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A review by komet2020
Star-crossed by Beverly Linet
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
STAR-CROSSED: The Story of Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones I finished reading hours ago. Before coming to this book, I had some awareness of who Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones were, as well as to some extent, of the movie star status both had achieved during the 1940s. Robert Walker, in particular, I remembered from seeing in the movies Bataan (1943) and Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944), which also starred Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson.
Notwithstanding that, it wasn't until I began reading this book that I learned of the relationship that developed between Walker and Jones when they were in drama school together in New York in 1938, their marriage a year later (both were very much in love and very supportive of one another), followed by their initial attempts to break into Hollywood (which proved disappointing; hence their return to New York, where Walker embarked upon a flourishing career in radio, while Jones helped raise their 2 sons and continued in her endeavor to be an actress while doing modelling jobs), and their return to Hollywood, where both Walker and Jones were contracted out to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). It was while at MGM that Jones caught the interest of David O. Selznick, a powerful movie producer, screenwriter, and film studio executive best known for his work on Gone with the Wind and Rebecca, who not only took Jones under his wing, determined to make her a star through her first major movie The Song of Bernadette(1943), which earned for Jones a Best Actress Oscar - but was also determined to love and possess her. Consequently, it was Selznick who drove a wedge between Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, which left Walker utterly devastated and driven to drink heavily. Jones divorced him and hitched her star to Selznick, a controlling, manipulative, and innovative force in the movie industry who would overreach himself and die from a heart attack in 1965, age 63.
I found myself becoming deeply invested in seeing how Robert Walker dealt both with losing Jennifer Jones and his movie career. His story affected me a lot and the circumstances surrounding his death in August 1951, age 32, led me to believe - based on the conflicting stories Beverly Linet so skillfully elucidated that emerged shortly after Walker's death - that he was murdered. It was a senseless tragedy because Walker was coming into his own as an actor following the resounding success of the film noir movie Strangers on a Train in which he gave a superb performance as the charming psychopath Bruno Antony.
The book also spells out Jones life and career arc, which saw her marry David O. Selznick in 1949, endure several ups and downs in her personal life as well as in Hollywood, and following Selznick's death, go on to her third and final marriage in 1971 to Norton Simon, a multi-millionaire and philanthropist.
All in all, STAR-CROSSED tells a very compelling story that will stay with the reader long after he/she has read it.
Notwithstanding that, it wasn't until I began reading this book that I learned of the relationship that developed between Walker and Jones when they were in drama school together in New York in 1938, their marriage a year later (both were very much in love and very supportive of one another), followed by their initial attempts to break into Hollywood (which proved disappointing; hence their return to New York, where Walker embarked upon a flourishing career in radio, while Jones helped raise their 2 sons and continued in her endeavor to be an actress while doing modelling jobs), and their return to Hollywood, where both Walker and Jones were contracted out to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). It was while at MGM that Jones caught the interest of David O. Selznick, a powerful movie producer, screenwriter, and film studio executive best known for his work on Gone with the Wind and Rebecca, who not only took Jones under his wing, determined to make her a star through her first major movie The Song of Bernadette(1943), which earned for Jones a Best Actress Oscar - but was also determined to love and possess her. Consequently, it was Selznick who drove a wedge between Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, which left Walker utterly devastated and driven to drink heavily. Jones divorced him and hitched her star to Selznick, a controlling, manipulative, and innovative force in the movie industry who would overreach himself and die from a heart attack in 1965, age 63.
I found myself becoming deeply invested in seeing how Robert Walker dealt both with losing Jennifer Jones and his movie career. His story affected me a lot and the circumstances surrounding his death in August 1951, age 32, led me to believe - based on the conflicting stories Beverly Linet so skillfully elucidated that emerged shortly after Walker's death - that he was murdered. It was a senseless tragedy because Walker was coming into his own as an actor following the resounding success of the film noir movie Strangers on a Train in which he gave a superb performance as the charming psychopath Bruno Antony.
The book also spells out Jones life and career arc, which saw her marry David O. Selznick in 1949, endure several ups and downs in her personal life as well as in Hollywood, and following Selznick's death, go on to her third and final marriage in 1971 to Norton Simon, a multi-millionaire and philanthropist.
All in all, STAR-CROSSED tells a very compelling story that will stay with the reader long after he/she has read it.