Jayne Mansfield The girl couldn't help it

Eve Golden

Book - 2021

"Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967) was driven not just to be an actress but to be a star. One of the most iconic sex symbols of her time, she was known for her platinum blonde hair, hourglass figure, outrageously low necklines, and flamboyant lifestyle. Hardworking and ambitious, Mansfield proved early in her career that she was adept in both comic and dramatic roles, but her tenacious search for the spotlight and her risqué promotional stunts caused her to be increasingly snubbed in Hollywood. In this joyful biography, the first definitive one of Mansfield, Eve Golden reveals the star that Andy Warhol called "the poet of publicity" as a smart, determined woman. While she always had her sights set on the silver screen, Mansfield g...ot her start as Rita Marlowe in the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. She made her film debut in the low-budget drama Female Jungle (1955) before landing the starring role in The Girl Can't Help It (1956). Mansfield followed this success with a dramatic role in The Wayward Bus (1957), winning a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, and starred alongside Cary Grant in Kiss Them for Me (1957). Despite her popularity, her appearance as the first celebrity in Playboy and her nude scene in Promises! Promises! (1963) cemented her reputation as an outsider. Golden looks beyond Mansfield's flashy public image and tragic death to fully explore her life and legacy. This funny, engaging biography offers a nuanced portrait of a fascinating woman who loved every minute of life and lived every minute to the utmost"--

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Subjects
Genres
Biographies
Published
Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Eve Golden (author)
Physical Description
x, 432 pages, 56 leaves of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780813180953
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Chapter 1
  • 3. Chapter 2
  • 4. Chapter 3
  • 5. Chapter 4
  • 6. Chapter 5
  • 7. Chapter 6
  • 8. Chapter 7
  • 9. Chapter 8
  • 10. Chapter 9
  • 11. Chapter 10
  • 12. Chapter 11
  • 13. Chapter 12
  • 14. Chapter 13
  • 15. Chapter 14
  • 16. Chapter 15
  • 17. Chapter 16
  • 18. Chapter 17
  • 19. Chapter 18
  • 20. Chapter 19
  • 21. Chapter 20
  • 22. Chapter 21
  • 23. Chapter 22
  • 24. Chapter 23
  • 25. Chapter 24
  • 26. Chapter 25
  • 27. Chapter 26
  • 28. Chapter 27
  • 29. Chapter 28
  • 30. Chapter 29
Review by Library Journal Review

Noted entertainment biographer Golden's second entry in the "Screen Classics" series (after John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film Stars), on actress and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield (1933--67), is an archetypal Hollywood cautionary tale--you can get what you want, but do you want what you get? Mansfield devoted her life to becoming, and remaining, a movie star in the classic 1940s Hollywood sense--the look, the endless quest for attention, the material trappings, all of which hindered her career but would have played out seamlessly on a contemporary reality television show. This lengthy and richly documented biography follows the trajectory of Mansfield's life with an almost day-by-day accounting. Golden paints a picture of someone with a brilliant ability to manufacture publicity and an insatiable need to be adored, who was also genuinely kind to her many fans and gave to numerous charitable causes. Golden covers Mansfield's films, television appearances, and Las Vegas night club and lounge acts; she accompanies it all with voluminous critical, and often snarky, commentary from newspapers large and small. VERDICT Exemplary in its research and detail, Golden's book may well become, the definitive word--if not the last word--on the Mansfield story.--Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

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