Shirley Booth: A Biography and Career RecordAn Oscar-winning Best Actress for her tour-de-force role in Come Back, Little Sheba, Shirley Booth would ultimately win every major acting award that could be bestowed on an actress. Awarded three Tony Awards, two Emmys, and a Golden Globe, Booth was described by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival as "The World's Best Actress." Yet today fans know her best as the warm-hearted, busybody maid of television's Hazel. This, the first biography of the beloved star, provides complete coverage of a career that encompassed theater, film, radio, and television, and co-stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. It begins with Shirley's childhood in Brooklyn, and her rebellious decision to become an actress against the wishes of her strict father. Included is complete coverage of her tumultuous marriage to radio comedian Ed Gardner (of "Duffy's Tavern" fame), and a second, happier union that ended abruptly with her husband's death of a heart attack. Readers of this exhaustively researched biography will come to know a versatile and gifted star whose career spanned almost 60 years. Appendices provide extensive details of her Broadway, film, radio and television (episode-by-episode) credits. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 Thelma Takes Stock | 3 |
2 Opening Nights | 15 |
3 Mr Gardner and Miss Duffy | 29 |
4 GI Bill | 41 |
5 Queen of Sheba | 54 |
6 The Worlds Best Actress | 68 |
7 Hot and Cold Spells | 87 |
10 Living with Grace | 130 |
Broadway Performances | 141 |
Radio Log | 154 |
Filmography | 161 |
Hazel Episode Guide | 166 |
A Touch of Grace Episode Guide | 193 |
Chapter Notes | 195 |
Bibliography | 203 |