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The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

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Average Rating
Author:
Egan, Joseph B.
Narrator:
Dunne, Bernadette
Published:
Blackstone Publishing 2016
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description

The year 1936 was a great year for the movie industry. The financial setbacks of the Great Depression were subsiding, so theater attendance was up. Americans everywhere were watching the stars, and few stars shined as brightly as one of America's most enduring screen favorites, Mary Astor.

But Astor's personal story wasn't a happy one. Born poor and widowed at twenty-four, Mary Astor had spent years looking for stability when she met and wed Dr. Franklyn Thorpe.

The marriage had been rocky from the start, and both were unfaithful, but they did not divorce before Mary Astor gave birth to little Marylyn Thorpe.

What followed was a custody battle that pushed the Spanish Civil War and Hitler's 1936 Olympics off the front page all over America. Although Astor and Thorpe were both ruthless fighters, Thorpe held a trump card: the two diaries Mary Astor had been keeping for years. In these diaries, Astor detailed her own affairs as well as the myriad dalliances of some of Hollywood's biggest names. The studio heads, longtime controllers of public perception, were desperate to keep such juicy details from leaking. At risk from the information in those diaries was an entire fledgling industry.

With the support of the Astor family, including unlimited access to the photographs and memorabilia of Mary Astor's estate, Joseph Egan presents a portrait of a great film actress in her most challenging role―a determined mother battling for her daughter regardless of the harm that her affairs and her most intimate secrets could do to her career, the careers of her friends—or even Hollywood itself.

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Subjects
Subjects
Biography & Autobiography
History
Performing Arts
Nonfiction
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Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
11/22/2016
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781455137268
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Joseph B. Egan. (2016). The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s. Unabridged Blackstone Publishing.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Joseph B. Egan. 2016. The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s. Blackstone Publishing.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Joseph B. Egan, The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s. Blackstone Publishing, 2016.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Joseph B. Egan. The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s. Unabridged Blackstone Publishing, 2016.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Grouped Work ID:
99c04c50-e90a-aca8-4ba2-cf0ba301f064
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Needs Update?:
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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:33:09
Date Updated:
Oct 30, 2022 03:10:02
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 21, 2024 09:03:33
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 04, 2023 12:59:52
Last Availability Check:
Apr 21, 2024 09:03:36
Last Availability Change:
Mar 21, 2024 21:08:02
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 25, 2024 02:10:18

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The year 1936 was a great year for the movie industry. The financial setbacks of the Great Depression were subsiding, so theater attendance was up. Americans everywhere were watching the stars, and few stars shined as brightly as one of America's most enduring screen favorites, Mary Astor.

But Astor's personal story wasn't a happy one. Born poor and widowed at twenty-four, Mary Astor had spent years looking for stability when she met and wed Dr. Franklyn Thorpe.

The marriage had been rocky from the start, and both were unfaithful, but they did not divorce before Mary Astor gave birth to little Marylyn Thorpe.

What followed was a custody battle that pushed the Spanish Civil War and Hitler's 1936 Olympics off the front page all over America. Although Astor and Thorpe were both ruthless fighters, Thorpe held a trump card: the two diaries Mary Astor had been keeping for years. In these diaries, Astor detailed her own affairs as well as the myriad dalliances of some of Hollywood's biggest names. The studio heads, longtime controllers of public perception, were desperate to keep such juicy details from leaking. At risk from the information in those diaries was an entire fledgling industry.

With the support of the Astor family, including unlimited access to the photographs and memorabilia of Mary Astor's estate, Joseph Egan presents a portrait of a great film actress in her most challenging role―a determined mother battling for her daughter regardless of the harm that her affairs and her most intimate secrets could do to her career, the careers of her friends—or even Hollywood itself.

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The year 1936 was a great year for the movie industry. The financial setbacks of the Great Depression were subsiding, so theater attendance was up. Americans everywhere were watching the stars, and few stars shined as brightly as one of America's most enduring screen favorites, Mary Astor.

But Astor's personal story wasn't a happy one. Born poor and widowed at twenty-four, Mary Astor had spent years looking for stability when she met and wed Dr. Franklyn Thorpe.

The marriage had been rocky from the start, and both were unfaithful, but they did not divorce before Mary Astor gave birth to little Marylyn Thorpe.

What followed was a custody battle that pushed the Spanish Civil War and Hitler's 1936 Olympics off the front page all over America. Although Astor and Thorpe were both ruthless fighters, Thorpe held a trump card: the two diaries Mary Astor had been keeping for years. In these diaries, Astor detailed her own affairs as well as the myriad dalliances of...

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