Leading Lady

The definitive biography of movie executive and philanthropist Sherry Lansing traces her groundbreaking journey to become the first female head of a major motion picture studio, sharing behind-the-scenes tales from movie sets and Hollywood boardrooms. When Sherry Lansing became the first woman ever to be named president of a major studio, the news ricocheted around the world. That was just the beginning of an extraordinary run that saw her head two studios, make hundreds of films, produce classic pictures such as Fatal Attraction and rule for twenty-five years as the most powerful woman Hollywood has ever known. Award-winning writer Stephen Galloway takes us behind the scenes of Lansing's epic journey—inside the battles; up close with the stars; and into the heart of a creative world populated by the likes of Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Jane Fonda, Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise. He shows us the velvet touch that masked the iron hand, and the roller-coaster drama behind such movies as Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. Above all, he takes us into the mind of Lansing, creating a revealing portrait of a dynamic, driven woman who overcame unimaginable odds, pushed boundaries and left Hollywood at the peak of her power to achieve the life she wanted.

Bishop T. D. Jakes, the #1 bestselling author of The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord and Soar!, offers women a plan for taking charge of their lives. Providing the inspiration and the tools women need to face life’s challenges, Bishop Jakes teaches women to star in the unique role God has chosen for them to play in the world. With a foundation of Christian values and faith in God’s plan, this book encourages women to: • Triumph in the face of adversity • Recognize the Lord’s calling • Create a godly and successful legacy—that will inspire and influence generations to come

A poignant, deliciously anecdotal account of a talented artist's Oz-like journey in the worlds of Off-Broadway, Broadway, and Hollywood The Tony Award-nominated writer of The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and the long-running hit Off-Broadway play Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, and a Sundance Festival award winner, Charles Busch has created a unique place in the entertainment world as a playwright, LGBT icon, drag actor, director, and cabaret performer, with his extraordinary gift for both connecting with and channeling the leading ladies of show business. In wonderfully readable chapters, by turns comic and moving, Charles writes how ever since his mother's death when he was seven, he has sought out surrogate mothers in his life. In his teens, Charles moved to Park Avenue in Manhattan to live with his Auntie Mame-like Aunt Lil, who encouraged and nourished Charles’ talents and dreams, and eventually he discovered his gifts for writing plays and performing as a male actress. Busch also shares his colorful and sometimes outlandish interactions with film and theatrical luminaries including the hilarious comedian Joan Rivers (who became a mother figure to Charles after Aunt Lil’s death), Angela Lansbury (who attended her first Passover seder with Charles), Rosie O’Donnell, Claudette Colbert, Valerie Harper, Kim Novak, and many others. Full of both humor and heart and featuring rare photos, Leading Lady is for readers of entertainment books as well as anyone who enjoys real-life stories of artists who break the mold, ditch the boundaries, and find their own unique way to sparkle.

Napoleon's shadow hangs heavy over Europe, and all is not well in the tiny principality of Lissenberg. Martha, its new princess, discovers just how bad things are in a moment of terror among the summer vineyard. But where can she turn for help? Her husband is in Napoleon's clutches, and her friend Cristabel, the prima donna, is involved in a disastrous marriage. Old enemies reappear, as well as old friends, and soon Martha's marriage is threatened along with her crown. Winter is coming and snow will soon close the frontiers. When Napoleon himself irrupts into Lissenberg the future looks black indeed.

