Mario Lanza

 Mario Lanza: Sublime Serenade

Maria Callas called him the greatest tenor who ever lived. Vocally and technically, Mario Lanza was a genius. Like Callas, Lanza's was a phenomenal talent complimented by a more than monstrous ego. Suffering from what would today be diagnosed as bi-polar disorder, he lived virtually his whole life with his finger firmly pressed on the self-destruct button. Too undisciplined to remain in opera, Lanza found himself sucked into the Hollywood whirlpool, engulfed by the opulent lifestyle this offered: easy money, good living, and limitless food, sex and drugs, to which he became increasingly addicted. Lanza took his frustration out of others, frequently launching an uncontrollable temper on those around him and earning himself a reputation as one of the movie stars who were most disliked by their peers in the studio system years.

Lanza's scatological pranks were as legendary as his drinking, womanising and gorging sprees, each one followed by crash diets and periods of dark depression and self-loathing which made him virtually impossible to control. Yet he produced arguably the finest tenor recordings of popular music and opera of the last century as well as some classic films, including The Great Caruso and Serenade. 

In Sublime Serenade, David Bret uncompromisingly but lovingly, and in his unique and celebrated style, tells the Lanza story, from his birth in a poor district of Philadelphia, to his death in Rome 38 years later and his involvement with the Mafia. A must for all music and movie fans alike.

Rock Hudson

 Rock Hudson: The Gentle Giant

Introduction

Why didn’t Rock tell me he had the virus? I might have been able to help. Improbable as it seems, right up to the very end he believed he would beat that thing. He wished to remain proud, brave, to hold his head up high for my sake. He did this by appearing in several episodes of Dynasty. I advised him to rest, but he reckoned working enabled him to forget the monster that was slowly devouring him. Rock Hudson was an exceptional man, one to whom I owe the most beautiful moments of my life.

This was Marc Christian (1953-2009), the last of Rock Hudson’s stereotyped lovers—with few exceptions his small army of conquests were big, blond, macho and muscular—addressing a live audience (by then not quite so ignorant of AIDS) on the French television programme Stars a la Barre, four years after the actor’s death from an AIDS-related illness.

At a press conference of 2 November 1985, however, just one month after Rock passed away, Christian’s attitude—and public opinion—had been less sympathetic. Then he had announced that he would be suing the Hudson estate, Rock’s manager and best friend Mark Miller, and two unnamed doctors for a staggering $14 million because, he claimed, they had conspired to endanger his life by keeping the true nature of Rock’s illness from him, whilst he and Rock had continued having unprotected sex.

There was outrage amongst both gay and anti-gay activists across the United States when Christian won his case—though not without a considerable reduction in damages after Rock’s lawyers launched a Pyrrhic appeal.

A surprisingly shy, sensitive and intensely private man, Rock gave but a handful of in-depth interviews, frequently vetted by him before being submitted for publication. I have drawn heavily on the original, unexpurgated conversations for this much-revised edition of Rock Hudson, published to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of his death—namely the ones with David Castell, Joan Mac Trevor, Gordon Gow, Gérard Néves and several others whom Rock was able to trust. These are to be found in the Bibliography. Of equal importance are the stark revelations of Sara Davidson and the now known to be extremely dubious ones of Rock’s “lavender” wife, Phyllis Gates.

On 24 August 1983, two years before his death, Rock came close to baring his soul when granting an unprecedented interview to Professor Ronald L Davis, Director of the Southern Methodist University of Dallas’ Oral History Collection of the Performing Arts. Being permitted to use these tapes freely was an enormous privilege, and large segments of the interviews form the series of statements and confessions accompanying my text. The tapes and transcripts of the interview are currently housed in the archives of the SMU’s DeGolyer Institute.

As an actor, few would deny that Rock Hudson’s abilities were limited in comparison with contemporaries such as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, William Holden and even James Dean. Complex lengths of dialogue are said to have confused him, his emotional approach to a role was considerable but his intellectual standing during his formative years was virtually non-existent, and during his early films he frequently fluffed his lines, requiring many takes for the simplest scene. In addition, his on-screen movements were cumbersome, even wooden at times.

