Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us
Written by Victoria Riskin
Narrated by Julia Whelan
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
A Hollywood love story, a Hollywood memoir, a dual biography of two of Hollywood’s most famous figures, whose golden lives were lived at the center of Hollywood’s golden age, written by their daughter, an acclaimed writer and producer.
Fay Wray was most famous as the woman — the blonde in a diaphanous gown — who captured the heart of the mighty King Kong, the 25-foot, 60-ton gorilla, as he placed her, nestled in his eight-foot hand, on the ledge of the 102-story Empire State Building, putting Wray at the height of New York’s skyline and cinematic immortality.
Wray starred in more than 120 pictures opposite Hollywood's biggest stars — Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper (The Legion of the Condemned, The First Kiss, The Texan, One Sunday Afternoon), Clark Gable, William Powell, and Charles Boyer; from cowboy stars Hoot Gibson and Art Accord to Ronald Colman (The Unholy Garden), Claude Rains, Ralph Richardson, and Melvyn Douglas. She was directed by the masters of the age, from Fred Niblo, Erich von Stroheim (The Wedding March), and Mauritz Stiller (The Street of Sin) to Leo McCarey, William Wyler, Gregory La Cava, “Wild Bill” William Wellman, Merian C. Cooper (The Four Feathers, King Kong), Josef von Sternberg (Thunderbolt), Dorothy Arzner (Behind the Make-Up), Frank Capra (Dirigible), Michael Curtiz (Doctor X), Raoul Walsh (The Bowery), and Vincente Minnelli.
The audiobook’s — and Wray’s — counterpart: Robert Riskin, considered one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. Academy Award-winning writer (nominated for five), producer, 10-year-long collaborator with Frank Capra on such pictures as American Madness, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, and Meet John Doe, hailed by many, among them F. Scott Fitzgerald, as “among the best screenwriters in the business.” Riskin wrote women characters who were smart, ornery, sexy, always resilient, as he perfected what took full shape in It Happened One Night, the Riskin character, male or female — breezy, self-made, streetwise, optimistic, with a sense of humor that is subtle and sure.
Fay Wray and Robert Riskin lived large lives, finding each other after establishing their artistic selves and after each had had many romantic attachments — Wray, an 11-year-long difficult marriage and a fraught affair with Clifford Odets, and Riskin, a series of romances with, among others, Carole Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Loretta Young.
Here are Wray’s and Riskin’s lives, their work, their fairy-tale marriage that ended so tragically. Here are their dual, quintessential American lives, ultimately and blissfully intertwined.
Related to Fay Wray and Robert Riskin
Related audiobooks
Night Beat Collection The Women Who Built Hollywood: 12 Trailblazers in Front of and Behind the Camera Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vicious Circle: Mysteries & Crime Stories from the Algonquin Round Table Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Titan: Searching for John Wayne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Life in Movies: Stories from 50 years in Hollywood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Estate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sherlock Holmes and Watson Exposed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Davy Crockett Speaks: A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEasy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whatever Happened to Hollywood? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joan Crawford and Bette Davis: The Lives and Careers of the Actresses Who Became Hollywood’s Most Famous Rivals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHollywood Anecdotes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bette Davis: Biography of a Famous American Actress Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMyra Breckinridge: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tyrone Power: The Life and Legacy of One of Hollywood’s Most Famous Swashbucklers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDueling Banjos: The Deliverance of Drew: A Book About the Making of Deliverance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hollywood’s Favorite Screwball Actresses: The Lives and Legacies of the Women Who Popularized the Comedy Genre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHollywood vs. The Author Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sins of Hollywood Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5New York Movies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRon Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon...and Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Philosophy For You
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary: The Laws of Human Nature: by Robert Greene: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Tao of Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Is a 4-Letter Word: Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doors of Perception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heretic's Handbook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Communicating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The More of Less Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People of the Lie Vol. 1: Toward a Psychology of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dao De Jing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Fay Wray and Robert Riskin
1 rating0 reviews