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Summary: ah sweet mystery of jm!
Review: at last! a comprehensive and competent bio of one of the greatest of all hollywood stars.mr. turk offers top-notch analysis of why jm rose to prominence, and why she has slid into the murky area of satire today. his writing style is far more readable than that of most movie bios, and one can only hope that he will turn his attentions to some other of the "lost" stars of hollywood? (might margaret sullavan not be worthy of a real book?) we can only hope that this book will serve as a catalyst for a new understanding of its subject; in the long run, quality will win out -- macdonald is a veritable demi-goddess, and mr. turk her talented muse!
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Summary: A COMPLETE TRIUMPH
Review: Edward Baron Turk has filled a conspicuous void by providing us with this superior, painstakingly researched biography. Turk is an excellent writer, stylistically flawless and an engaging storyteller; his tale of MacDonald reads like a compulsive novel. He correctly puts MacDonald in her rightful place as one of the greatest talents of all time. Don't miss this one.
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Summary: "Diva" Hits a High Note!
Review: Edward Baron Turk's brilliantly realized biography of the singer-actress Jeanette MacDonald, "Hollywood Diva" is worth the long wait. For years fans of the beloved red-haired, green-eyed soprano, have longed for a complete and concise biographical work. "Diva" is all that and more. Turk has conducted scores of interviews and gleamed through mountains of papers including MacDonald's own unpublished autobiography, to accurately reflect his subject. The reader comes away both educated and enlightened not to mention very impressed with the woman who dazzled and delighted millions in virtually every medium of show business. Jeanette MacDonald was much more than one-half of the classic screen team of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. She starred in nearly 30 motion pictures, broke records performing on stage and in concert, not to mention realizing her dream of starring in Grand Opera. Nightclubs, radio, television, and recordings were fields that benefitted from the special MacDonald touch, and while she may have appeared to do it effortlessly, this book reveals the incredible energy and work that she put into everything she did. Every facet of her life she gave more than 100% to and fans of the star will come away impressed anew with her tireless dedication to her art. Those to whom MacDonald is a name from the far past will want to go out and explore her career by watching her films and discovering what many of us have said for decades - Jeanette MacDonald is one of the greats! Turk perfectly balances his story by not placing MacDonald on an unreachable pedestal but portraying his subject as a real person, replete with faults, ferocious in her determination to never give less than her best. Nowhere does this apply more than to her personal life. Mr. Turk's handling of the marriage between MacDonald and actor Gene Raymond is a lesson to everyone in every kind of relationship. Their nearly 28 year marriage had periodic difficulties but ultimately what stands out is the real, deep-rooted, and very moving love that the couple shared, something not easily achieved in the milieu of Hollywood. While some would prefer to believe that MacDonald and Eddy were an "item", Turk disproves that myth completely. The MacDonald-Eddy team were pure on-screen magic but off-screen were merely friends. Naysayers would like to believe that author Turk treats Eddy in a less than respectful manner in this tome but nothing could be further from the truth. MacDonald was married only once. She didn't indulge in the affairs nor have the sometimes tawdry personal life that others of her generation may have had. She was a professional and that is a sometimes rare commodity in show business. "Hollywood Diva" is must reading for anyone with even a slight interest in the history of the entertainment industry. You'll laugh, cry, learn, and grow. When a book can accomplish all of that, as well as portraying a real person as someone to admire and respect, then it is indeed something very special.
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Summary: This is the only modern biography of an important film star
Review: Edward Turk Baron has done a great job in recounting the life of Macdonald, a complex diva to say the least, and very misunderstood by more recent generations, most of whom haven't even seen her movies. Many of us are younger, and have happened upon Macdonald by accident, at night on the late show, or (more rarely), at a revival at a theatre specializing in retro movies. There's something very moving about Jeanette Macdonald's voice and movie persona, something that no other actress has quite captured. Baron gives us both the woman, and the professional diva, and offstage it seems she was at least as stunning as she was onscreen. It was particularly gratifying to read a serious analysis of her life and work, since there's been some truly silly puffery about her supposed romance with Nelson Eddy. A mesmerizing read about a truly magnetic star, and woman.