On the other hand, Rock was a consummate professional. There were no on-set tantrums or challenging of directors instructions, never any fights with co-stars making him not only a delight to work with but a joy to be around once the cameras stopped rolling. His most important quality, something that positively lights up the screen even in his most banal pictures, was his absolute, completely natural and limitless charisma.

   Now, as I did back in 2004 when I first published Rock’s exciting but ultimately tragic story, I leave the last word to my late friend Sheridan Morley, a hugely respected literary and theatrical figure who met Rock several times during his later years, and spoke to me of him with the utmost reverence:

 He had been programmed by the studios to be charming, but charm came naturally to          Rock Hudson. He really was the last of the great gentlemen stars, there’s absolutely no      doubting that. Rock Hudson wasn’t just a nice man—he was a very nice man.

This, then, is the story of that charming, very nice man.

With Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean in "Giant"

Jean Harlow

 Jean Harlow: Tarnished Angel

Jean Harlow was an enigma, the original Blonde Bombshell, completely uninhibited. She made no secret of the fact that she never wore underwear, bleached her pubic hair to match that on her head – and was never afraid of showing this to journalists, if they asked. 

On the screen she epitomised the fun-loving, wise-cracking tart-with-a-heart yet away from the spotlight she was nothing like the public perceived her to be.

In this new biography, David Bret uncovers an unhappy upbringing by an unloving mother and sexually abusive step-father, her love of older men and the mistreatment she suffered at their hands, her progression from movie slut to screwball comedy star, her special relationship with William Powell, how she was ripped off by the studios, and more. Jean Harlow: Tarnished Angel is a compelling portrayal of the enigmatic star.

Maurice Chevalier

 Maurice Chevalier: Up On Top Of A Rainbow

The Authorised Biography

In the first fully authorised biography of Maurice Chevalier to appear in Britain, David Bret tells the full, colourful story of Chevalier's extraordinary life and career - a career that was, in effect, a marriage with his beloved public, and one which endured almost seventy years. He was most prolific during the period of 1930s-60s. Actor and singer Maurice Chevalier is best known for his role in the musical film Gigi as well as being one of the greatest French talents of this century. He was a cabaret performer, and star of the stage and screen in France and abroad. He was given a special Academy Award in 1958 for his contributions to the world of entertainment. Using a wealth of previously unpublished material, Bret discusses the charges of wartime collaboration brought against the star. He reveals a man who was sometimes the opposite of his happy screen persona, plagued by periods of self-doubt and tormented about his past. In all, Bret does true justice this warm, generous professional artiste, 30 years after his death.

Mrs. B with our dear friends, Lucette and René Chevalier, Maurice's

 niece and nephew

ROMANS: Darvinz de Zarumna (édition française)

 

Darvinz de Zarumna: Une romance mythologique des temps anciens

Une grande partie du monde a été détruite par les dieux. Darvinz, un garçon des plaines de Zarumna - considéré comme un monstre de la nature à cause de son teint inhabituel, est choisi par le dieu Koizh pour racheter sa race en se lançant dans un voyage pour retrouver la cité perdue de Korazunta. Ses épreuves sont nombreuses. Après qu'une série de tempêtes a détruit le monde qu'il connaissait, il se lie d'amitié avec Yaasl, le dernier de sa race, et passe deux ans à vivre heureux dans une grotte au sommet de la Grande Montagne. Puis, après la mort de Yaasl, il se dirige vers le désert brûlant de Korun, où il sommeille dans la mare d'Ivos - atteignant apparemment la virilité du jour au lendemain, réveillant un demi-dieu de deux mètres de haut, de construction puissante. Atteignant la cité mourante de Zembora, le dernier aîné lui dit de procréer avec sa fille, Colas, la dernière femme là-bas, et de fournir ainsi la pierre angulaire de la nouvelle race. Il fait cela, mais tombe amoureux de Yannis, son frère éternellement beau. En quittant Zembora, il retrouve Korazunta, dirigé par le méchant roi Nataam, son double exact qui le condamne à mort. Il est sauvé par Amaak, un chef rebelle dont le peuple est détenu ici. Ils deviennent amants et s’évadent de la colonie montagnarde d’Amaak, Ganidia, où Darvinz succombe à la fièvre et est soigné par le frère d’Amaak, Laan, dont il tombe également amoureux. De là, Darvinz et les Ganidiens préparent une insurrection contre Nataam, à quel point il ressort que Darvinz est L'Elu, écrit dans les Parchemins Sacrés, et lui-même un dieu. Et ainsi, il revient à Korazunta, et à tout ce que le destin peut lui réserver.Attention: cette histoire contient du matériel adulte de nature sexuelle.

