Dick Powell: A One-Person Play in Two Acts (The Hollywood Legends) - Softcover

Druxman, Michael B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1794632611 ISBN 13: 9781794632615

Publisher: Independently published, 2019

Synopsis

Dick Powell made a career of reinventing himself. Born in Arkansas, the young tenor played horn, banjo and sang with various dance bands and orchestras in Pittsburgh and elsewhere before he was brought to Hollywood where he sang opposite Ruby Keeler and others in such classic Busby Berkeley musicals as 42ND STREET, FOOTLIGHT PARADE, GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 and the Al Jolson film, WONDER BAR.
In the mid-1940s, Powell played Philip Marlowe in MURDER, MY SWEET, which began his period of doing "tough guy" roles in films like CORNERED, JOHNNY O'CLOCK and CRY DANGER. His astute mind for business led him to invest in real estate and, in the early 1950s, he moved his show business interests into producing and directing. Along with David Niven and Charles Boyer, he formed Four Star Productions, one of the most prolific production companies in television. Powell was married three times. His second wife was actress Joan Blondell and his third, actress June Allyson, twelve years his junior.Michael B. Druxman's DICK POWELL is a one-person play that looks in on the actor at two different periods in his life: during the mid-1940s when he is struggling to reinvent his career from singer to dramatic actor, and the mid-1950s, as he deals with billionaire Howard Hughes, producer of director Powell's ill-fated (and deadly) John Wayne-epic film, THE CONQUEROR.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael B. Druxman is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter whose creditsinclude CHEYENNE WARRIOR with Kelly Preston; DILLINGER AND CAPONEstarring Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham; and THE DOORWAY with RoyScheider, which he also directed. He is also a prolific playwright, hisone-person play, JOLSON, having had numerous productions around thecountry. Other produced stage credits include one-person plays aboutClark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy and Orson Welles.Additionally, Mr. Druxman is the author of thirteen other publishedbooks, including several nonfiction works about Hollywood, its movies,and the people who make them (e.g., BASIL RATHBONE: His Life and HisFilms, MAKE IT AGAIN, SAM: A Survey of Movie Remakes, ONE GOOD FILMDESERVES ANOTHER: A Survey of Movie Sequels, MERV [Griffin] and THEMUSICAL: From Broadway to Hollywood). He has written three novels,NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE, SHADOW WATCHER and MURDER IN BABYLON,plus the humorous revisionist history, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD:From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker, and FAMILY SECRET, anon-fiction book co-authored with Warren Hull, which reveals the truefacts behind the 1947 murder of mobster "Bugsy" Siegel in Beverly Hills. An acknowledged Hollywood historian, he has also written televisiondocumentaries and has been interviewed for various retrospectivefeaturettes that have accompanied DVD releases of classic films (e.g.THE MALTESE FALCON, etc.). Mr. Druxman is a former Hollywood publicistof 35 years experience who has represented many film and televisionstars, as well as noted directors, producers and composers. A native of Seattle who graduated from GarfieldHigh School and the University of Washington, Mr. Druxman moved with his wife, Sandy, from Los Angeles to Austin, TX in 2009.

About this edition

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1794632611
• ISBN 13: 9781794632615
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 70