Rating: 
Summary: The Iron Butterfly Pinned Down
Review: Hollywood Diva - a Biography of Jeanette MacDonald by Edward Baron Turk. Mr Edward Baron Turk, the author of this lavish new biography of the famous movie singer Jeanette MacDonald, remarks that it is strange that such a legendary figure has inspired comparatively few serious biographies. MacDonald was ,after all, a superstar in every sense of the word; a beautiful and talented woman from a modest Philadelphia background on the wrong side of town who rose through her own diligence and determination to become one of the great movie actresses, up there alongside Garbo and Claudette Colbert. But fashions change and these days the glory days of MacDonald and her singing partner Nelson Eddy in their melodious and colourful operettas are out of fashion. Despite the bright soprano and the rich baritone of the immortal duo the films by which they are best remembered are considered trite and sentimental. The mock heroics, the arch teasing and the cloying happy endings are now subjects of mockery. Perhaps this explains the lack of interest in the stars? Nevertheless as Mr Turk points out, the legends linger on. Even today Jeanette MacDonald and Neson Eddy are remembered with affection all over the world. And what is more a study of the subtext of many of their films reveals more than meets the eye. However this splendidly detailed biography more than makes amends. There is a rags to riches account of Jeanette's early life and struggles, the Broadway successes (I had no idea she once starred in a show called ' Boom Boom!) and then the Hollywood years are given a meticulously scholarly treatment at the same time gripping and entertaining. The, nice but naughty' though not forgotten early films with Maurice Chevalier, when MacDonald was known as the 'lingerie queen of Hollywood' are analysed as are the films which made the duo into a world wide icon. Like so many of her collaborators Mr Turk seems to have fallen for his heroine and gives detailed accounts of her charm and kindness to her staff and family. He revels in descriptions of her redheaded patrician beauty. But her dark side gets the full treatment as well. Not for nothing is she known as the 'Iron Butterfly'. Her steely determination, the almost ruthless manipulation of her directors and studio chiefs, the flashes of temper and the true diva behaviour about topics such as her billing, the choice of her - 2 - songs and the way she was photographed, make entertaining reading. McDonald personified old time protestant values of hard work, ambition, diligence and loyalty to family and country. After finally marrying the actor Gene Raymond she remained with him for the rest of her life. She emerges as a likeable Republican right winger but a a complex and fascinating personality. In a way Mr Baron has trouble in reconciling the different sides of her character. The only aspect of her career which in my view is not given the explanation it merits is the curious question of why MacDonald abandoned her promising though short lived operatic career. Her singing technique was excellent - we have the word of the great German Diva Lotte Lehmann - and although her voice was considered 'small' her stage presence, and her grasp of French won her critical praise in her performances of Gounod operas. But then she suddenly abandoned her ambitions to become a world famous operatic soprano and to sing at the Metropolitan Opera New York and she settled instead for the cosy familiarity of her concert tours - singing songs from her films and light classics. It seems odd that such a feisty lady was so easily discouraged from embarking on a second career as a serious artist -clearly within her grasp and which could have meant personal fulfilment. After all from this time her career took on a decidedly subdued tone. The most fascinating aspect of the book however, lies in Mr Turk's Analysis of why, even today the romantic operettas are disliked and dismissed by male critics and appeal to female ones. He thinks that McDonald's interpretations of her roles overwhelmed the paler persona of Nelson Eddy and thus are perceived as threatening by many men. Viewing the films again made me think that MrTurk is onto something here. He also gives many other insights into the gender relationships and the ladylike yet erotic appeal of his heroine. Again, MacDonald offers opportunities for parody and burlesque but Mr Turk doesn't seem to explore the popularity and affection she elicits from the Gay Community. All in all though the story is presented in a most readable style,packed with anecdotes and fascinating details plus sociological and psychological commentaries. There are lavish notes and photographs, a bibliography, an index and best of all a comprehensive listing of all MacDonald's stage and screen appearances. For those who like me love the movies of the thirties, music and opera, this is a terrific read.
