Showing results by publisher "Tantor Audio" in Entertainment & Celebrities

John W. Bubbles was the ultimate song-and-dance man. A groundbreaking tap dancer, he provided inspiration to Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, and the Nicholas Brothers. His vaudeville team Buck and Bubbles captivated theater audiences for more than thirty years. Most memorably, in the role of Sportin' Life he stole the show in the original production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, in the process crafting a devilish alter ego that would follow him through life.

Amit Chaudhuri, novelist, critic, and essayist, is also a musician, trained in the Indian classical vocal tradition but equally fluent as a guitarist and singer in the American folk music style, who has recorded his experimental compositions extensively and performed around the world. A turning point in his life took place when, as a lonely teenager living in a high-rise in Bombay, far from his family's native Calcutta, he began, contrary to all his prior inclinations, to study Indian classical music.

In A New America, Tommy Mottola explores the societal and cultural impact the Latino community and its music has had on America by sharing behind-the-scenes stories from his own life and his connection to the Latin sound throughout the decades - from his initial fascination with Latin music which started with Puente, to the mainstream success of Ritchie Valens, to the groove-laden guitar wizardry of Carlos Santana. >But A New America is more than a story about music and musicians. It is the story of a culture that continues to grow and influence America.

Before there was Johnny and June, there was Johnny and Saul. The Man Who Carried Cash chronicles a relationship that was both volatile and affectionate between Johnny Cash and his manager, Saul Holiff. From roadside taverns to the roaring crowds at Madison Square Garden, from wrecked cars and jail cells all the way to the White House, the story of Johnny and Saul is a portrait of two men from different worlds who were more alike than either cared to admit.

Nick Currie, otherwise known as Momus - named for the ancient Greek god of mockery - has recorded more than 30 albums, published half a dozen works of speculative fiction, and written articles for The New York Times, Wired, Artforum, Frieze, and The Wire. Niche isn't any old showbiz memoir. Rather than writing a single sincere, avuncular tell-all in his own voice, Momus has structured the narrative of his life as a typically atypical mockery of the rock-biography oral history.

Craig Russell was an internationally admired entertainer and actor, known for his outrageous impersonations of some of Hollywood's greatest female celebrities: Mae West, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Carol Channing, and Judy Garland, to name a few. Lori Russell Eadie, a shy theater lover, was Craig's number-one fan and, eventually, his wife. Together they were fun, fabulous, and eschewed convention. But behind the curtains, Craig and Lori's lives were troubled by their mental health, drug addiction, sexual assault, and abuse.

Upton and Sally Brady were a rare breed: cultivated and elegant, they lived a life of literary glamour and high expectations. Sally a debutante, Upton a classics major from Harvard, they met at the Boston Cotillion. He was articulate, witty, and worldly, and he danced like Fred Astaire. How could she resist? Despite raising four children on Upton's modest wage as editor in chief of the Atlantic Monthly Press, theirs was a world of champagne, sailboats, private islands, famous writers, family rituals, and ice-cold martinis.

Enthusiastic, spunky, and positive, Punky Brewster was the quintessential eighties kid. Nearly thirty years later, Soleil Moon Frye---the adorable girl who played her on TV---is all grown up. Now she's a married mom of two, an entrepreneur who parlayed her successful kids' clothing line into a partnership with Target, and a social media whiz with millions of followers.

Elizabeth Meyer stumbled upon a career in the midst of planning her own father's funeral, which she turned into an upbeat party with Rolling Stones music, thousands of dollars worth of her mother's favorite flowers, and a personalized eulogy. Starting out as a receptionist, Meyer quickly found she had a knack for helping people cope with their grief as well as creating fitting send-offs for some of the city's most high-powered residents.

The world was not the least bit surprised when Branden James became a finalist on season eight of America's Got Talent, receiving high praise from the judges for his emotional, operatic vocals. Coming out and sharing intimate details of his broken ties with his religious family on the show, he received countless messages from fans who could relate to his personal struggles.

