Shirley Booth: A Biography and Career Record (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An Oscar-winning Best Actress for her tour-de-force role in Come Back, Little Sheba, Shirley Booth would ultimately win every major acting award that could be bestowed on an actress. Awarded three Tony Awards, two Emmys, and a Golden Globe, Booth was described by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival as "The World's Best Actress." Yet today fans know her best as the warm-hearted, busybody maid of television's Hazel. This first biography of the beloved star provides complete coverage of a career that encompassed theater, film, radio, and television, and co-stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. It begins with Shirley's childhood in Brooklyn, and her rebellious decision to become an actress against the wishes of her strict father. Included is complete coverage of her tumultuous marriage to radio comedian Ed Gardner (of "Duffy's Tavern" fame), and a second, happier union that ended abruptly with her husband's death of a heart attack. Readers of this exhaustively researched biography will come to know a versatile and gifted star whose career spanned almost 60 years.

About the Author

David C. Tucker is a free-lance writer and public library administrator who lives outside Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of The Women Who Made Television Funny (2007) and has served as a book reviewer for Library Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: McFarland (March 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078643600X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786436002
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,248,044 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shirley Booth: A Biography and Career Record..AT LONG LAST!!!, April 5, 2008

By	T. jones - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a delight to finally learn more about one of the 20th century's most sensitive and facile actresses! Her Tony and Oscar winning turn in 1952's COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA firmly established Shirley Booth as that rare combination of tragedienne and comedienne. She was judged "The World's Best Actress" by the Cannes Film Festival! Having garnered 3 Tony Awards, 2 Emmys and an Oscar during her long and distinguished career it was the title role in TV's HAZEL, as the loveable and domineering domestic for the Baxter family, that finally brought Miss Booth's talents to the masses. Author David C. Tucker's work as a library administrator is evident throughout this exhaustively researched biography/career record, taking the reader on fascinating journey through her stage, radio, film and television work while adding biographical info where he can. With a career as empheral as Booth's Tucker should be lauded for his fascinating and determined exploration of her much acclaimed work on the stage. His commitment to sharing an almost plot-by-plot record of her many plays (both in Summer Stock and on Broadway) is admirable and proves invaluable. If I have a quibble at all it is that Tucker didn't or wasn't able to gain access to more of Booth's colleagues. While obviously most of her contemporaries have passed on, one misses a broader perspective on the actress both personally and professionally. Where were contributions from Shirley McLaine, Robert Morse, Julie Harris, Al Freeman, Jr., Marian Mercer, Cloris Leachman, Sam Waterston, Doris Roberts, Carol Lynley...? Notwithstanding remembrances from siblings Joyce and Dick Van Patten, it seems a missed opportunity to more thoroughly explore the life and work of this exceptional talent. Still and much more importantly we are most fortunate that David C. Tucker has undertaken the endeavor and given us the chance to celebrate the life and career of a remarkable actress.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shirley Booth - Now Documented for the Ages, April 9, 2008

By	James Robert Parish (Studio City, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thanks to this well-researched book, there is now an in-depth record of the prolific, highly talented actress/star Shirley Booth who--over many decades--made her mark on the stage, as well as in film, radio, and television.

While many today associate Miss Booth primarily with her hit TV series, "Hazel" (1961--66), this veteran trouper enjoyed several major Broadway successes, ranging from the drama "Come Back, Little Sheba" (1950), to the comedy "The Desk Set" (1955) to the poignant "The Time of the Cuckoo" (1952), and the musical "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1951). The author provides dimensional backstories for all these productions, as well as her many other theater projects.

David C. Tucker well chronicles Booth's ventures into Hollywood filmmaking--which included winning a Best Actress Oscar for her screen debut (1952's "Come Back, Little Sheba") when she was already in her fifties. (She made only three other feature films, including playing a very buoyant Dolly Levi in 1958's "The Matchmaker".) Also detailed are Booth's years in radio (especially her big hit in the early 1940s' "Duffy's Tavern", created by and costarring her then husband, Ed Gardner.)

Like many major creative artists, Booth was a complex person, whose offstage persona was far more retiring than her professional image. (Her private life included two marriages but no children.) With most of Booth's contemporaries long since deceased, the author, understandably, had to rely largely on his extensive research into published documents and interviews to sort out the actual facts of the star's lengthy, work-filled life. For this, Tucker is to be applauded.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful biography of Shirley Booth!, July 9, 2008

By	R. Coppola (Boston, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It was refreshing to see a light-hearted, non-scandalous, non-shocking biography published for a change. Even nicer to find the subject to be Shirley Booth, a much-loved, well-respected actress of the golden years of broadway and television. If you've seen her famous series, then chances are you fell in love with tv's favorite, tell-it-like-it-is maid "Hazel". And this is the book that tells you all about the actress behind the character.

Garnished with wonderfully rare photographs depicting Shirley's career, the book is a quick and easy read. I found it enjoyable to simply read the timeline of another person's life whom I admired from her various acting roles. It took me back to a different time of life and, at times, made me smile. Overall, an excellent book, one that you may return to from time to time.