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Summary: Writing this book has been a thrilling experience!
Review: HOLLYWOOD DIVA is my third book, and it has been an enormously pleasurable undertaking. I hope that readers will share in the exhilaration I felt while narrating the life of this tremendously talented, beautiful, and intelligent woman. I especially admire MacDonald for having taken on the role of fearless diva without ever mislaying her sense of humor, honesty, dignity, or femininity. If my telling of her life conveys to readers a measure of these qualities, I'll consider myself successful. For those who know MacDonald's movies only from TV and videotapes.
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Summary: Loving it
Review: I am really injoying this book. I am 16 and I love her singing. And her acting. This book is not a 5 star it is a 1000 stars. Now all I have to get is Nelson Eddy's bio. LOL.
Rating:
Summary: Loving it
Review: I am really injoying this book. I am 16 and I love her singing. And her acting. This book is not a 5 star it is a 1000 stars. Now all I have to get is Nelson Eddy's bio. LOL.
Rating: 
Summary: "Authorized" Biography is a Cop-Out, Slanders Nelson Eddy
Review: I can't believe the reader reviewer who writes: "Who cares whether Gene Raymond was gay?" That would seem to be a major element in a marriage promoted by Hollywood and Turk as a marriage made in heaven. Maybe Jeanette and Gene found a way to make their marriage work, since they never divorced, but Raymond's homosexuality was well-known in contemporary circles, plus I happen to know that he frequented that famous Cathedral City bar, Daddy Warbucks. Turk gushes all about Gene in his book and since he had his blessing to write it, the book is slanted in Gene's favor. But that's no excuse to lie about Nelson Eddy, or to demean him as an untalented person who would never have made it without Jeanette, which is utter nonsense. That point alone is enough to wreck Turk's credibility as a biographer, as far as I'm concerned. That same reader reviewer writes: "Who cares if Jeanette and Nelson had an affair?" Right on, but Turk doesn't give it any credence, even though there is ample documentation in other magazines and books to back up a MacDonald-Eddy romance. But for Turk it's "all fiction." Did he even bother to interview any of those sources, some of which are still alive and famous? And he ignores factual information such as Jeanette and Nelson's many attempts at radio and film comebacks in the 1940s. He mentions Jeanette's disgust at Nelson pulling out of a proposed film in the 1950s but doesn't pull strings at Jeanette's comment that the reason might be Ann Eddy's "jealousy." I was at a luncheon in Los Angeles where Al Caiazza, the kid singer from Jeanette's 1950s TV show, "Prima Donna," got up in front of fifty people and told how, during the making of that show, he and his parents visited Jeanette's home. And how, in the entryway of the house, was a huge color framed photo of Nelson Eddy as the "Rose Marie" Mountie. And Caiazza's father said, "I wonder how Gene Raymond lives with THAT." I taped his talk, as did others at my table. Highlights of it were published in Sharon Rich's biography of Jeanette and Nelson as well as her magazine about the team. Turk doesn't bother with this interesting tidbit. Or many other anecdotes that were spoken about at public meetings. Back to the same reader reviewer, who says "No one else should be able to judge" how Jeanette lived her life and any relationship, if any, with Nelson. I agree, but Turk, as Jeanette's biographer, should have honestly addressed the situation. For my money, if you want to know what made Jeanette MacDonald tick, read "Sweethearts" or the "Jeanette and Nelson: Interactive Biography," both by Sharon Rich. That author, at least, did her homework in the areas where it really mattered. I would leave zero stars, but Amazon doesn't give that option.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I found this book to be very informative and, in my opinion, well researched. I was impressed by the way it explained a few things to me. The author did, however, tell some stories about other actors that I really didn't care to know, but the info about Ms. MacDonald was helpful. I was ready for a book that didn't sound like a National Enquirer cover story. Also, who cares if Jeanette and Nelson had an affair? Who cares if Gene Raymond was gay? They lived how THEY wanted, and no one else should be able to judge that.
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