert Reed, and Jackie Gleason. But overall, I was entertained and liked reading about everyone.

If you're interested in the lives and deaths of TV and movie celebrities, this is the book for you. It provides an account of each featured celeb's life and (of course) death no matter how tawdry either the former or latter may be. Suicides, murders, old age, disease, and every other imaginable way the Grim Reaper takes his harvest is here. One will be saddened over the suicides of Freddie Prinz and River Phoenix as well as feel pride over how a real-life cowboy and hero like Buck Jones went to his final roundup rescuing people in real life as he did so many times on film. My only recommendation is that the reader should read only a few pages at a time since the book can prove rather depressing what with seeing the often sad end of so many bright stars.

I picked this up on a whim while browsing in my local bookstore one day, and I am glad I made that purchase. I read one or two entries every night, so it took me a while to get through it, but it was very interesting and informative, if a bit depressing at times. It was easy to read, and I was able to read each entry quickly, which is not usually the case for most Hollywood "biographies" that I've read.

I do have one complaint with the book, however. Even though I am not usually the one to need pictures in the books I read, it would have been MUCH nicer to have included at least one photo for each of the stars here. There were several featured people that either: 1.) I did not know of or 2.) I could not recall the face of. It would have been nice to have a convenient reference of these people. Looking back, many of the entries were without pictures.

Otherwise, it was a very enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

As every James Robert Parish book on Hollywood history, The Hollywood Book of Death is highly informative and fun to read. The book discusses numerous Hollywood celebrities who have died -- sometimes mysteriously, sometimes scandalously -- without resorting to sensationalism. That in itself is a feat in the ever more sensational literary world. Parish's writing is concise, incisive, and always entertaining. More than a book about death, Parish's latest is a book about the lives of Hollywood celebrities, mixing important career information with the relevant aspects of the stars' and directors' private lives. A solid, good read for anyone interested in the history of American motion pictures.

I wanted to know more and now I do. I find myself quoting parts of this book to my friends and family. Like " Did you know that so and so or he/she died...." I don't know if they think I am interesting but at least I now have more to talk about. I have read several Parish Hollywood books and they tend to repeat the same subject matter and deal with some stars I've never heard of but all in all it's an enjoyable and easy read.

For film buffs or those into the Hollywood/movie industry, or the casual observer who grew up with a television set in their home. Providing 100 years of Hollywood/LA and the actresses and actors that used to be.

As people have many ways of departing this world, the author broke chapters into the way in which they exited: natural, homicide, drugs & alcohol, puzzling (unexplained), suicide, and accidents i.e. This is not about death per se but even moreso of the life and career of these people. In addition to 125 people, hundreds of movie titles are listed. It's not gloomy or morose. One can learn more about recent and long-past actors/actresses and their works here. It's an easy informative read.

Those into movies are aware of likes of Jane Mansfield and Sal Mineo, but additional coverage into a hundred of others tie old and new Hollywood together back to the beginning of the 1900s. Strait-to-the-point insights into their professional and private lives, and street addresses of Hollywood and Los Angeles are presented where the end came for these folks. You can find where they are buried as well. From this book you can take a ride or stroll through the Hollywood area and know more of what happened and where in the past.

What became of Alfalfa from "The Little Rascals" and hundreds of others you've heard of. You can find out here.