Hollywood Diva: A Biography of Jeanette Macdonald

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Fiction?
Review: I have been a fan of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy since I was a child. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I thought, finally we would get the truth of this couple once and for all. I have to agree with most of the comments left here on this subject. The book was well written but not very well researched. It seems as though the man who wrote this had a sincere dislike for Eddy and belittled him at every turn, making Raymond some sort of hero! I do believe that it was Raymond who was a supposed homosexual and not Eddy. There are to many cases in history that testify that indeed Jeanette and Nelson had a wonderful relationship with eachother, not just mere aquaintances as Turk tried to imply here. Not to mention that anyone who listens to Eddy sing could never say he had a mediocre talent or that Jeanette was the only reason people watched these movies. Jeanette is my favorite, but where would Rose-Marie had been without her Canadian Mountie? The truth is the work is a good work of Fiction not Fact.

Rating:
Summary: A great book !
Review: I really liked this biography of Jeanette MacDonald, their were some great photos in it as well. From it I learned so much about her life and career. I recommend this to any fan of Jeanette MacDonald. It's a lovely tribute to her.

Rating:
Summary: Jeanette MacDonald Truly The Queen Of MGM In The Thirties!
Review: I thought Diva was a quite good in-depth look at Jeanette MacDonald's career in New York and then in Hollywood. It gave you a real look at how strong she was and how she fought for herself. I tend to agree with other reviewers that Nelson Eddy's treatment in this book was not very good or very accurate. I did not like the inference that he was gay (I thought it was totally unnecessary)and underrated his talents. I don't even think Miss MacDonald would have liked that! As far as her romantic life, her marriage I assume like any other marriage, had its strong points and weak points. I think the book points out that her true love was singing and performing for her fans and the public. She truly was a great star and probably the most beautiful woman in the Hollywood of her day. In comparing Diva with other books I have read about Jeanette MacDonald, I thought it was probably not as thrilling or exciting as other biographies on her life.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating career -- a fascinating book
Review: I was especially fascinated by the author's research into French-language reviews and accounts of her appearances in France, hitherto unavailable to English-speaking fans. Many of the details about the three loves of her life, taken from Jeanette's unpublished autobiography, were also new. The two most intriguing themes, clearly set forth in the book, are MacDonald's sizeable role in popularizing classical music in America, and, despite her apparent radiant good health, the physical fragility that plagued her all her life, overcome by an indomitable spirit. An admirable look into the life of an admirable star.

Rating:
Summary: "A reader" has to be Sharon Rich
Review: I would like to point out that the review below by "A reader" that focuses so strongly on scandals and recommends "Sweethearts" by Sharon Rich TWICE is none other than Sharon Rich herself. The writing style gives it away. Ms. Rich runs a what is essentially a scandalmongering franchise that is obsessed to rather laughable proportions with proving that an affair existed between Jeanette and Nelson. My question is, if Jeanette and Nelson really DID have an affair, why is Ms. Rich going to such extremes to prove it? If it really is "the truth" as Ms. Rich says incessantly, then the truth should be able to speak for itself and shouldn't need so much help. What's going on here?

What is particularly hypocritical and questionable is Ms. Rich's constant high praise of Jeanette and Nelson while she tears down and demonizes the two's spouses, Gene Raymond and Ann Franklin. "Mr. Raymond is dead now. There is no more need to try and protect his honor." This brutal statement is the equivalent of spitting on that man's grave. And for what reason? Something is fishy here, and there is a strong need for someone to investigate Ms. Rich's claims, as a good historian would not conduct him/herself in this unethical of a manner.

Rating:
Summary: Academic Indifference - History reframed
Review: If this WERE a work of fiction, Turk's book would not be so offensive, but I have spent well over twenty years interviewing people who knew Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. I am NOT Sharon Rich. I have spoken with Nelson Eddy. I have even interviewed Gene Raymond. I can honestly say the evidence is overwhelming that Jeanette MacDonald lead a different life than the one presented by Mr. Turk. It is not enough to just read a woman's unpublished autobiography and talk to her husband. There are reasons why both might lie. Jeanette MacDonald did not want to shock her fans or bring down the public personnas of herself and Nelson Eddy when she wrote her autobiography. If Mr. Turk had taken the time to look at the evidence which refutes the "Gene Raymond" version of Jeanette's life, then the book would have fulfilled its potential as a fairly accurate portrait of a complex woman living in a difficult period that straddles World War II. Once Jeanette met Nelson Eddy, he was a driving influence in her life. Nelson Eddy was not a monogamous man. He had many female lovers, and some of them are still alive to talk about him and his relationship with Jeanette, Gene, and Ann Eddy (a woman I have also had the "pleasure" of meeting). Had Turk taken the time to actually follow up the research on the Eddy/MacDonald relationship, he might have presented history in a much more accurate light. It's a shame when an ordinary researcher blurs history by looking at it through "tinted" glasses. It is a sin when an academic does it, either accidentally or on purpose. Mr. Turk varnished the truth, rewrote it by omission, and basically did a disservice to both Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. I am curious why Mr. Turk did not accept Lina Basquette's account of Nelson Eddy's prowess with women. I am even more curious why he would insinuate that Eddy was gay when even Shelley Winters has recounted Nelson's attempt to seduce her. The University of California should be ashamed for accepting the publication without looking at the research on the other side of the coin.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and uncomplimentary to its subject and Nelson Eddy
Review: It was well-known in contemporary Hollywood circles that Gene Raymond, Jeanette's husband, was gay, NOT Nelson Eddy. Raymond was arrested more than once for his activities. However, Turk promotes the PR "happy marriage" and praises Raymond as the star of the book! He therefore is not a trustworthy biographer. It's a dull read and aside from unfairly degrading Nelson Eddy, isn't in the long run complimentary to Jeanette either. Sorry I wasted my money. Deserves zero stars.