When a young screenwriter goes online to check out the promotional website for a new poker movie called Rounders, he's shocked to discover how similar it is to a screenplay he wrote a few years earlier. Against all odds, he proceeds to take on Miramax and the Hollywood system with the help of an ingenious lawyer. Jeffrey Grosso simply has to prove how it could have happened and convince a judicial system that often favors studios over writers that he's a victim of intellectual property theft, which results in a ten-year landmark legal battle against Hollywood's most notorious studio.

Luigi Francis "Shorty" Rossi, the tough-talking, fedora-wearing star of Animal Planet's hit show Pit Boss, may stand only four feet tall, but that hasn't stopped him from living large, becoming a successful businessman and an outspoken advocate for pit bulls, the most misunderstood dog breed in the world.

Piper Kerman's bestselling memoir and hit show on Netflix has been one of the most remarkable pop culture phenomenons in years. Yet there's one side of the story that until now hasn't been told-the story of Larry Smith, the man who has stood by Piper through the worst of times. Orange Is the New Black is about many things: crime, punishment, a community of women who gave each other strength in the worst of times. But it is also a love story. Now, for the first time, the "real Larry" tells his side of the story with vivid color and unapologetic candor, taking us back to his first meeting with Piper, their unexpected courtship, the moment both of their lives changed forever, and the unexpected celebrity that came with having a version of their lives streamed to millions of people across the world as Orange Is the New Black captured the cultural zeitgeist. Includes an exclusive Larry and Piper interview and Larry's reaction to Jason Biggs being selected to portray him in Orange Is the New Black.

Forty, chronically single, and up an extra 20 pounds, TV news producer Stephanie Krikorian fell victim to the Great Recession, finding herself suddenly unemployed. One unwanted pregnancy away from being a Lifetime Original Movie, Stephanie had to reinvent herself...and fast. So, to keep her head above water, she started ghostwriting self-help and diet books for a variety of well-known experts. However, she didn't just write each book she took on, she lived it - chanting, journaling, reflecting, reframing - whatever it took to get deep into the heart of each project.

New York City, 1977. Cool and crime-ridden, cheap and wild. Bruce Van Dusen shows up in town with a film degree and $150 to his name. He wants to make movies. So he does. The only ones anyone will pay him to make? Little ones. Thirty seconds long. Commercials. He has no idea what he's doing, and the money sucks. But he's a director. He quickly learns he has the two things he needs to succeed in the fickle world of commercial-making: a talent for telling short, emotional stories, and the hustle to fight for every job no matter how small.

Covering more than 30 years of Reagan's film and television work, Marc Eliot sheds new light on Reagan's bachelor life, his two marriages, and his two runs as the president of SAG. It also examines his personal relationship with superagent Lew Wasserman, the crucial player who helped develop Reagan's movie-star persona, which would prove essential to his eventually becoming President of the United States.

From the award-winning author of Bring It On Home: Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin, and Beyond and Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd comes this deeply researched alphabetical biography of Queen and each of its dynamic members. Addressing the phenomenal success of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, acclaimed music journalist Mark Blake builds on the legend of Queen and their enduring audience appeal.

From the earliest days of silent films and the swinging era of the Roaring Twenties, through the Golden Age of the studio system and the patriotic call of WWII, to the Red Scare paranoia of the McCarthy years, the history of the Schenck brothers is the story of Hollywood itself—and the enduring power of the American Dream. Moguls is a must-listen for film fans, history buffs, and anyone who loves the movies.

For Lee "Kix" Thompson, life is about having fun - even when times are tough. Growing Out of It is the tale of one "nutty boy" not really growing out of it at all. From getting up to no good as a teenager to his many musical (mis)adventures in the 1970s, Lee's memoir of his formative years captures his enduring love for his north London stomping ground, where he first met the other members of Madness.

Before downtown Manhattan was scrubbed clean, gentrified, and overrun with designer boutiques and trendy eateries and bars, it was the center of a burgeoning art scene - both exciting and dangerous. Running from the shipwreck of her glamorous and unstable childhood with a volatile mother, Wendy Lawless landed in the center of it all.