NOVELS: Darvinz of Zarumna (English version)

Darvinz of Zarumna: A Mythological Romance of the Ancient World

Much of the world has been destroyed by the gods. Darvinz, a boy from the Zarumna flatlands-regarded as a freak because of his unusual complexion, is chosen by the god Koizh to redeem his race by embarking on a journey to find the lost city of Korazunta. His trials are many. In the Korun Desert he slumbers in the Pool of Ivos and seemingly attains manhood overnight, awakening a powerfully-built six-and-a-half-foot demi-god. Reaching the settlement of Zembora he is told to procreate with the last woman there, Colas, but also falls for Yannis, her beautiful brother. He finds Korazunta, ruled by the evil King Nataam, his exact double who sentences him to death. He is saved by Amaak, a rebel-leader whose people are held captive here. They become lovers and escape to Amaak's mountain settlement to prepare an insurrection against Nataam-from which point it emerges that Darvinz is the Chosen One, written about in the Sacred Scrolls, and himself a god. Warning: this story contains adult material of a sexual nature

NOVELS: Dante Alfonso

 

Dante Alfonso: Italian God of the Silent Screen

The story of Hollywood’s Gay Golden Boy of the silent era!Aged nineteen, and legally still a minor, Dante Alfonso lives with his family in a small village in Southern Italy. When they learn to their horror that he is having an affair with Roberto, the nephew of the local priest, they eject him from the family home and send him to live with estranged relatives in New York. On board the ship, he enters a paid-for-sex relationship with Jean-Paul, a French entrepreneur, and upon his arrival in New York lives with him instead of with the family he does not know. He gets a job as a waiter at Harry’s Place, a dance-hall known for its “button-boys”—gigolos who also tout for sex from its mostly middle-aged female clientele, with the management taking a cut of their earnings. When Jean-Paul is arrested and deported for embezzlement—on Dante’s twenty-first birthday—Dante moves in with Martin, one of the dancers, who becomes his lover on the rebound. By way of a wealthy client, Evadne Cooper, he attends an audition at Wilson Pictures, and gets a bit-part in a film. Success follows, but the path for Dante is never easy. To curb the rumours, he sleeps with the leading lady, Mary Maxwell. In Hollywood, he is assigned a publicist, Bob, who is the image of his lost love, Roberto, and they become lovers. Dante, muscular and exceedingly handsome, becomes a massive star almost overnight and a heart-throb, but steadfastly refuses to submit to peer pressure and the dictates of the censorship brigade, who want him to marry to stop the stories circulating about his sexuality once and for all. But can a prejudiced Hollywood make Dante change who he is, or will he find a way to stay true to himself and his principles? WARNING: contains adult material of a sexual nature.

“Take a look, Dante,” Roberto said, extending one long arm towards the horizon. “Did you ever see anything quite so beautiful?” They had stopped in a desolate spot, some two miles from Salerno. Below them, beyond a grassy bank, lay a wide expense of deserted beach—beyond that the sea, almost as one with the cloudless, azure sky. “I’ve seen something much more beautiful,” Dante responded. “I’m sitting next to him—the man I love, with mixed feelings of happiness and misery—wondering how I’m going to manage without seeing him every day, once next week comes.” Roberto leaned across, and licked away the little tear that had started to course down his lover’s cheek. “We’ll have none of that, for starters,” he remonstrated. They got out of the car, and on the grassy bank paused to admire the view. Roberto was about to say something when Dante grasped him in his powerful arms and kissed him passionately. He felt more reckless than he had ever felt in his life. There was not a soul in sight, but it would have made no difference if they had been in the market-place at Gragnano, or in the village square. In four days’ time they would be separated for an entire week—an eternity when one was hopelessly in love—and he wanted every moment of this day to count, to be filed away in his mind, for it to be re-lived when he was alone in his room waiting only for the weekend to arrive. “Come on,” Roberto said, breaking free and grasping Dante’s hand. “Let’s go for a swim!”