Rating:
Summary: THE BIGGEST STAR OF THE CENTURY!
Review: Jeanette MacDonald was born in West Philadelphia on June 18th, 1903 with a brass spoon in her mouth. She was poor and had two elder sisters, 10 and 12 years older. In 1964, when she died, two former presidents attended her funeral and two men who would later become presidents. In 1939, she was the biggest female star in the world bar none. Directors and producers would fall in-love with her. One after the other. They wanted to marry her! This would happen over and over again. Including Louis B. Mayer. Turk does an outstanding job of doing exhaustive research. Privy to her private memoirs and correspondence. I've read 100 biographies of "big shots". But this one was incredible. On Broadway in the late twenties. A Sex Goddess in the early thirties who self-admittedly stated that she spent more time taking her clothes on and off during her films than acting. A Virgin Goddess in the late Thirties. A 180 turnaround. She was extrordinarily ambitious. Nothing could stop her. Yet she was extraordinarily kind and generous to all alike. Unless...you took unfair advantage of her. I have read the four-volume biography of Robert E. Lee. He was kind and tender like MacDonald. And he was ambitious. But not he wasn't anywhere ambitious like her. How these two traits, great ambition and great kindness can reside in any human brain still remains a mystery to me after reading this book. But that she was. She emanated Power and Kindness. Also great Virtue. She just bulldozed her way through everything! I found this biography more fascinating than those of FDR, Eisenhower, Marshall, Beckett, Churchill, Patton, et all. But Turk gives it to us straight. I have never believed that anybody could be like this. She would give you the shirt off her back. She would do pranks. She would make fun. Extremely generous. Yet...extremely hard-working to the point of unbelievability. Strong as a brick house. Ambitious beyond belief. Yet she always kept her integrity in tack. I didn't think that this constellation of traits could spell out success. But you couldn't cross the line with her in regards to her career. And boy was she smart. I can see how all these "power-house" directors and producers could fall so totally in-love with her without even a kiss. Read this book. And try to understand this woman. It will be very hard. A director made an anti-semetic remark about another actress in a play. She fired him on the spot. She took on Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, later to become friends with both. She seemed to have "I'm Going to Be a Star" etched in her brain. Whether it be in opera, acting, comedy, and whatever you can think of. But she would NEVER compromise her principles. This is all good news for males and females who believe in these cynical times that "Nice Guys Finish Last". In the other biographies that I have read of highly successful people, luck had a great deal to do with it. She went beyond luck and was qouted has stating in 1940 to a reporter that if you don't change with the times, than you are dead. I think that everybody should read this biography. General Chinese Gordon had the tenacity and kindness of MacDonald. But he wasn't extremely ambitious. Gordon's match is the closest I have come in my reading of biographies that matches the profile of MacDonald. Sir Richard Francis Burton stated that Gordon's best trait was his "control". But MacDonald comes close. In fact, I would bet on MacDonald. It doesn't matter that she never reached the historical heights that these other men obtained. She was incredible. She had all these extremely powerful Hollywood moguls on a leash like poodles. Something couldn't be done, but she would do it. Incredible will-power. Incredible kindness. Read this biography about a truly incredible woman. And throw away all those "trashy" Hollywood biographies. They are all garbage. This one stands at the top. Fascinating!

Rating:
Summary: Good sentence structures.
Review: Looks like a textbook one would recommend for one's film class. Compared to Sharon Rich's "Sweethearts", "Hollywood Diva" is better written. Grammar, syntax, etc. Definitely A-class in presentation: paper choice for the hardback edition, font selection, layout, etc. The background information on Ms. MacDonald's professional life is presented well. But does this book reflect unbiased reporting or research on other aspects of Ms. MacDonald's life? This is, after all, a biography. From the placement of a large picture of Gene Raymond as the last photograph in the photo section, one wonders if the author has a crush on Mr. Raymond and used Ms. MacDonald's life to cloak his personal tribute to the actor. This spot in a series of photographs is usually reserved for the main subject, perhaps to imply a final tribute to the subject, a punctuation mark, as it were. One star for credibility of contents. Three stars for presentation. Looks good on paper.

Rating:
Summary: Jeanette MacDonald was a musical treasure.
Review: Mr. Turk writes well and the subject comes off very inspiring. However, I didn't understand the vitriolic portrayal of Nelson Eddy. Mr. Turk seemed to take every opportunity to make light of Mr. Eddy's talents and make inuendos about his sexuality, but I believe in the inner Hollywood circles Mr. Turk's "hero" of the book was the one visiting the bath houses not Nelson Eddy. I felt I wasted my money on this book and would give it a zero star if that were available.