Fallen Angels

The women whose brief bios are in this book are: Gail Russell Sharon Tate Barbara Payton Inger Stevens Carole Landis Barbara Bates Natalie Wood Suzan Ball Jean Seberg Susan Peters Marie McDonald Gia Scala Jayne Mansfield Marilyn Monroe Thema Todd Dorothy Dell Lyda Roberti Gloria Dickson Beryl Wallace Abigail "Tommye" Adams Ona Munson Marta Toren Judy Tyler Lynne Baggett Peg Entwistle Helen Burgess Peggy Shannon Peggy O'Neill Mimi Forsythe Miroslava Pat Williams Doreen Woodbury Rose Stradner Diana Barrymore

Considering the topic, it's no wonder you'll come away from this book feeling sad and a bit depressed at the amount of young lives that were cut short, either by their own hand or someone else's (and this isn't even touching the surface! Goodness knows how many lives come apart or end in Hollywood every single day because of broken dreams or the fact that some people are cut out to be the movie equivalent of one hit wonders and they just can't deal with it). Much has been said about Hollywood over the years, and many pop singers and groups have made references to such in their songs, but it really doesn't hit home until you've read at least one account of just how sad, confused, and chaotic Hollywood life can be. Crivello wrote much on Marilyn Monroe (who already had a library written about her when this book was published in 1988) but he also focused a lot of attention on other well-known actresses whose end came much too soon. He focused on Barbara Payton, who, in my opinion, had to have had the saddest life of all the women in this book. Here was a woman who made a strong impression in 1950 opposite James Cagney in "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" and, instead of being given bigger and/or better roles, she was given a secondary role in "Dallas" later that year. In time, her personal life, not her acting, became the focus of attention and that eventually led to studio executives shunning her because of who she dated and her own personal downfall because her professional life suffered because of it. My personal favorite of this book is, of course, Sharon Tate. I'm always hungry to know more about her (since the focus has been on the wrong "people" all these years) and this was probably one of the only in-depth articles about her up until 1988. It wouldn't be until 12 years later when Greg King's book, "Sharon Tate and The Manson Murders," would hit bookshelves that a true book would be written about her life. It has been heartbreaking over the years to hear about how not only her professional life was cut short but, more importantly, how her dream of motherhood was stolen from her. But one can't grasp the depth of that loss until you read what Crivello dug up in the mid-to-late 1980's (this before the advent of the Internet and ubiquitous use of computers). Sharon was so beautiful that agents didn't know what to do with her until she met Marty Ransohoff, who decided not to groom her for TV but for motion pictures. In the short years of her movie career, she was given either minor parts or parts in movies that tanked (she even told her roommate Sheila Wells to not bother to see her movies). I've always been struck by Sharon's sweetness in the few mentions I've read about her and it was refreshing to see that Hollywood, as well as her beauty, didn't go to her head. I really wish she had a little bit more time to see what she would have done with her acting career. Another case that tugged at me was Inger Stevens, star of the 1960's comedy

The author did a great job in researching and putting together the tragic stories of overlooked Hollywood actresses. I'm glad that someone cared enough all these years later to put their stories in book form. Another thing I liked in the author's sympathetic tone and the way he showed respect towards all the ladies.I believe he really had empathy for them. I highly recommend this book.