The first major biography of an actress with a long and lustrous career
Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes is the first major biography of the
effervescent, scene-stealing actress (1906-1979) who conquered motion
pictures, vaudeville, Broadway, summer stock, television, and radio.
Born the child of vaudevillians, she was on stage by age three. With her
casual sex appeal, distinctive cello voice, megawatt smile, luminous
saucer eyes, and flawless timing, she came into widespread fame in
Warner Bros. musicals and comedies of the 1930s, including Blonde Crazy,
Gold Diggers of 1933, and Footlight Parade. Frequent co-star to James
Cagney, Clark Gable, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart, friend to
Judy Garland, Barbara Stanwyck, and Bette Davis, and wife of Dick Powell
and Mike Todd, Joan Blondell was a true Hollywood insider. By the time
of her death, she had made nearly 100 films in a career that spanned
over fifty years. Privately, she was unerringly loving and generous,
while her life was touched by financial, medical, and emotional
upheavals. Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes is meticulously
researched, expertly weaving the public and private, and features
numerous interviews with family, friends, and colleagues.