Hollywood's survivors share their secrets to success -- where, they came from, how they made it, and how you can too
In a heyday of reality television and overnight stardom, it's easy to forget that most players had to work hard to make it big. How I Broke into Hollywood brings together dozens of Tinseltown's greatest success stories, from legends Sydney Pollack and Lalo Schifrin to rising starlet Erika Christensen to über-producer Gavin Polone. Icons of their industry -- writers, actors, directors, designers, cinematographers, executives and more -- they were once outsiders themselves, and their beginnings have all the grit and glamour of the best Hollywood films. Among the figures profiled:
<ul>
<li>Comedian Bernie Mac, whose earliest stand-up shows were on subway cars and at funeral parties.</li>
<li>Actor Charles Dutton, who was convicted of manslaughter at age seventeen, then went on to the Yale School of Drama and a brilliant career on stage, screen, and television.</li>
<li>Actor Peter Gallagher, who suffered a crippling bout of stage fright moments before leaping onstage as Snoopy -- but whose jitters moved him to a performance that brought the audience to its feet and launched his career.</li>
<li>Superagent Jay Kanter, who started out as a mailroom guy -- before nabbing Marlon Brando as his first star client.</li>
<li>Producer Caryn Mandabach, whose first job was making beer runs for the production guys at the Olympic Auditorium -- but who paid attention and soon was developing such hits as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and That '70s Show.</li>
<li>Director John Landis, who hunted down his first job as a production assistant by buying a one-way ticket to London, then hitchhiking and hopping trains all the way to the set . . . in Yugoslavia.</li>
</ul>
How I Broke into Hollywood shares the voices of nearly fifty Hollywood survivors as they revisit the highs and lows of their careers in their own words, dishing dirt and imparting the wisdom they gained along the way. We learn what drew them to the industry and what made them stay, what inspired and appalled them, and what secrets propelled them to professional stardom. (Hint: a good attitude -- and an unflappable ego -- don't hurt.)
The road to success is a bumpy, angst-ridden, star-studded thrill ride -- but for these insiders, at least, it was worth every pitfall and lesson learned. Often hilarious, always instructive, How I Broke into Hollywood is an irresistible read for anyone fascinated by those who've made it big . . . and for people everywhere hoping to make it big themselves.

How I Broke into Hollywood: Success Stories from the Trenches

Biographies & Memoirs

Lang, Rocky

Fenjves, Pablo F.

Arts & Literature

It Books

Regan Books

What really goes on behind the veil of celebrity? Rocky Lang, who grew up in the 90210 as the son of mega-producer and screen disaster master Jennings Lang (Earthquake, the Airport movies and 35 other features), dishes all in his new book, Growing Up Hollywood: Tales from the Son of a Hollywood Mogul. Raised around the likes of Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Walter Matthau and Billy Wilder, Lang serves up—in self-deprecating style—a genuine insider’s collection of bizarre, sometimes ribald, often hilarious and always surprising true tales from the rarefied world of Hollywood, such as: * Finding himself a pawn in the brutal creative war between Dustin Hoffman and director Sydney Pollack during the making of the classic comedy Tootsie. ! * Spying on Olivia Newton-John being photographed nude in his family’s backyard pool, and the “breast-beating” he endured after getting caught in the act. ! * Discovering the scandal-sheet affair between his dad and screen siren Joan Bennett— along with the truth behind his father getting shot in the crotch by Bennett’s husband. ! * Having Steven Spielberg as an “older brother” before and after the famous filmmaker’s meteoric rise. ! *Being told by his dad that writer Gore Vidal offered to buy young Rocky for $1 million. ! * Learning his mother had slept with Ronald Reagan, plus the outrageous nickname the future U.S. president had given his own sexual prowess.

Growing Up Hollywood: Tales from the Son of a Hollywood Mogul

HLPI Books

Friendly pictures with lots of color are used to tell the story of Lara, a little girl with diabetes. Lara tells all the things she does that regular kids do -- run, swim, dance -- and she talks about her insulin pump and doing blood tests. If you have a young child with diabetes, Lara's story will help them understand that they're not the only kid in the world with diabetes.

Lara Takes Charge

Children's Books

Huss, Sally

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Rare notes, memos, and telegrams from Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, Jane Fonda, and more Letters from Hollywood reproduces in full color scores of entertaining and insightful pieces of correspondence from some of the most notable and talented film industry names of all time—from the silent era to the golden age, and up through the pre-email days of the 1970s. Culled from libraries, archives, and personal collections, the 135 letters, memos, and telegrams are organized chronologically and are annotated by the authors to provide backstories and further context. While each piece reveals a specific moment in time, taken together, the letters convey a bigger picture of Hollywood history. Contributors include celebrities like Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Cary Grant, Francis Ford Coppola, Tom Hanks, and Jane Fonda. This is the gift book of the season for fans of classic Hollywood.

Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking

Hall, Barbara

Harry N. Abrams

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lang, Rocky. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lang, Rocky