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

by James Parish (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The death of a celebrity is often as fascinating as--and sometimes more fascinating than--a star's actual life. From the grisly end of Sharon Tate at the hands of the Manson family and the mysterious demise of Bob Crane to the peaceful passings of Lucille Ball and George Burns, The Hollywood Book of Death is a captivating and appealingly packaged volume of more than 125 television and movie stars' final curtain calls.

Arranged in an encyclopedic approach by manner of death, these well-researched accounts include details of celebrities' colorful lives and unusual deaths, their funerals, and the intriguing aftermath. With more than 100 rare photographs and a special "necrology" index of more than 6,000 stars and directors, along with a section revealing where Hollywood personalities are resting in eternal sleep, this enthralling reference promises to be on every film and television buff's "Top 10" gift list.

About the Author

James Robert Parish, a former entertainment reporter and publicist, is the author of more than 90 books. A well-known authority on show business, he appears frequently as an expert on A&E's "Biography" and E! Television's "Mysteries and Scandals," as well as numerous other network and cable television documentaries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 413 pages
• Publisher: Contemporary Books of McGraw Hill; 1st edition (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809222272
• ISBN-13: 978-0809222278
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,331 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK TO KEEP BESIDE YOUR TV SET, December 19, 2001

By	Wayne Harvey (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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?

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grave Matters, April 11, 2004

By	Barry "Barrybgb" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as Bizarre and Sordid as it claims, July 10, 2002

By	David A. Kulczyk (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.