Thalberg
Life and Legend
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Thalberg
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Narrated by:
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John Landis
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By:
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Bob Thomas
About this listen
More than 85 years after his untimely death at just age 37, Irving Thalberg (1899-1936) remains a legendary Hollywood figure. Called the “Boy Wonder of Hollywood,” Thalberg quickly climbed the ranks at MGM studios to become one of the most powerful and high-profile producers of the time, elevating filmmaking to an art form.
In this definitive biography, Bob Thomas brings Thalberg's legend to life, recounting how the producer's remarkable talent for developing stars and scripts led to the creation of beloved movies such as Ben-Hur, Mutiny on the Bounty, A Night at the Opera, Grand Hotel, Romeo and Juliet, The Good Earth, and Camille.
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Can I Go Now?
- The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent
- By: Brian Kellow
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
A lively and colorful biography of Hollywood's first superagent - one of the most outrageous showbiz characters of the 1960s and 1970s, whose clients included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, and Candice Bergen. Before Sue Mengers hit the scene in the mid-1960s, talent agents remained quietly in the background. But staying in the background was not possible for Mengers.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A little long.
- By Doris on 11-29-15
By: Brian Kellow
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Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 431
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 432
Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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Something Wonderful
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
- By: Todd S. Purdum
- Narrated by: Todd S. Purdum
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 452
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 382
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 379
They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fabulous book about Rodgers & Hammerstein!!!
- By BigWally on 06-27-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
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Furious Love
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
- By: Sam Kashner, Nancy Schoenberger
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 174
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 117
He was a tough-guy Welshman softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman; she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were Hollywood royalty, and their fiery romance - often called "the marriage of the century" - was the most notorious, publicized, and celebrated love affair of its day.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Paul Boehmer needs more practice
- By Brenda Miller on 06-16-10
By: Sam Kashner, and others
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Steve McQueen
- A Biography
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 69
One of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and '70s with now-classics such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullit, Steve McQueen is renowned as one of the most exciting actors ever to come out of Hollywood. Now, in Steve McQueen: A Biography, best-selling author Marc Eliot gives unique insight into McQueen's life, from his films to his three marriages, many affairs, and struggles with addictions.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Snooze
- By Cill on 10-27-11
By: Marc Eliot
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Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted
- And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made the Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic
- By: Jennifer Armstrong
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Mary Tyler Moore made her name as Dick Van Dyke's wife on the eponymous show; she was a cute, unassuming housewife that audiences loved. But when screenwriters James Brooks and Allan Burnes dreamed up an edgy show about a divorced woman with a career, network executives replied: "Americans won't watch television about New York City, divorcées, men with mustaches, or Jews." But Moore and her team were committed, and when the show finally aired, in spite of tepid reviews, fans loved it.
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2 out of 5 stars
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An Interesting Story That Never Quite Gets Told
- By S. Blythe on 07-26-13
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American Rebel
- The Life of Clint Eastwood
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4 out of 5 stars 93
From the New York Times best-selling author Marc Eliot comes the definitive biography of one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful actors, producers, and directors in the history of American motion pictures. Marc Eliot examines the ever-exciting, often tumultuous arc of Eastwood's life and career, from his days as a disaffected college dropout, to his rise to fame as the archetypal loner, to his acceptance into the pantheon of the Academy as a multiple Oscar Award winner.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I learned the hard way.
- By Ty Pritchard on 07-23-10
By: Marc Eliot
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The Speed of Sound
- Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926 - 1930
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Adams Morgan
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
In this mixture of cultural and social history that is both scholarly and vastly entertaining, Eyman dispels the myths and gives us the missing chapter in the history of Hollywood, the ribbon of dreams by which America conquered the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Better than nothing!
- By Colin Barton on 08-31-11
By: Scott Eyman
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The Sound of Music Story
- How a Beguiling Young Novice, a Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time
- By: Tom Santopietro
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
Now Tom Santopietro has written the ultimate Sound of Music fan audiobook with all the inside dope, from behind-the-scenes stories of the filming in Austria and Hollywood to new interviews with Johannes von Trapp and others. Santopietro looks back at the real-life story of Maria von Trapp, goes on to chronicle the sensational success of the Broadway musical, and recounts the story of the near cancellation of the film when Cleopatra bankrupted 20th Century Fox.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A must for super-fans
- By Simone on 07-29-17
By: Tom Santopietro
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Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
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Inga
- Kennedy's Great Love, Hitler's Perfect Beauty, and J. Edgar Hoover's Prime Suspect
- By: Scott Farris
- Narrated by: Scott Farris
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
In addition to her romance with Kennedy, Arvad married four times - including to an Egyptian prince, the brilliant filmmaker Paul Fejos, and the famed cowboy movie star Tim McCoy. She had affairs with Wall Street financier Bernard Baruch, the noted surgeon Dr. William Cahan, and Winston Churchill's right hand man, Baron Robert Boothby. But by all accounts her admirers among the European and American elite loved Inga not for her physical beauty, but for her joie de vivre.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Kennedy Read
- By James P. Barraza on 04-14-17
By: Scott Farris
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Street Gang
- The Complete History of Sesame Street
- By: Michael Davis
- Narrated by: Caroll Spinney
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
When the first episode aired on Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street revolutionized the way education was presented to children on television. It has since become the longest-running children's show in history, and today reaches 8 million pre-schoolers on 350 PBS stations and airs in 120 countries. Street Gang is the compelling and often comical story of the creation and history of this media masterpiece and pop culture landmark.
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3 out of 5 stars
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An important subject, but hardly gripping
- By Scott T. Hards on 09-24-10
By: Michael Davis
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Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood
- Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire
- By: Kathleen Sharp
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Ever wonder why so many B actors wind up as A-grade politicians? Or how the casting couch worked? Acclaimed author Kathleen Sharp traces the influence of show business through the lives of its first power couple. Edie and Lew Wasserman built the world’s largest talent agency, MCA, created the multibillion-dollar Universal Studios, and helped shape Washington, DC.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Book I Have Heard In A Long Time!!!
- By James M. Patton on 09-25-16
By: Kathleen Sharp
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Ayn Rand and the World She Made
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 339
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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Story4 out of 5 stars 209
Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great history of both Rand and her era
- By Mark on 08-07-10
By: Anne C. Heller
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The Curse of Beauty
- The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America's First Supermodel
- By: James Bone
- Narrated by: Marianne Fraulo
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4 out of 5 stars 86
As America was stepping into the modern era, one great beauty became the artist's model of choice. Her perfect form became the emblem of the Gilded Age and appears on the greatest monuments of New York and the nation. Supermodel, actress, icon - her beauty paved the way for a life of glamour, passion, and ultimately tragedy. Her name is Audrey Munson.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Аmazon Customer on 04-06-17
By: James Bone
What listeners say about Thalberg
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul
- 12-03-22
A neglected Hollywood great
I only knew of Thalberg through the Academy award given in his name. As I’ve read more about Hollywood in the 1920s and ‘30s, I’ve learned what a central figure this man was. With a desire for creative excellence and a lack of ego, among producers of his era (and since) he may have been one of a kind. John Landis did an adequate job. Read Hollywood: An Oral History for superb narration.
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