Lawrence J. Quirk

Lawrence J. Quirk Is a long-time Hollywood reporter and writer.

Lawrence J. Quirk is the nephew of James R. Quirk, editor and publisher of Hollywood's Photoplay magazine. One of the America's foremost film historians, Quirk has been a film critic, writer, and editor for many publications. He has written more than 30 books primarily on movie stars in Hollywood. He has used his knowledge and friendship with the stars and even with popular politicians such as the Kennedys to create an engrossing survey of what happened in Hollywood and America during the twentieth century. He lives in New York City.

The author's book, The Complete Films of William Powell (1986) is a solid synopsis of all of Powell's films complete with reviews from publications at the time of the films' releases. It includes a brief summary of Powell's life and some behind-the-scenes information on the movies, but mainly gives the storylines, actors and how the films turned out.

Fasten Your Seat Belts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis (1990) is on Hollywood's most defiant superstar, who broke all the rules and made movie history.

Bob Hope: The Road Well-Traveled (1999), another book by the author, who had known Hope since 1950, recaps the star's life, deals with his accumulation of many friends and enemies, and surveys his relationships with myriad entertainment personalities, among them Jack Benny and his "Road" movie co-stars, Dorothy Lamour and Bing Crosby. According to Publishers Weekly, it is a "sharply written biography" which is "at pains on every page to present a balanced portrait of Hope," whom the author "deems ruthlessly self-involved but nonetheless worthy of some admiration. ... Quirk declares that the performer committed 'countless' infidelities and neglected his children. At the same time, he was making sacrifices to entertain U.S. servicemen, whom he called 'my boys,' all over the world. The government always paid for these trips, Quirk contends, and by Vietnam, Hope's routines had grown thin and become synonymous with the 'war machine.' "

Quirk's book, Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography (University Press of Kentucky, 2002), written with William Schoell, explores the life and career of one of Hollywood’s great dames, conducting scores of interviews with the star and many of her friends and co-stars, including Frank Capra, George Cukor, Nicholas Ray, and Sidney Greenstreet. According to Library Journal, this study is a "thoroughgoing, evenhanded review of Crawford’s life and work, which in tone is neither academic nor gossipy but rather confessional, as if they are eager to set the record straight."

Rat Pack, The Neon Nights with the Kings of Cool" (2003), also written with William Schoell, is based on Quirk's deep knowledge about the "fabulous five" in their hey-day in Las Vegas.

The Kennedys in Hollywood (2004) bridges three generations of the Kennedy family, dealing with their involvement in America's film industry since the 1920s, the affairs of Joseph Kennedy and his son Jack, and the marriage of Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Quotes

"When one dies in youth like Valentino and Wallace Reid, then they remain enshrined in a golden memory. The public never sees them get old." (Lawrence J. Quirk)