Rating: 
Summary: One time read
Review: This book had very good information, but purchasing-wise it
isn't a smart idea. How many times can you read about how
a certain star died?(unless you loan the book to someone)
It is well-written and I found it hard to put down, but it was
a one-time read.
Rating: 
Summary: Morbidly fascinating
Review: This book is a veritable treasure trove of how and why show business celebrities died. It ranges from the oh so famous (Marilyn, Elvis) to the notorious (Sharon Tate, Ramon Novarro) to the obscure (Barbara La Marr, Peter Duel). Warning: once you crack this book, it's very hard to put down. Parish writes with great authority and knowledge, and he's obviously done his homework. The many celebrities highlighted here get much more than reprinted obituaries. Parish goes into fine detail, and it's guaranteed to fascinate and spook any reader.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive guide to death in Hollywood
Review: This book is a very large collection of the deaths of TV and Movie stars. Although I can't agree with the categories the author puts some of the deaths in, it is very entertaining and a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: a great gift for my film buff friends!!!
Review: This book is great! It's entertaining, it's macabre, it's beautifully put together and covers all aspects of Old and New Hollywood. It's informative and reads like today's gossip, full of scandal, whispers and nuance.The previous reviewer has objections about what he/she considers a few obscure inclusions but for me that's one of reasons I like this book -- it features people I don't know, and that only adds to the overall scope of the book. Actually all the celebrities listed have their rightful place in Hollywood -- whether it's the A- or B-List. It doesn't mar the enjoyment factor whatsoever. Another cool thing about the book is it lists cemeteries around the country where celebrities are buried. I would love to go to Forest Lawn Cemetery in LA and wander through looking at the stars of old (and not so old.)
Rating:
Summary: Flesh and Blood
Review: This book reminds us of what many tend to forget. That behind those timeless images on the silver screen are flesh and blood people, all too susceptible like the rest of us to the ravages of passing years. Not that the author's tone is morbid or gossipy. It's not. Instead, the prose is candidly matter of fact, without speculation or embellishment, and you won't come away feeling ghoulish or intrusive. Still and all, there's no apparent criterion for who gets included among the deceased 125, and who doesn't. So whether your own particular favorites are included remains something of a dice roll. Each entry receives one to four pages of bio sketch plus details of passing, which are grouped helpfully under headings indicating the nature of the demise, such as "Accidental", "Natural Causes", "Puzzling Deaths", et. al. Interesting features include: disposition of estate, amount of estate, and disposition of remains, along with interment sites as catalogued in the handy Appendix B. Naturally, such limited space has its drawbacks -- one being that the reader cannot be made to feel the emotional tone of the individual's life experience, the death thus coming as something of an abstraction. (Only full length biography can reach contextual depth.) All in all, however, Parrish's work stands as a welcome addition to that archive of Hollywood lore which sticks pretty close to the facts -- some of which for a tome this rich are inevitably wrong, e.g. James Dean was not "out for a spin" on that fatal day, but headed to take part in the races in Salinas; by the math Parrish provides, Harriet Nelson was 80 at death, not 84; Lurene Tuttle, not Paul Jasmin, provided the mother's voice in Psycho. But this is mere nit-picking. The book itself remains a fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: This was a good read. It was published in 2002 so it has some very recent stories, not just the old recycled stories we've all heard before, like Dean, Presley, and Monroe. Absent from this book are Margaux Hemingway, Frances Farmer, Robert Reed, and Jackie Gleason. But overall, I was entertained and liked reading about everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Very Enlightening ,and in some places,sad as well.
Review: What an excellent book!.So many things I didn't know, like for example, Frank Sutton, who played Sargent Carter in Gomer Pyle USMC had died. The story of Bobby Driscoll I found rather tragic and sad as well. I hope he still isn't in that paupers grave in NY, he deserves much better. Overall, a truly facinating book. Well Done.
Rating: 
Summary: Subjective and Innacurate Book
Review: What appears to be a good idea for a book just didn't materialize in this one. The author subjectively selects his deceased and puts in people who no one ever heard of and omits legends we want to know about. Ever heard of, or care about, Florence Lawrence, Clara Blandick, Rebecca Schaeffer, or Susan Peters? I never have nor do I care how they died. How about Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, and Gary Cooper? He has Clark Gable but leaves out the aforementioned legends to put in unknowns that are a spec on Hollywood's history. More glaring are the numerous errors in dates and places of the deceased. Since as he says,"My goal has been to provide you with birth, death, and burial site information....", he falls way short of the mark. How's this gem? George Reeves, TV's Superman, according to Parish is buried in Forrest Lawn of Glendale. He so states in the text of Reeves' biography, and in addition, he lists Forest Lawn in Glendale as the burial place in Appendix B. In reality, Reeves' cremated remains reside at Mountain View Cemetary in Altadena, California. This book is full of mistakes and should not be positioned to readers as an authoritative guide.
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK TO KEEP BESIDE YOUR TV SET
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: A BOOK TO KEEP BESIDE YOUR TV SET
Review: 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?
|
