Women Who Run the Show: How a Brilliant and Creative New Generation of Women Stormed Hollywood

I wonder if Mollie Gregory knew what she was going to reveal when she first started research for this book. It's an amazing book -- the journey taken by a group of courageous, talented women who didn't realize they were actually making history.Absolutely terrific!

"When I started reading this book, I was amazed how controversial it was. I had no idea what women went through on the job in the 1970s through the 1990s, the period this book covers! I sent a copy to my mom in Chicago. She is 84 and has been in business all her life. She just called and told me that she has two of her friends over every afternoon, they pass the book around and read sections of it aloud, and laugh their heads off. She says that this book should be given to every retired woman because the women in this book are talking about what my mom and a million other senior women went through, too. What a great Christmas gift this book will be! (To the book editors of the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and L A Times--Wake up!) Dave Henson, Chairman, International Foundation of Education and Performing Arts.

Mollie Gregory's newest book is a terrific history of recent Hollywood, as well as a biography of many courageous women. It is also much, much more. It is a great read, written with the ease of a novelist and the detailed facts of a top journalist. It contains many cautionary tales about the 'biz' plus it is a great how-to manual for anyone who wants a career in the entertainment field. If you were part of Hollywood in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, as I was, the stories will resonate, validate and entertain. If you're new in town --or want to be -- this book should be required reading. You will find it a fascinating peak at the real Hollywood. Enjoy!

A great history of show business and of the women who broke down the barricades. It reads like a novel. It's a must for anyone interested in Hollywood or the women's movement.

I am a geezer. I started in the "mailroom" of a theatrical agency almost 60 years ago and later spent more than 45 years as a television comedy writer in New York and Hollywood. One of the first things I noticed in the biz was that many secretaries (there were no Assistants then) were smarter and sharper than their bosses. And I knew why they weren't bosses: they were women, or as they were called then: "girls." For "Women Who Run the Show" Mollie Gregory interviewed over 100 "girls" and women who "overcame" and had successful careers as writers, producers, directors, stunt people, attorneys, etc., etc., etc. In this book they tell of "making it" despite perverse and pervasive gender bigotry.Brilliant comedy writer Treva Silverman (in 1974 she won an Emmy for Best Comedy Script for a script she wrote for the Mary Tyler Moore Show) recalls producers telling her agent "We feel uncomfortable around women" and "Don't even bother. No women." But the women in this book tell their stories without whining or male-bashing. In fact, they (including Silverman) enthusiastically mention the men who helped them along the way. Nothing dull about this book: It's full of fascinating TRUE short stories told by more than 100 interesting women who lived them.