http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EEPNKU
Fun Book Tells Short, Entertaining Hollywood Stories.
“In 1999, an Australian gentleman told me about an interesting experience he and his family had at Universal Studios. They were on the backlot tour passing one of the theme park’s main attractions, the
Bates Motel used in the 1960 horror classic Psycho, about a murderous young man named Norman Bates who loved his mother a little too much. As the guide gave out information about how director Alfred Hitchcock shot the picture, a tall man, dressed in drag and carrying a large knife, emerged from behind the old set and charged toward the tram. The narrator seemed to know nothing about the Norman Bates look-alike and clammed up completely.
The make-believe killer wore such a convincing maniacal expression that some of the paying customers were frightened and screamed when he raised his weapon. Then the “fiend” pulled off his wig and he turned out to be comic Jim Carrey; the thirty-seven-year-old star was clowning around during a work break. After his laughing “victims” calmed down, Jim was happy to pose for pictures and sign autographs.”
Hollywood, CA-- Just when you thought you've heard everything about Hollywood comes a totally
original new book. Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends
of the Movies! by Stephen Schochet contains a timeless treasure trove of colorful vignettes featuring
an amazing all-star cast of icons including John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sean Penn, Walt Disney, Jack
Nicholson, Johnny Depp, Larry David, The Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, and many
others both past and contemporary.
"Longtime staff at the old Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles had many
candidates for the most outrageously behaved celebrity guest. There were the
hammy Barrymore brothers who always tried to outdo one another; after the
drunken John earned many stares for bringing his pet monkey in the hotel’s
famed Moroccan-style club, the Coconut Grove, Lionel arrived there with seven
chimps. Chaos erupted when the well-dressed guests chased the animals as they
swung through the paper Mache trees. Then there was famed movie theater
owner Sid Grauman who told Charlie Chaplin that he found a dead body in his
hotel bed. The tramp fled in terror when Sid pulled back the blankets, not
realizing he was looking at a wax dummy covered in ketchup. But it was hard to
top the antics of actress Tallulah Bankhead who once called for room service,
answered the door in the buff and told the bell boy no tip; she had nothing on
her."
A special blend of biography, history and lore Hollywood Stories is full of humorous tales often with unexpected endings. What makes the book unique is that the reader can go to any page and find a completely engaging and illuminating yarn. Sometimes people won't realize that they are reading about The Three Stooges or Popeye the Sailor until they come to the end of the story.
"Marlene Dietrich found her true calling entertaining the Allied troops in
1943. The forty-two-year-old actress, who never enjoyed making movies, got a
crash course in how to talk to audiences. Nothing could be tougher or more
fulfilling than performing in front of young men who might die in battle the
next day. The Berlin-born American citizen overcame suspicions that she was
actually an Axis spy, and was proud of spurning Hitler’s request to return to
Germany. After World War II ended, she enjoyed being a lusty cabaret singer
for many years and tried never to take herself too seriously. Marlene, whose
long list of romances ranged from John Wayne to General Patton, once
mentioned to her husband that she should have married Hitler back in the
thirties, and then there would have been no war. She laughed when he agreed
and stated that the Fuhrer would have killed himself much sooner."
A professional tour guide in Hollywood, Stephen Schochet has researched and told thousands of
entertaining anecdotes for over twenty years. He is also the author and narrator of two
audiobooks Tales of Hollywood and Fascinating Walt Disney. Tim Sika, host of the radio show
Celluloid Dreams on KSJS in San Jose has called Stephen,” The best storyteller about Hollywood
we have ever heard.”
"Walt Disney’s two daughters, Sharon and Diane, grew up sheltered from the
limelight. The children had no images of Mickey Mouse around their home.
Their father didn’t go to many parties, preferring to stay in after a long day of
work. Sometimes he would playfully chase the youngsters upstairs, cackling like
the evil peddler woman in Snow White. When they behaved badly, Walt would
admonish them with a raised eyebrow; his stern demeanor inspired the
character of the wise old owl, in the 1942 animated feature Bambi. As toddlers,
the brainy Diane and beautiful Sharon stayed blissfully unaware that their
parents worried about them being kidnapped and allowed no pictures of the
sisters to be publicly circulated. Once in 1939, a curious classmate questioned
six-year-old Diane about her family. She went home and said, “Daddy, you
never told me you were that Walt Disney,” and asked him for an autograph."
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