Biography Archive |
Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra - "Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra,” is my favorite tell-all. George Jacobs was Sinatra’s live-in valet from 1953 to 1968. He wrote his memoir with the help of veteran
Paris and her Remarkable Women: A Guide - I flicked on the TV and there was Isabelle Adjani, one of my favorite actresses, in a film I’d never seen. A little application of Google, and I learned the
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 - SUPPORTING BUTLER: Since the start of 2023, Amazon seems to have gone on a quiet campaign to rid itself of small sites that, collectively, generate revenue worth noticing — and
Patricia Highsmith & Oscar Wilde: The Dark Lady of American Letters Meets Her Match in Père Lachaise - Oscar Wilde died on November 30, 1900. To Joan Schenkar --- author of the massive, definitive, shocking and entertaining biography, The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art
Rainy, Cold, Holiday Weekend Edition: brief vacations, great escapes… a click away. - It rained on Friday as the segment of my city that hadn't left on Thursday jammed the highways, and it rained all night and most of Saturday so that as
Ronald K. Fried on Martin Amis (1949 – 2023): “As a devoted reader of his work, I am in mourning.” - GUEST BUTLER RONALD K. FRIED is a veteran TV producer (Dick Cavett, Tina Brown) and the author of three novels, most recently the excellent Frank Costello: A Novel. He is a
Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy - How many Communists did he have on that famous "list" he had? "McCarthyism." That's the catch-all, one-phrase description of the phenomenon he created in his
Snow Day Reading - The Kindle was made for Snow Days. Many will work from home today, and all praise to those good souls. But at some point even the obsessively dedicated will be
Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins - This is the best book I've read about the theater since Moss Hart's Act One. It's the best book about the process of making art since Twyla
Stuart -
Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond - Paul Desmond was visiting with his friend Doug Ramsey. Desmond was a chain smoker and a legendary drinker, so this visit was to be in a bar. A hotel bar. Desmond
Teacher of the Year - Well, here's a first --- five years into HeadButler.com, and I'm finally recommending a self-published book. Does it need editing? Badly. If I cut 50 pages out of this 300 page
The Bolter - I don't watch Downton Abbey because I am a dull, imagination-challenged viewer. That is, I know it wasn't all that pleasant if you were Downstairs. And if you were Upstairs...it's
The Fabulous Sylvester - Sylvester was Pride Month all by himself/herself. From this biography: "Sylvester was gay, black, a woman and a man. And that is why he was beloved: His sound brought to
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World’s Most Elegant Woman - Fashion Week recently ended. I looked at the clothes and thought what I so often do: Where is the new Coco Chanel? Chanel was a cheerleader for self-sufficiency, in
The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement - In 1968, Taylor Branch published Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63. I sat down one weekend and didn’t get up until I’d read all 900 pages. Branch went
The King’s Speech - Handicapping the Academy Awards is an American ritual. I find this weird. It’s not as if you and I made any creative contribution to these films or stand to profit
The Mascot - “We are all going to die tomorrow,” his mother said. Her eldest child, just five years old, believed her --- that night, soldiers had burst through their door, smashed up
The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour — and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News - If you want to pay me $15 million a year, I promise never to say a bad word about you. I will work until I drop. I will be a
The Only Woman - This is an ideal day to feature "The Only Woman" --- the attention of millions is on one woman, and at 6 AM ET Monday, many will wake early to
