Five Easy Decades
How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times
-
-
3.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $15.99
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
Praise for Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times
"Dennis McDougal is a rare Hollywood reporter: honest, fearless, nobody's fool. This is unvarnished Jack for Jack-lovers and Jack-skeptics but, also, for anyone interested in the state of American culture and celebrity. I always read Mr. McDougal for pointers but worry that he will end up in a tin drum off the coast of New Jersey."-- Patrick McGilligan, author of Jack's Life and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light
Praise for Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty
"A great freeway pileup--part biography, part dysfunctional family chronicle, and part institutional and urban history, with generous dollops of scandal and gossip."-- Hendrick Hertzberg, The New Yorker
"McDougal has managed to scale the high walls that have long protected the Chandler clan and returned with wicked tales told by angry ex-wives and jealous siblings."--The Washington Post
Praise for The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden History of Hollywood
"Real glamour needs a dark side. That is part of the fascination of Dennis McDougal's wonderful book."--The Economist
"Thoroughly reported and engrossing . . . the most noteworthy trait of MCA was how it hid its power."--The New York Times Book Review
"Over the years, I've read hundreds of books on Hollywood and the movie business, and this one is right at the top."-- Michael Blowen, The Boston Globe
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Taking on not just a legendary subject, but a legendarily private subject "refusing biographers and TV personalities, Nicholson prefers the occasional magazine Q&A or quickie newspaper interview "author and New York Times film writer McDougal (Privileged Son) has turned out a model biography: exhaustive, full of action and startlingly illuminating. Nicholson "flamboyant yet guarded, outrageous yet articulate, charming yet polarizing "has marched to his own drummer for 50 years, heading up a parade of celebrated films and famous women, and eliciting strong opinions in just about everyone; as such, McDougal presents an engrossing showcase of big films and bigger personalities. Following a modest, fatherless New Jersey childhood, Nicholson set out on a California odyssey that would require stamina, guts and luck, as eking out a living in the early '60s gave way to the career-making premiere of Easy Rider: 'I had been around long enough to know while sitting in that audience, I had become a movie star.' Los Angeles plays a starring role, giving Nicholson his wild lifestyle; a loyal, eclectic roster of friends; and a longtime neighbor in Marlon Brando. Digging up as many roles offstage as on "hardheaded businessman, softhearted friend, master of rude rejoinders, fanatical sports fan and poetic philosopher "McDougal makes Nicholson's everyday life just as fascinating as his films, which also get considerable, thoughtful attention; in fact, McDougal's research is so deep and detailed, his extensive chapter notes could make a fine book of their own.
