The MGM Stock Company: The Golden Era

Part of the Encore Film Book Classics series, this is a reprint of the original text to The MGM STOCK COMPANY: THE GOLDEN ERA by James Robert Parish and Ronald L. Bowers. June Allyson was born in the Bronx, Edward Arnold once considered running for Republican Senator from California. Brawny Wallace Beery entered show business as a chorus boy. At 61, Marie Dressler made a major comeback and became MGM’s highest paid star. A clerk in MGM’s legal department saw young Ava Gardner’s photo in the window of a New York photographer and distributed 60 copies throughout the MGM offices. Stewart Granger’s real name was James Stewart (any wonder why he changed it!) These are just some of the thousands of cinematic facts in The MGM Stock Company: The Golden Era. This reference directory to gigantic MGM—home to “more stars than are in the heavens”—is a cornucopia of film lore, with carefully detailed biographies and career studies of nearly 150 studio greats from June Allyson to Robert Young. This volume also stars Fred Astaire, Mary Astor, Lew Ayres, Lucille Ball, all three Barrymores, Leslie Caron, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Greer Garson, John Gilbert, Jean Harlow, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Angela Lansbury, Mario Lanza, Myrna Loy, Jeanette MacDonald, Robert Montgomery, Maureen O’Sullivan, Walter Pidgeon, Eleanor Powell, Jane Powell, William Powell, Luise Rainer, Mickey Rooney, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, Robert Walker, Johnny Weismuller, Esther Williams, and nearly 100 more of the film lot’s magical stars and beloved supporting players. Also included are feature film listings for each talent profiled. Rich in quotes from the stars themselves, replete with fascinating salary statistics and contemporary reviews, The MGM Stock Company: The Golden Era is an anatomy of Hollywood’s greatest studio and its glittering array of contracted notables during the lot’s magical heyday.