A biography of the full and rewarding life of a Golden Age star When it
comes to living life to its fullest, Rosalind Russell's character Auntie
Mame is still the silver screen's exemplar. And Mame, the role Russell
(1907-1976) would always be remembered for, embodies the rich and
rewarding life Bernard F. Dick reveals in the first biography of this
Golden Age star, Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell. Drawing on
personal interviews and information from the archives of Russell and her
producer-husband Frederick Brisson, Dick begins with Russell's childhood
in Waterbury, Connecticut, and chronicles her early attempts to achieve
recognition after graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Frustrated by her inability to land a lead in a Broadway show, she
headed for Hollywood in 1934 and two years later played her first
starring role, the title character in Craig's Wife. Dick discusses all
of her films along with her triumphal return to Broadway, first in the
musical Wonderful Town and later in Auntie Mame. Forever Mame details
Russell's social circle of such stars as Loretta Young, Cary Grant, and
Frank Sinatra. It traces an extraordinary career, ending with Russell's
courageous battle against the two diseases that eventually caused her
death: rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Russell devoted her last years
to campaigning for arthritis research. So successful was she in her
efforts to alert lawmakers to this crippling disease that a leading San
Francisco research center is named after her. Bernard F. Dick is a
professor of communication and English at Fairleigh Dickinson University
and is the author of Hal Wallis: Producer to the Stars, Engulfed: The
Death of Paramount Picturesand the Birth of Corporate Hollywood, and
other books.
