Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood

by Charles Foster

"You'll like Louis Mayer," Mary Pickford told Charles Foster in 1943. "He is from Canada, too." As Foster was soon to discover, Mayer was not alone: a great many of those who helped shape Hollywood into the movie capital of the world were Canadian.

Stardust and Shadows brings together the stories of 18 Canadians who were celebrities during Hollywood's formative years. Most of those profiled were known to Foster, and stories they told...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550023489
• ISBN13: 9781550023480
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Charlie... I TOLD YOU PEOPLE WOULD BUY IT.

If you want to know about old Hollywood and how Canadians figured in to it... This book is for you!I met Charlie Foster in Moncton N.B. a few years ago. He and his lovely wife had come out to see me and my partner at the time, perform a Comedy show at a local club. He enjoyed the act and told us that it reminded him of Old English Music Hall and his youth in Hollywood.We went back to his home where he would regale us with stories of Hollywood days gone by. All his name-dropping had me suspicious of these tales of being on the set of the Beverly Hillbillies, the movie Spartacus, and all the people he met and interviewed. He then showed me some pictures of him with some Hollywood folk... I was convinced that he was on the up and up.. I said Charlie you should write a book... he said no one would want to read about it... Well Charlie, I guess you were wrong, and I'm glad. It's okay to be wrong.This book was a wonderful read. I found a couple of spots in the book a bit repetitive, but I have no right to be critical... who real does?Buy this book. You'll learn a lot about Hollywood of old and you'll have fun doing it. Charlie Foster won't let you down.

Good old "Unc"!!

As a "foreigner" I thought that I might find it hard going.No! I was pleasantly surprised when I actually got started. To be very honest, it`s one of those books you pick up and then have great difficulty putting down again, my good wife Linda will testify to that fact.Some years ago I had a very brief preview and even then I knew it would be worth reading in it`s complete form. Uncle "Baz", as he is affectionately known, has certainly come up with a winner.The book gave me an enlightened view of what it must have been like in the "good old days", extremely entertaining.Well done!I can`t wait for the next one.I know it will be even better and that`s not because we`re family, it`s because I have an idea of what`s coming, I`ve seen the draft copy already. Thanks for the enjoyable read.

Taylor Murder Finally Solved

Can it be true? The unsolved 1922 murder of director William Desmond Taylor is really solved! Charles Foster, writer of this intriguing book about the silent era and its stars claims to have heard a confession, with others present, by the killer. I won't spoil your fun by telling you the murderer's name, but Foster has convinced me the murder is now solved. But there is much more in this remarkable book from a writer who met and befriended many directors, stars an technicians in Hollywood in 1943.Want to know why W.C. Fields enjoyed being hit in the face by a pie thrown by Three Stooges director Del Lord? Or why an actor named Sam De Grasse got a lifetime contract with Douglas Fairbanks as both actor and dentist? I consider myself an avid silent movie buff but have learned more fascinating things in this wonderful book than I learned in a lifetime elsewhere.The book moves from silents to early sound and reveals a lot of heartbreak and a lot of triumph. A totally readable book. I sat up to 3 a.m. finishing my copy and regretted reaching the final page. This is a must book for every movie enthusiast who wants to know the truth about early Hollywood. Kenneth Henderson