Book Description 2000 Hollywood Diaries, is the true, intimate, and sometimes disturbing diaries of Morgana Welch. The diaries begin in 1971 and mark the beginning of a young girl's search for reality and sense of self in a section of society that was anything but normal, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The diaries reflect a way of life that would afford Morgana the pleasure and pain of living in the world of rock and roll. Hollywood Diaries takes you inside the world of a 1970s groupie. In the days before cell phones, you-tube, and myspace when you had to be face to face (fantastically lusciously face to face...) with the center of the rock-and-roll vortex. Hollywood Diaries will take you on a vicarious journey paying homage to the world of rock and roll, for better and worse. Her recollections are not steeped in rose colored hues that are tempting when addressing the escapades of youth. While great care has been taken to assure that some of the players are not marred by their past behavior, the events and life portrayed is as it happened, without judgment, and without regret. "You kept a very good diary. Everything in it is one hundred percent TRUE!!" - Chuck Ruff, Edgar Winter band. "The stories you told in your book brought back fond memories for me of the crazy fun times we had". Bill Lordan - Sly and the Family Stone, Robin Trower "I saw that 'infamous groupie' photo in Stephen Davis's Hammer of the Gods and always wondered who the girls were. You are a fine writer and I enjoy your voice a lot. I love hearing about the groupie heyday and I really admire how you manage to come across in your writings, insightful and warm. Others have glossed over the seedier sides that must surely have been there. You handle them with a terrific approach, without overdoing it for shock value. Thanks for sharing your stories; it's great to finally know who the pretty blonde girl in the middle is!" - Kerstin Exemplary reflective storytelling, the hooks revolving around musicians we all know, the central inspiration in the end though is one of the human spirit, survival and honesty. The flow of consciousness with its celebrity thread is arabesque, organic and finessed. - Shorty I thought it was excellent. An honest snapshot of amazing times that will probably never happen again. Have also just read Laurel Canyon, which features some of Morgana's story as well. I agree with some other posts on this site...Morgana should write a detailed account of her life. Wild and magical...and surviving was nothing short of a miracle! - Tony McGraw

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 title The second volume of Michael Palin's diaries covers the bulk of the 1980s, a decade in which the ties binding the Pythons loosened—they made their last film Monty Pyton's Meaning of Life in 1983. For Michael, writing and acting took over much of his life, culminating in his appearances in A Fish Called Wanda, in which he played the hapless, stuttering Ken, and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. Halfway to Hollywood follows Palin's torturous trail through seven movies and ends with his final preparations for the documentary that was to change his life—Around the World in 80 Days. During these years he co-wrote and acted in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits as well as spearing in Gilliam's follow-up success Brazil. Palin co-produced, wrote and played the lead in The Missionary opposite Maggie Smith, who also appeared with him in A Private Function, written by Alan Bennett. In television the decade was memorable for East of Ipswich, inspired his links with Suffolk. Such was his fame in the US, he was enticed into once again hosting the enormously popular show Saturday Night Live. He filmed one of the BBC's Great Railway Journeys as well as becoming chairman of the pressure group Transport 2000. His life with Helen and the family remains a constant, as the children enter their teens. Palin's joy of writing is evident once more in Halfway to Hollywood as he demonstrates his continuing sense of wonder at the world in which he finds himself. A world of screens large and small.

The “endlessly fascinating” true story of a custody battle that threatened to expose the seedy secrets of Hollywood’s Golden Age—illustrated with photos (Entertainment Weekly). Most famous for playing opposite Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, Mary Astor was one of Hollywood’s most beloved film stars. But her story wasn’t a happy one. Widowed at twenty-four, she quickly entered a rocky marriage with Dr. Franklyn Thorpe in which both were unfaithful. When they finally divorced in 1936, Astor sued for custody of their baby daughter Marylyn, setting off one of Hollywood’s most scandalous court cases. In the ruthless court battle, Thorpe held a trump card: the diaries Astor had been keeping for years. In them, Astor detailed her own affairs—including with playwright George S. Kaufman—as well as the myriad dalliances of some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Studio heads were desperate to keep such damning details from leaking. But speculation of the dairy’s contents became a major news story, stealing the front page from The Spanish Civil War and Hitler’s 1936 Olympic Games in newspapers all over America. With unlimited access to the photographs and memorabilia of Mary Astor’s estate, The Purples Diaries is an in-depth look at Hollywood’s Golden Age as it has never been seen before.

