For a decade Wallace Reid was the most recognized face in Hollywood, the most universally beloved actor in silent film. Today all that is widely remembered of "Wally" Reid is that he died in a padded sanitarium cell, the victim of a fatal morphine addiction. Of all the actors who have enjoyed great fame only to vanish from the public eye, Reid perhaps fell the fastest and hardest. This first full biography recounts Reid's complicated childhood, his disrupted family history and his rise to film stardom despite these restricting factors. It documents his myriad talents and accomplishments, most notably his gift for brilliant onscreen acting. The text explores in depth how the modern studio, however unconsciously, turned the popular star, a well-adjusted man with a loving family, into a drug-dependent mental patient within three years. His death rocked the foundations of Hollywood, and the huge new industry that he helped build nearly died with "Dashing Wally Reid."
FREE Two-Day Shipping for Students. Learn more |
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
E.J. Fleming is also the author of Carole Landis (2005), The Fixers (2004), The Movieland Directory (2004) and Hollywood Death and Scandal Sites (2000). He lives in Barrington, Illinois.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific Research on a Long Forgotten Star,
By
This review is from: Wallace Reid: The Life And Death of a Hollywood Idol (Hardcover)
How Mr. Flemming was able to get so much information about a man who died so long ago is just amazing. I am so glad he chose Wallace Reid as a subject. I read bits and pieces about him, mostly about his morphine abuse, but didn't really know anything about Wallace as a person.
I did think that there was a little too much detail on the synopsis of Mr. Reid's pictures. All Though the book is a bit expensive, any true fan of the silent era really should have this book in their collection
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm crying too...,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wallace Reid: The Life And Death of a Hollywood Idol (Hardcover)
McFarland has just released E.J. Fleming's "Wallace Reid,The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol". Wallace Reid(April 15,1891-January 18,1923) was an actor in silent films referred to by Motion Picture Magazine as the screen's No. 1 lover. Today, in 2007, Wallace Reid is almost unknown. William Wallace Reid was born in St. Louis, Missouri into a show business family. Reid performed on stage at an early age. An all-around athlete, Reid engaged in sports, and also maintained an interest in music, the piano, banjo, drums, and the violin. Reid was drawn to the burgeoning motion picture industry by his father. In 1910, 19-year-old Reid appeared in his first motion picture, "The Phoenix", filmed at Selig Polyscope Studios in Chicago. Reid approached Vitagraph Studios hoping to be given a chance to direct. He did, and also worked as a writer and a cameraman. Comfortable behind the camera, he was never really at ease in front of it. But he was soon acting, his natural good-looks perceived by early film mogul, Allan Dwan. He was featured in "Birth of a Nation(1915)" and "Intolerance(1916)", both directed by D.W. Griffith, becoming one of Hollywood's major stars. Involved in more than a hundred one-reelers, Reid was signed by producer Jesse Lasky and then acted in another sixty films for Lasky's Famous Players film company, later known as Paramount Pictures. In 1914, Jesse Lasky's first film, "The Squaw Man", became a great hit. It was the first epic western; it's success helped make Hollywood a center for film-making. Then Lasky merged with Adolph Zukor to form Famous-Players, a major silent-era studio. Lasky was instrumental in molding Reid into a matinee idol. Sadly, Reid's movie image and celebrity lifestyle intersected. Flush with success, Reid hosted numerous parties at his mansion; liquor flowed freely. In 1915, while speeding up the Pacific Coast Highway near the beach, Reid slammed into a small car carrying a family of five. Both cars were demolished. Somehow, Reid walked away with cuts and bruises. In the other car, the driver was dead, and his wife and son injured. Reid was arrested and booked into Santa Monica jail for manslaughter. D.W. Griffith arranged for his bail and he was released the following Monday. But things got worse. In 1919, while working on location in Oregon on "Valley of the Giants", Reid was injured in a train wreck. In order to keep working, studio doctors gave him morphine for his pain. The powerful drug led to addiction. Reid kept working at a frantic pace in films that were growing more physically demanding. Help for addiction was non-existent at this time. Ignoring Reid's illness, and intent on selling tickets, Lasky pushed Reid into role-after-role. In 1922, his health had deteriorated badly, and after contracting the flu, he fell into a coma from which he never recovered. We don't know for sure, but his last days were spent in a padded room. Wallace Reid died at age thirty-one. Though a bit dry, Fleming's "The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol" is certainly interesting. It features an excellent, detailed history of the shooting of Griffith's 1915 "Birth of a Nation". The book provides extensive histories of noted and unknown silent stars. However, the detailed biographies of obscure players(many in footnotes) will bore many readers; though I found it fascinating. Fleming invests many pages dredging-up the Fatty Arbuckle scandal of 1921. His long trial and final acquittal is old news; any cinema buff has read this all before. Also, Fleming spices up the book with liberal excerpts from Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon", a graphic expose' based on hear-say and tabloids. Much of Reid's early life is little-known(The history of film-making before 1915 is sketchy. Few films ever survive.), but this is no license to pad the book with movie trivia. The text is well-written, but there are some errors. On page 39, Fleming writes that the noted Paramount director's name was William Desmond Taylor. It wasn't. His real name was William Cunningham Deane-Tanner. On page 80, he says that Reid was considering Lasky's offer to join Universal. But Jesse Lasky never worked at Universal studios. When the depression hit, Lasky lost his job. In the late 50's, Lasky was so deeply indebted to the IRS that he returned to film production at Paramount. He died while his film was still in pre-production. A co-founder of Paramount Pictures, Jesse Lasky died almost penniless. Overall, this is a thoughtful and ambitious work; a true story of a boy's rise to greatness, his abuse by Hollywood, and his terrible decline. Wallace Reid's wife, Dorothy, saved hundreds of poems he gave her. Written just months before he died, Reid wrote a letter to his son called "Lullaby":
You want to know when, O Baby of mine, He'll be coming home to you. And O how I'm longing and longing dear To be able to tell you true. So come to my heart, dear Baby o' mine, Let me comfort your baby woes. You cry for your Daddy, baby o' mine Can't you see that I'm crying, too?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
NOW THE SPOTLIGHT WILL ALWAYS SHINE ON HIM,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wallace Reid: The Life And Death of a Hollywood Idol (Hardcover)
I've known about him all my life because he was my great grandfathers cousin. I know that he was a source of great pride to his family and much loved by his fans. Up until now the only book I had read about him was written by his mother who felt compelled to defend him after his death and wanted everyone to know who her son "Wally" really was. That and a few stories from my great grandparents were all I thought I'd ever know. I can't tell you what it means to me to have found this treasure! The picture on the cover just takes my breath away. And the answer to every question I could have asked is there. And so many priceless rare photos of the silent film era bring the story to life. This author just lays it all out brilliantly! Thank you Mr. Fleming for telling his story with so much empathy and respect. As an aside I was also thrilled to find out that Amazon sells his films too-I bought them all of course!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
