Nelson Eddy - America's Favorite Baritone: An Authorized Tribute [Paperback]

Gail Lulay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2000

When MGM paired Nelson with Jeanette MacDonald in "Naughty Marietta", America's Sweethearts were born. The became a source of frenzied curiosity for years to come. Rumors of their feuds and love affairs abounded. Nelson was fiercely protective of his private life, even aloof at times, but always captivating, always charming and always, always...a gentleman. Little known anecdotes and stories of Nelson the concert singer, the radio personality, the motion picture idol, and the multitalented painter and sculptor bring him to life. Then when movies lost their guilded edge, he risked his career by bypassing the wave of the future, television. He and his partner, Gale Sherwood, became the hottest nightclub act of the fifties. From opera to the nitery crowd, Nelson did it all. It is all here...his triumphs and his private heartbreaks, his insecurities and dreams. His sister Ginny says, "It's Nelson to a tee".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gail Lulay is a published author, motivational speaker and lecturer in the field of Human Behavior. A lover of old movies, Gail wrote "America's Favorite Baritone" as a tribute to a beloved movie idol.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (October 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595138799
• ISBN-13: 978-0595138791
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,910,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NELSON EDDY. AMERICA's FAVOURITE BARITONE, April 15, 2001

By 

Mr Jan H. Grefstad (Auckland New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nelson Eddy - America's Favorite Baritone: An Authorized Tribute (Paperback)

Having been a fan of Nelson & Jeanette's for many years and purchased and read the recent new book on Jeanette MacDonald, I found this book to be very slight and not really very interesting on Nelson's life. I'm glad the author did not try and make outrageous assertions on Nelson's romantic life that some others tried and linked Nelson to Jeanette in their private lives. I guess that poor Nelson, while a fine singer and actor led a very conservative life which on reading some 40 years later becomes quite mundane. Sadly missing was a discography on Nelson's music which would have been a real asset. There was a filmography however included. The biggest disappointment to me was the very poor quality of the illustrations and photos in this edition. They are so bad they are like poor photostats and do not help the book at all. I was quite disappointed in the book I have to say. I read it in one day! I doubt whether I would ever read it again and it would be difficult to keep as a reference book on Nelson's career.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sad. Save your Money., July 27, 2003

By 

Mae East (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nelson Eddy - America's Favorite Baritone: An Authorized Tribute (Paperback)

1. If you are already a fan of Nelson Eddy, you can read everything in this biography elsewhere, or you've already heard it in a dozen places. This book says nothing about him that gives you any insights into HIS life, HIS work, HIS interests. It paints an obviously whitewashed portrait of a thrillingly unconventional man. Nelson was anything but bland, square, and conservative, but the author seems to want him to be so, and portrays him in this fashion to suit her taste.

2. If you are not already a fan of Nelson Eddy, and are ignorant about his life, you will not be able to read this at all. The writing is incoherent, to say the least, and laden with grievous errors of the worst kinds throughout. Basically, it reads like it was pieced together, mix 'n' match, from fan journals, news clippings, and the like. Nelson Eddy still needs a talented writer who really understands him, one with an analytical mind, to do justice to any discussion of his career and life achievements.

3. The pictures (many of which are more than a little obviously selected to portray Nelson's relationship with the Eddy side of his family in the most friendly, chummy light possible), are indeed very poorly reproduced here. Don't buy this edition for the pictures. (The first edition is expensive and hard to find, by the way, but those pictures are acceptable in reproduction quality)

SO, to sum up, this book will neither give new insights to old fans, nor will it be readable or enjoyable to new fans. Sadly, it's not of much use at all.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ludicrous and lame bio of a lusty and great singer!, March 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nelson Eddy - America's Favorite Baritone: An Authorized Tribute (Paperback)

Nelson Eddy met his future wife Ann Franklin in 1933 and fell madly in love with her...but didn't marry her till 1939? Isn't it kind of suspicious that in another well-documented book, "Sweethearts," we learn that Nelson was going hot-and-heavy with his co-star Jeanette MacDonald and got her pregnant twice during those years? The second time was in 1938 when RELIABLE SOURCES like The L.A. Times and Look Magazine repeatedly talk about Jeanette getting a divorce from Gene Raymond and place her in the hospital toward the end of 1938 and Hedda Hopper all but comes out and says that she had a miscarriage? But then, Jeanette's divorce doesn't happen...and then suddenly, shortly after, Nelson elopes with Ann? Doesn't Gale Lulay smell anything fishy about this? Isn't she interested in what drove Nelson into his marriage? Obviously not. Nor is she interested in the unusual living arrangement Nelson had in his last decade of life--leaving his wife at home and traveling on the road with his nightclub partner, Gale Sherwood. Forget the comments of opera star Robert Merrill and other people who don't make any bones about the fact that Nelson and Gale were "an item." Yet once again Gale Lulay denies, denies, denies, even using Gale Sherwood as a source to claim that there was NEVER anything between her and Nelson, or Jeanette and Nelson. Don't insult our intelligence!