Hollywood Diaries, is the true, intimate, and sometimes disturbing diaries of Morgana Welch. The diaries begin in 1971 and mark the beginning of a young girl's search for reality and sense of self in a section of society that was anything but normal, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The diaries reflect a way of life that would afford Morgana the pleasure and pain of living in the world of rock and roll. Hollywood Diaries takes you inside the world of a 1970s groupie. In the days before cell phones, you-tube, and myspace when you had to be face to face (fantastically lusciously face to face...) with the center of the rock-and-roll vortex. Hollywood Diaries will take you on a vicarious journey paying homage to the world of rock and roll, for better and worse. Her recollections are not steeped in rose colored hues that are tempting when addressing the escapades of youth. While great care has been taken to assure that some of the players are not marred by their past behavior, the events and life portrayed is as it happened, without judgment, and without regret. "You kept a very good diary. Everything in it is one hundred percent TRUE!!" - Chuck Ruff, Edgar Winter band. "The stories you told in your book brought back fond memories for me of the crazy fun times we had". Bill Lordan Sly and the Family Stone, Robin Trower "I saw that ́infamous groupie ́ photo in Stephen Davis ́s Hammer of the Gods and always wondered who the girls were. You are a fine writer and I enjoy your voice a lot. I love hearing about the groupie heyday and I really admire how you manage to come across in your writings, insightful and warm. Others have glossed over the seedier sides that must surely have been there. You handle them with a terrific approach, without overdoing it for shock value. Thanks for sharing your stories; it ́s great to finally know who the pretty blonde girl in the middle is!" - Kerstin "Exemplary reflective storytelling, the hooks revolving around musicians we all know, the central inspiration in the end though is one of the human spirit, survival and honesty. The flow of consciousness with its celebrity thread is arabesque, organic and finessed." Shorty "I thought it was excellent. An honest snapshot of amazing times that will probably never happen again. Have also just read Laurel Canyon, which features some of Morgana ́s story as well. I agree with some other posts on this site...Morgana should write a detailed account of her life. Wild and magical...and surviving was nothing short of a miracle!" - Tony McGraw

The star of the cult classic Withnail and I offers “a refreshing combination of comedy, confession, and coruscation” in this memoir of the movie business (Kirkus Reviews). Richard E. Grant’s acting career has included memorable roles in some of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed films, including Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. But he attributes his success to his first film role, starring as a flamboyantly pathetic Shakespearean in the underground hit Withnail and I. As Grant explains, “I had no notion that, almost without exception, every film offered since would be the result of playing an alcoholic out-of-work actor.” In With Nails, Grant shares his long, maddening, and immensely rewarding journey through the world of film. From the hell of making Hudson Hawk to befriending Steve Martin on the set of L.A. Story; and from eating spaghetti with the Coppolas, to window-shopping with Sharon Stone, and working with and learning from the best actors and directors in the business, Grant’s unvarnished memoir “is a biting and wonderfully funny look at the movie business by an actor who is as clear-eyed and observant about himself as he is about the craziness surrounding him” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Plagued by the suicides of both his siblings, and heir to alcohol and drug abuse, divorce, and economic ruin, James Brown lived a life clouded by addiction, broken promises, and despair. In The Los Angeles Diaries, he reveals his struggle for survival, mining his past to present the inspiring story of his redemption. Beautifully written and limned with dark humor, these twelve deeply confessional, interconnected chapters address personal failure, heartbreak, the trials of writing for Hollywood, and the life–shattering events that finally convinced Brown that he must "change or die." In "Snapshot," Brown is five years old and recalls the night his mother "sets fire to an apartment building down the street." In "Daisy," Brown purchases a Vietnamese potbellied pig for his wife to atone for his sins, only to find the pig's bulk growing in direct proportion to the tensions in his marriage. Harrowing and brutally honest, The Los Angeles Diaries is the chronicle of a man on a collision course with life, who ultimately finds the strength and courage to conquer his demons and believe once more.

The irresistible, candid diaries of Richard Burton, published in their entirety “Just great fun, and written out of an engaging, often comical bewilderment: How did a poor Welshman become not only a star, but a player on the world stage that was Elizabeth Taylor’s fame?”—Hilton Als, NewYorker.com “Of real interest is that Burton was almost as good a writer as an actor, read as many as three books a day, haunted bookstores in every city he set foot in, bought countless books on every conceivable subject and evaluated them rather shrewdly. . . . Apt writing abounds.”—John Simon, New York Times Book Review Irresistibly magnetic on stage, mesmerizing in movies, seven times an Academy Award nominee, Richard Burton rose from humble beginnings in Wales to become Hollywood's most highly paid actor and one of England's most admired Shakespearean performers. His epic romance with Elizabeth Taylor, his legendary drinking and story-telling, his dazzling purchases (enormous diamonds, a jet, homes on several continents), and his enormous talent kept him constantly in the public eye. Yet the man behind the celebrity façade carried a surprising burden of insecurity and struggled with the peculiar challenges of a life lived largely in the spotlight. This volume publishes Burton's extensive personal diaries in their entirety for the first time. His writings encompass many years—from 1939, when he was still a teenager, to 1983, the year before his death—and they reveal him in his most private moments, pondering his triumphs and demons, his loves and his heartbreaks. The diary entries appear in their original sequence, with annotations to clarify people, places, books, and events Burton mentions. From these hand-written pages emerges a multi-dimensional man, no mere flashy celebrity. While Burton touched shoulders with shining lights—among them Olivia de Havilland, John Gielgud, Claire Bloom, Laurence Olivier, John Huston, Dylan Thomas, and Edward Albee—he also played the real-life roles of supportive family man, father, husband, and highly intelligent observer. His diaries offer a rare and fresh perspective on his own life and career, and on the glamorous decades of the mid-twentieth century.