Hollywood icon Betty White and actor Tom Sullivan present the story of a guide dog named Dinah and the extraordinary difference she made in every life she touched. Beloved actress Betty White is a bona fide television pioneer, but throughout her life, her heart has always been with the animals. One of the most enriching episodes in her career as an animal-rights advocate arrived with actor Tom Sullivan. Blind since birth, Tom was one of Betty’s closest friends and professional partners. Their dearest collaboration was a mutual devotion to a golden retriever named Dinah. This first-class guide dog was more than Tom's best friend, she was a source of unqualified loyalty and love. Most important, she enabled Tom to be truly independent for the first time in his life. However as Dinah got older, as her faculties weakened and her confidence faltered, Tom had little choice but to get a new dog. The effect of losing her purpose was devastating to the once-gallant Dinah. Then Betty gladly stepped in to give this great Lady a new lease on life. What would transpire is a heartening and inspiring story of a dog who made a difference and who, in Betty White’s words, “helped Tom grow up as she has helped me grow older.” It is for all animal lovers, for all Betty White lovers, and everyone who can relate to the unconditional devotion of dogs and the people who love them. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Set in Washington, DC, in 1865, the play is about Laura Keene, the British-born stage actress whose company was performing Tom Taylor¿s Our American Cousin at Ford¿s Theatre the night Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth. In classic Charles Busch fashion, Our Leading Lady is a backstage comedy in which a presidential assassination is not merely a national tragedy but also a vexing interruption in a powerful woman¿s quest for fame and glory. Imagine the collision of the Civil War era with Noises Off.

In her years as a prominent women’s network executive in the golden city of Hollywood, Charlotte Darwin never has seen anything quite like Dirk Lord; a gorgeous, talented star of her top show, he seems poised on the brink of superstardom. And even when the release of a naughty movie from Dirk's past threatens his career, Charlotte stands by him—causing Dirk to realize that it is the everyday, sensible plus-sized intellectual Charlotte, and not his fickle co-star and ex-girlfriend Lorielle, that stands as his true leading lady. Yet can Dirk convince Charlotte that their love is truer and more passionate than any big screen romance?

ONE of the morning trains that tap the little towns along the Sound ran into the Grand Central Depot. It was very hot in the lower levels of the station and the passengers, few in number—for it was midsummer and people were going out of town, not coming in—filed stragglingly up the long platform to the exit. One of them was a girl, fair and young, with those distinctive attributes of good looks and style that drew men’s eyes to her face and women’s to her clothes. People watched her as she followed the porter carrying her suit-case, noting the lithe grace of her movements, her delicate slimness, the froth of blonde hair that curled out under the brim of her hat. She appeared oblivious to the interest she aroused and this indifference had once been natural,[Pg 12] for to be looked at and admired had been her normal right and become a stale experience. Now it was assumed, an armor under which she sought protection, hid herself from morbid curiosity and eagerly observing eyes. To be pointed out as Sybil Saunders, the actress, was a very different thing from being pointed out as Sybil Saunders, the fiancée of James Dallas of the Dallas-Parkinson case. The Dallas-Parkinson case had been a sensation three months back. James Dallas, a well-known actor, had killed Homer Parkinson during a quarrel in a man’s club, struck him on the head with a brass candlestick, and fled before the horrified onlookers could collect their senses. Dallas, a man of excellent character, had had many friends who claimed mitigating circumstances—Parkinson, drunk and brutal, had provoked the assault. But the Parkinson clan, new-rich oil people, breathing vengeance, had risen to the cause of their kinsman, poured out money in an effort to bring the fugitive to justice, and offered a reward[Pg 13] of ten thousand dollars for his arrest. Of course Sybil Saunders had figured in the investigation, she was the betrothed of the murderer, their marriage had been at hand. She had gone through hours of questioning, relentless grilling, and had steadily maintained her ignorance of Dallas’ whereabouts; from the night of his disappearance she had heard nothing from him and knew nothing of him. The Parkinsons did not believe her statement, the police were uncertain. As she walked toward the exit she carried a newspaper in her hand. Other people in the train had left theirs in their seats, but she, after a glance at the head-lines, had folded hers and laid it in her lap. Three seats behind her on the opposite side of the aisle she had noticed a man—had met his eyes as her own swept back carelessly over the car—and it was then that she had laid the paper down and looked out of the window. Under the light film of rouge on her cheeks a natural color had arisen. She had known he would be there but was startled to find him so close...