My Hair, Flow It, Show It.
“I always say, the bigger the hair,
the smaller the hips!”
– Christie Brinkley
“I can’t imagine going back to long hair.
Cutting it was the greatest thing I ever did.”
– Robin Wright
“People say women shouldn’t have long hair over a certain age.
but I’ve never done what everyone says.”
– Jane Seymour
Ask “The Fruitcake Lady,” and Get Ready.
You Never Know What She’ll Say Next.
“I actually like young people. It’s their attitude I can’t stand.”
– “The Fruitcake Lady” in Ask Me Anything: A Memoir
“Middle-aged men are the most vain.
“Do you think a moustache makes a man sexier?” a middle-aged man with a moustache asked me.”
– “The Fruitcake Lady” in Ask Me Anything: A Memoir
“Oh, Lord, what to do about mothers-in-law?
One of the trials and tribulations of married life is putting up with them.
Just ask my daughter-in-law.”
– “The Fruitcake Lady” in Ask Me Anything: A Memoir
Marie Rudisill, known as “The Fruitcake Lady”
from her appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
tells the story of her amazing life in her memoir Ask Me Anything.
Cowgirl Jane Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOLLYWOOD OR BUST WINS AWARD.
The National Indie Excellence Book Awards Recognizes Excellence.
This month the National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) announced the winners of its annual contest. The competition acknowledges self-publishers and small and independent presses that go the extra mile to produce high quality books, from eye-catching design to well-written content. Judges represent all aspects of the industry and include publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters.
Author Susan Marg entered her book Hollywood or Bust in the category “Arts& Entertainment.” It was the perfect fit. Hollywood or Bust consists of over five hundred quips, quotes, and off-the-cuff remarks of actors, directors, writers, and others involved in making movies and conveys what Hollywood insiders think of themselves, their lives, their fame, their careers, each other, and the town itself.
Marg is pleased that this well-regarded organization recognized her efforts. “Hollywood or Bust was a lot of work, but it was fun to research and put together,” she comments, adding, “It’s a fun read, too – like overhearing a conversation at Starbucks.”
Hollywood or Bust, ISBN 978-0-578-11882-6, is a 182-page paperback book consisting of seven chapters and twenty original photographs. Topics cover dreams of success to attending the Oscars. It lists for $14.95.
###
Susan Marg is the author of Las Vegas Weddings: A Brief History, Celebrity Gossip, Everything Elvis, and the Complete Chapel Guide, published by HarperCollins. Since she has moved her field of focus from the City of Lights to the City of Angels, her interest in popular culture has only intensified.
Remembering a Hollywood Legend
During Oscar Season
“Oscar and I have something in common.
Oscar first came to the Hollywood scene in 1928.
So did I.
We’re both a little weather beaten,
but we’re still here and plan to be around for a whole lot longer.”
— John Wayne, when presenting the 1979 Best Picture Oscar,
shortly before his death that same year
Fashion Statement 2
“A dress should be tight enough to prove you’re a woman
and loose enough to prove you’re a lady.”
– Edith Head, Costume Designer,
who received thirty-five Oscar nominations, winning eight times.
This year’s nominees are:
Michael Wilkinson for American Hustle.
William Chang Suk Pin for The Grandmaster.
Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby.
Michael O’Connor for The Invisible Woman.
Patricia Norris for 12 Years a Slave.
(The drawing is a “Google Doodle.”)
Fashion Statement
“I love costume.
It’s a big part of how you create a character
and a great excuse to dress up.”
— Cate Blanchett
“I feel very sexy;
like Jessica Rabbit…
A old Jessica Rabbit!”
— Sofia Vergara
“I do not consider myself a fashion icon.
That kind of pressure makes me nervous.”
— Jennifer Lawrence
“I thought I would put on this little number
and hang out with everybody.”
— Sandra Bullock
60 Years Ago: Down by the Docks
Oil on canvas 1934 by Pino Janni. Photo by: cliff1066.
My husband and I watched On the Waterfront from 1954 the other night. What a movie! Based on a series of articles, it’s about corruption in the longshoremen’s union in New York, although it was shot in Hoboken, Frank Sinatra’s hometown.
Everyone knows that its star Marlon Brando won his first Best Actor Oscar for his role as Terry Molloy. When he told his brother, “I coulda been a contender,” it was heartbreaking. He had been nominated three times before: in 1951 for his performance as Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar Named Desire; in 1952 for Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata; and in 1953 for Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. The later was in the same year that Brando played the iconic rebel biker Johnny Strabler in The Wild One.
Look at who else was in the cast. Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Eva Marie Saint, in her debut film role, won for Best Supporting Actress. Unaccredited actors included Fred Gwynne, Martin Balsam, and Pat Hingle.
Behind the scenes, Elia Kazan directed and Budd Schulberg wrote the screenplay. They earned Oscars, too. All told, On the Waterfront had twelve Oscar nominations, including one for Leonard Bernstein for Best Score.
Yep, twelve, and On the Waterfront won in eight categories.
In 1981 Reds, which, coincidentally, was also about unions, albeit it in the 1910s leading up to the Russian revolution, repeated the feat, earning twelve nominations which included recognition for its star, director, and screenwriter, Warren Beatty, as well as Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Maureen Stapleton, other members of the cast. It won in three categories, losing to Chariots of Fire for Best Picture.
All of this brings us to the current Oscar season. Gravity and American Hustle, both of which I saw and thought were terrific, each received ten nominations, and Twelve Years a Slave received nine. Impressive numbers to be sure, but not record-breaking.
Is it too early to say that they don’t make movies like they used to? Or, were there so many good movies this year that will all be around for a long time to come?
Before you answer those questions, On the Waterfront was shot for just under a million dollars and grossed ten times its production costs in its initial release.
© 2014 Susan Marg – All Rights Reserved
Hollywood or Not
Drew Barrymore: . She has the look. She’s the one.
Not everyone wants to make it in Hollywood.
With the publication of “W is for Wasted,” the 23rd in a series of detective novels named for the alphabet, it’s obvious that author Sue Grafton wants nothing to do with the movie industry, even though fans would love to see her rebellious private investigator Kinsey Millhone on the big screen.
Grafton has been there; done that.
Although publishers had picked up some of Grafton’s early novels, she began writing screenplays for television movies. Spending fifteen years at her craft, she learned the basics well: structuring a story, writing dialogue, and creating action sequences.
“After my years in Hollywood, I got tired of apologizing for work that really wasn’t mine to begin with.” she explains.
Still, it’s fun to contemplate which actress would best epitomize Grafton’s popular character. Angelina Jolie is out of the picture, as it’s long been rumored that she will play Kay Scarpetta when a movie based on Patricia Cornwell’s novels finally becomes a reality. I nominate Drew Barrymore. She has the right amount of spunk and vulnerability.
Better yet, Barrymore has her own production company Flower Films. Applying her abundant charm and perseverance, she might be able to change Grafton’s mind. It’s the movies. Anything’s possible.
© 2014 Susan Marg – All Rights Reserved
“From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down,
I was convulsed with laughter.
Someday I intend reading it.”
— Groucho Marx
In honor of Elvis’ birthday,
January 8, 1935,
TCM is running Elvis movies – all day.
Double Trouble begins at 6 AM.
For a complete listing, check your TV Guide.
Hollywood Or Bust! 