Description:
It seems only par for the course that Bing Crosby, who spent more of his celebrated life on the golf course than in the recording studio or the soundstage, would die on the golf course, too, thus setting a standard for the golfing jones that a significant pocket of Hollywood seems eager to match. Golf is as much a filmland obsession as limousines, hair, and make-up. Bob Hope and Humphrey Bogart were hearty hackers; so was Katharine Hepburn, Dean Martin, Oliver Hardy, Johnny Weismuller, Dinah Shore, and Rita Hayworth; and the tradition continues with Bill Murray, Clint Eastwood, Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, and finally, Jack Wagner, who is still the best Hollywood hacker of them all. Their adventures on the links, superbly illustrated with archival photos, are as breezy as a morning walk down the fairways of Riviera, one of Hollywood's favorite golfing outposts. Golf in Hollywood may be starry-eyed, but it's not just star-struck; it takes interesting swings at the way the game's been treated on film, and also offers a series of colorful and historical profiles of the courses and country clubs favored by the film and TV community, past and present. Most fun of all, Golf in Hollywood not only names names, it dares to reveal handicaps. --Jeff Silverman
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