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Van Johnson : MGM's golden boy

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	PN2287.J58 D38 2001	Off-site

Description

xiii, 256 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 22 cm.

Summary

"Van Johnson's dazzling smile, shock of red hair, and suntanned freckled cheeks made him a movie-star icon. Among teenaged girls in the 1940s he was popularized as the bobbysoxer's heartthrob. He won the nation's heart, too, by appearing in a series of blockbuster war films - A Guy Named Joe, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and Battleground.
Perennially a leading man opposite June Allyson, Esther Williams, Judy Garland, and Janet Leigh, he rose to fame radiating the sunshine image Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chose for him, that of an affable, wholesome boy-next-door. Legions of adoring moviegoers were captivated by this idealized persona that generated huge box-office profits for the studio. However, Johnson's off-screen life was not so sunny. His mother had rejected him in childhood, and he lived his adult life dealing with sexual ambivalence. A marriage was arranged with the ex-wife of his best friend, the actor Keenan Wynn. During the waning years of Hollywood's Golden Age she and Johnson lived amid the glow of Hollywood's A-crowd.
Yet their private life was charged with tension and conflict. This biography traces the career and influence of a favorite star and narrates a fascinating, sometimes troubled life story."--BOOK JACKET.

Series Statement

Hollywood legends series

Uniform Title

Hollywood legends series.

Subjects

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-239), filmography (p. 241-242) and index.

ISBN

1578063779 (alk. paper)

LCCN

00054541

OCLC

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries