• About Tara Hanks
  • Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed
    • Reviews
    • Synopsis
    • Updates
    • Where to Buy
  • The Mmm Girl
    • The Mmm Girl – Extract
    • The Mmm Girl – Reviews
  • Wicked Baby
    • Wicked Baby – Reviews
  • Media

Tara Hanks

~ Author of 'The Mmm Girl' and 'Wicked Baby'

Tara Hanks

Category Archives: Non-Fiction

Jeanne Eagels: A Life On Film

18 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, Jeanne Eagels, Non-Fiction

≈ Comments Off on Jeanne Eagels: A Life On Film

Tags

Bette Davis, Bride of the Sea, D.W. Griffith, Emile Chautard, Frederick Warde, Gloria Swanson, Helen Badgley, Jealousy, Jean de Limur, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Joan Crawford, John Gilbert, Judith of Bethulia, Kim Novak, Man Woman and Sin, MGM, Monta Bell, Paramount, Rain, Rita Hayworth, Ruth Chatterton, Sadie Thompson, Thanhouser, The Ace of Hearts, The Cross Bearer, The Fires of Youth, The House of Fear, The Laughing Lady, The Letter, The Madonna of the Slums, The National Red Cross Pageant, The World and the Woman, Under False Colors, Will Hays

Jeanne Eagels by Clarence Sinclair Bull during filming of 'Man, Woman and Sin' at MGM (1927)

Jeanne Eagels photographed by Clarence Sinclair Bull during filming of ‘Man, Woman and Sin’ at MGM (1927)

The subject of my new book, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, was not just a Broadway legend, but also an important actress in silent film and the early days of talking pictures. I have written an article about Jeanne’s movie career, and an edited version is published today on the Classic Flix website. You can read the full article, illustrated with film stills from the book, right here. Continue reading →

‘Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed’ – Out Now!

15 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, History, Jeanne Eagels, Non-Fiction, Theatre, Updates

≈ Comments Off on ‘Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed’ – Out Now!

Tags

Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Tara Hanks

11025743_796775497083511_8963251801759181405_nVery exciting news: as of today, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed is finally available to order! I am proud to be co-author (with Eric Woodard) of the first full-length biography of this legendary actress to be published in 85 years.

From the publisher’s website, in paperback ($24.95) or hardcover ($34.95)

Both editions now listed on Amazon US and Amazon UK (paperback £16.31, hardcover £23.) They’re slightly cheaper at The Book Depository (paperback £15.26, hardcover £20.83.) And they’re also available from Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.

I will be adding further outlets to this post, and on the book’s dedicated page (over here.)

Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed

13 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by marina72 in Books, Jeanne Eagels, Non-Fiction, Theatre, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Eric Woodard, Jeanne Eagels, Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed, Rain, Sadie Thompson, Tara Hanks, W. Somerset Maugham, Wabash Blues

I’m delighted to announce that Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed – the first full-length biography of the legendary 1920s actress in 85 years, co-authored with Eric Woodard – will be published by Bearmanor Media in June. More news to come, but until then, here’s a brief synopsis:

The true story is finally told about Jeanne Eagels, legendary Broadway star as Sadie Thompson in Somerset Maugham’s Rain, celebrated silent movie actress, and Academy Award-nominated superstar in The Letter. She lived a life of renown, yet her rise to fame, her romances, her triumphs, her relentless perfectionism, and her fragile health propelled her into increasingly erratic behavior and a shocking climax that stunned the entire world. Illustrated with nearly 150 rare and unseen photographs.

Marilyn Monroe fans may recognise my writing partner as the author of Hometown Girl and Travilla Film Fashions. Eric has also created a book trailer for Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed.

Fans of trad jazz will notice that the music accompanying this video is, of course, ‘Wabash Blues’. Sadie Thompson, the loose-living heroine of W. Somerset Maugham’s Rain, played this record incessantly while entertaining her sailor friends during a sojourn on the South Seas – much to the annoyance of her priggish neighbours.

In 1922, Sadie became Jeanne Eagels’ most famous stage role, and while Rain has since been filmed several times, those who saw it first on Broadway insisted that her incendiary performance was never equalled.

Art Decades: Ultraviolence, Marilyn and More

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, Lana Del Rey, Marilyn Monroe, Music, Non-Fiction, Periodicals

≈ Comments Off on Art Decades: Ultraviolence, Marilyn and More

Tags

Art Decades, Fan Phenomena, Lana Del Rey, Marcelline Block, Marilyn Monroe, Ultraviolence

10612690_374315412774340_4875242384017257934_n

Out now, the third issue of Art Decades magazine is the best yet. Highlights include interviews with two of music’s outliers. Viv Albertine, former guitarist of all-girl punk band The Slits, is now a solo artist. She published a widely-praised memoir in 2014. Maria McKee is a Californian singer-songwriter, who fronted country rock band Lone Justice, and topped the UK charts with ‘Show Me Heaven’ in 1990. She now makes music for film with her partner, director Jim Akin.

10991227_10153131172867244_1251194915278387192_n

On the subject of women in music, my review of Lana Del Rey’s latest album, Ultraviolence, is also featured. There is something of a David Bowie theme to this issue, which can never be a bad thing. Edward Bell, who designed several of Bowie’s album covers – from Scary Monsters to the ill-fated Tin Machine – is interviewed, and there is also a stunning pictorial inspired by Bowie’s 1999 song, ‘The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell.’

A short interview with myself is included in an article about Marcelline Block’s new book, Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe. Superfans Megan Owen and Marco van der Munnik share their stories, and a long, fascinating interview with Los Angeles-based impersonator Holly Beavon is also included. Marilyn is also mentioned elsewhere, as an influence on Serena Czarnecki, an adult film star of the 1970s who has re-emerged as an artist and author.

Holly-Beavon-Marilyn-Monroe-Seated-Laughing-sm

Holly Beavon as Marilyn

While £15.48 (the current price on Amazon UK) may seem like a lot, Art Decades is filled with beautiful imagery and unique insights about music, film and artists who are mostly ignored, or (as in Marilyn and Lana’s case) misunderstood, and yet have inspired so many of us. Published quarterly, it is both a niche publication, and truly egalitarian. Unlike other, mass-market magazines, it is purely content-driven and doesn’t rely on copious advertising. It also has more to offer than a lot of similarly-priced books.

You can buy single issues on Amazon worldwide, or buy direct from the Art Decades website, with options to subscribe. A portion of the proceeds from sales of this issue will be donated to Belongto.org, a charity supporting young LGBTs – so you know it’s all in a good cause.

8dda5e1b

Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe

14 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by marina72 in Books, Film, Marilyn Monroe, Non-Fiction, Periodicals

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Art Decades, Fan Phenomena, Marcelline Block, Marilyn Monroe

fan phenom‘Fan Phenomena’ is an ongoing series from Intellect Books, a Bristol-based publisher with an international outlook. Since 2013, they have covered a variety of subjects with huge fan followings – including sci-fi movie franchises and TV shows, as well as more cultish offerings like Twin Peaks and The Big Lebowski. Fictional characters, such as Sherlock Holmes, and celebrities including Audrey Hepburn, have also been re-examined – with figures as diverse as Jane Austen and James Dean projected as future titles.

Marcelline Block, who has edited numerous books related to film, approached me in 2012 – a year which marked the fiftieth anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death, reviving public interest in her life and personality. From the outset, Marcelline showed the utmost respect for both Marilyn and her admirers. In contrast to many in the mainstream media, she understands that fans are not just ‘geeks’, and their knowledge and creativity helps to keep art alive. The result is a quirkier, more intimate look at the icon than is generally depicted.

11063609_1082110998469863_6999008181483535488_n

Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe combines academic essays about how Marilyn is being represented today – including her Youtube presence, influence on contemporary fashion, and recent portrayals in the biopic My Week With Marilyn, and the TV series Smash – and interviews with fans, including collectors Scott Fortner and Melinda Mason, impersonator Suzie Kennedy, memorabilia expert Marijane Gray, and fan-club owner Mary Sims. These personal testimonies were a highlight for me, partly because over the years, we have all supported each other in different ways.

My own contribution is an extract from The Mmm Girl, focusing on Marilyn’s love affair with the camera. I have also been interviewed for an article about Fan Phenomena, published in the latest issue of Art Decades (of which more later.) While Fan Phenomena: Marilyn Monroe is not a biography, it brings new insight to Marilyn’s undying appeal, and provides an up-to-date companion piece for earlier cultural studies like American Monroe and The Immortal Marilyn.

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Pages

  • About Tara Hanks
  • Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed
  • Media
  • The Mmm Girl
  • Wicked Baby

Creative Commons License
http://tarahanks.com by Tara Hanks/marina72 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Categories

Archives

Pages

  • About Tara Hanks
  • Jeanne Eagels: A Life Revealed
  • Media
  • The Mmm Girl
  • Wicked Baby

Creative Commons License
http://tarahanks.com by Tara Hanks/marina72 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Tara Hanks
    • Join 336 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Tara Hanks
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.