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| A Girl's Got to Breathe : The Life of Teresa Wright
ISBN: 9781496806635
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / University Press of Mississippi
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Fine Arts;
Prolific celebrity biographer Spoto (The Redgraves: A Family Epic) paints an engaging and intimate portrait of Oscar-winning actor Teresa Wright. Her notable film roles included Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Pride of the Yankees, in which she improvised her famous line, "A girl's gotta breathe!", after receiving a lengthy on-screen kiss from costar Gary Cooper. Spoto developed a friendship with Wright while writing a book about Alfred Hitchcock, one of her directors; following the actress's death in 2005, he was granted exclusive access to her private papers and letters. Based on his research and personal experience, he depicts Wright as a unique and hardworking talent who shied away from the spotlight. As he describes her, she embodied the buoyant and determined spirit of mid-20th-century America, and her fresh-faced beauty was warmly embraced by contemporary audiences. Despite the author's evident affection for his subject, few stones are left unturned as Spoto delves into the actor's difficult childhood and troubled marriages to novelist Niven Busch and playwright Robert Anderson. Fond remembrances from family and friends provide further insight into Wright's challenging personal and professional life. 43 b&w illus. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Donald Spoto was born on June 28, 1941 in New Rochelle, New York. He received a B.A. from Iona College in 1963 and a M.A. and Ph.D. in theology (New Testament studies) from Fordham University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He taught theology, Christian mysticism, and biblical literature at the university level for twenty years. He has written more than 25 biographies of film and theatre celebrities including The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams, Diana: The Last Year, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life, Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn, High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly, Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford, and The Redgraves: A Family Epic. He also wrote biographies on religious figures including The Hidden Jesus: A New Life, Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi, and Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint. (Bowker Author Biography) |
