The Kennedys in Hollywood [Hardcover]

Lawrence J. Quirk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

The Kennedys in Hollywood bridges three generations of America's "royal family" by examining comprehensively the clan's often destructive, yet always fascinating infatuation with the Hollywood scene. It starts with Joe Kennedy's torrid affair with actress Gloria Swanson and ends with his grandchildren, Maria Shriver and John Jr. The book combines two of America's greatest passions, Hollywood and the Kennedys, offering new information to flesh out the intriguing details of the family's fascination with "Tinseltown." of photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The enduring soap-operatic status of the Kennedy family fuels yet another volume of Tinselown tidbits. Boasting social ties to the Kennedys via his grandfather and various uncles, veteran Hollywood observer Quirk (Fasten Your Seatbelts, etc.) cuts and pastes material he's collected during decades of entertainment world interviews. His best passages appear early on, when he chronicles patriarch Joseph Kennedy's legendary penchant for silent film stars (like Gloria Swanson), shady business dealings and political ambitions. Quirk seems genuinely intrigued by this material. But as the narrative progresses, he loses his focus and his prose gets sloppier ("Lee [Remick] liked to spread herself around"). JFK is a shadowy figure here, but Peter Lawford, with his boozy, bisexual life, makes for a far more vivid, if supporting, character. Quirk takes time out to offer iconoclastic, withering opinions on Marilyn Monroe ("...not a very nice person... monstrously self-pitying and self-dramatizing") and wraps up with a look at the younger Kennedy generation, including John Kennedy Jr., whom he claims has real acting talent. Quirk's main point, in fact, besides recycling gossip, seems to be a lament that the Kennedy men have never been movie stars. "Certainly the Kennedys, in the way they raised their sons, were guilty not only of creativity thwarting?forcing talented actors to become lawyers, for instance?but of inculcating ridiculously lopsided sexual and romantic values." Photos, not seen by PW. 80,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Lawrence J. Quirk is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the bestseller Fasten Your Seatbelts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis, The Films of Gloria Swanson, and Robert Francis Kennedy. His family-noted in Massachusetts's politics for most of the century-has know the Kennedys since before the turn of the century. Quirk lives in New York City.

Lawrence J. Quirk is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the bestseller Fasten Your Seatbelts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis, The Films of Gloria Swanson, and Robert Francis Kennedy. His family-noted in Massachusetts's politics for most of the century-has know the Kennedys since before the turn of the century. Quirk lives in New York City. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Pub (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878339345
• ISBN-13: 978-0878339341
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ALL THE DIRT THAT'S FIT (?) TO PRINT, December 19, 2003

By 

Loren D. Morrison "amateur_reviewer" (Los Angeles County, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kennedys in Hollywood (Hardcover)

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Quirk has a background as reporter for, and editor of, various fan magazines. His penchant for juicy gossip would fit well in any tabloid publication.

I don't think that a single bit of gossip about the Kennedys, starting with patriarch, Joe Sr., and continuing down through the present generation has been overlooked by Quirk. He also hasn't missed an opportunity to do a little self aggrandizement when he can work it in. An example: One of the main reasons Joe Kennedy pursued Gloria Swanson was because he was jealous of Quirk's Uncle Jimmie Quirk, who had married a famous and beautiful movie star. According to our Quirk, (the author Lawrence), Kennedy the elder had an obsessive need to outdo Uncle Jimmie, so Kennedy went after, and landed an even more famous star, Gloria Swanson. Also, according to Quirk, the elder Kennedy wasn't just satisfied to have an affair with Swanson, he also got her involved in a business deal that went sour. When their business deal failed, he managed to arrange it so she was left with all the debts (leaving her practically destitute) before he walked away, free and clear.

Again, according to Quirk, Joe Sr. had many more affairs which his wife, Rose, politely ignored, thus setting the example that many future Kennedy wives followed. See the book for examples of this wifely behaviour.

Joe's male offsprings, and the husbands of his daughters followed suit, says Quirk.

He tells us that son-in-law Peter Lawford was bisexual. amd wasn't quite manly enough to really make it socially with Joe's sons. Lawford went through life trying to win their favor by acting as chief procurer of feminine company for Jack and Bobbie, always feeling inferior, resentful, and unappreciated.

Each son had his own pecadillos, too many to list here, but not one was spared by Quirk in this gossip fest.

Quirk, of course, always quoted sources for each of his tidbits, including occasionally citing himself in a previous publication, as the source.

As Quirk tells it, members of previous generations of his family played important roles in the affairs of the Kennedys.

If you like the kind of materials you find in the tabloids, you'll enjoy __THE KENNEDYS IN HOLLYWOOD__.

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, July 25, 2011

By 

Karen M. Gray "starr2night" (new carlisle, oh United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kennedys in Hollywood (Paperback)

I am a huge Kennedy fan, warts and all. But Mr. Quirk, didn't seem very much interested in giving any new insights into the Kennedy saga. He seemed more interested in using the Kennedy book to brag about all of the old Hollywood stars he knew and coming up with things that you could read in any other Kennedy Book, from Sins of the Father right on down to JFK Reckless Youth.