Showing results by author "Shawn Levy" in All Categories

Chateau Marmont has sat atop the Sunset Strip for nearly a century, like the Rock of Gibraltar. It is a place filled with deep secrets but is hidden in plain sight, and its evolution parallels the growth of Hollywood itself. Since the dawn of talking pictures, the Chateau Marmont has promised privacy, mystery and a whiff of old glamour. 

In this elegant and compelling biography, best-selling writer Shawn Levy writes of these many De Niros - the characters and the man - seeking to understand the evolution of an actor who once dove deeply into his roles as if to hide his inner nature, and who now seemingly avoids acting challenges, taking roles which make few apparent demands on his overwhelming talent.

In Paul Newman: A Life, film critic and pop culture historian Shawn Levy gives readers the ultimate behind-the-scenes examination of the actor's life, from his merry pranks on the set to his lasting romance with Joanne Woodward to the devastating impact of his son's death from a drug overdose. This definitive biography is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who gave back as much as he got out of life and just happened to be one of the most celebrated movie stars of the 20th century.

Today, women are ascendant in stand-up comedy, even preeminent. They make headlines, fill arenas, spawn blockbuster movies. But before Amy Schumer slayed, Tiffany Haddish killed, and Ali Wong drew roars, the very idea of a female comedian seemed, to most of America, like a punch line. And it took a special sort of woman - indeed, a parade of them - to break and remake the mold. 

From Woody Allen and Lenny Bruce to Jim Carey and David Letterman, Jerry Lewis has influenced generations of great comedians. He has raised over a billion dollars for charity, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Author/film critic Shawn Levy interviews Lewis and many of his contemporaries, friends, and enemies to paint a realistic portrait of a complicated genius.

Shawn Levy gives readers the ultimate behind-the-scenes examination of the actor's life, from his merry pranks on the set to his lasting romance with Joanne Woodward to the devastating impact of his son's death from a drug overdose. This definitive biography is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who gave back as much as he got out of life and just happened to be one of the most celebrated movie stars of the 20th century.