Allan Taylor and James Robert Parish
Published by Facts on File
350 pp.
Index, Bibliography, Appendices, Cross-references
$18.95 (paperback), $49.50 (hardback)

A comprehensive guide to the challenging and rewarding field of writing. The volume provides complete information on 90 jobs within the industry. For each mini-chapter information is provided for, among other aspects, educational requirements, employment prospects, salary ranges, career ladders, and tips for breaking into the particular field. Among the several appendices included are a Glossary of Terms, Useful Web Sites, and Major Trade Periodicals, Directories, and Annuals.

James Robert Parish and Michael R. Pitts
Published by Routledge
1200 pp., 125 b/w photographs
Index, Bibliography, Cross-references
$275.00, hardback (3-volume set)

A thoroughly researched biographical dictionary of over 110 notables who performed in Hollywood musicals, including Julie Andrews, Gene Autry, Eddie Cantor, Cher, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Dorothy Lamour, Dean Martin, Ann Miller, Madonna, Grace Moore, Donald O'Connor, Jane Powell, Barbra Streisand, Rudy Vallee, Ethel Waters, and Mae West. Each extensive narrative entry--covering both the individual's professional and personal life--contains a discography as well as listings of the subject's radio and television series, and Broadway appearances.

James Robert Parish and Allan Taylor
Published by Facts on File
640 pp., 100 b/w photographs
Index, Bibliography, Cross-references
$75.00, hardback

An exhaustive reference to the treatment and progress of five different ethnic groups in the world's most visible industry. This book explores the various stereotypes propagated by television and the movies, as well as the breakthrough shows and films that shattered them. The text is divided into five sections: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Jewish Americans, and Native Americans. Each section examines the representation of that particular ethnic group both on-screen and behind the camera. Presented in an easy-to-use, A-to-Z format, each comprehensive section offers an account detailing landmark films, movies, and television series relevant to that group; biographical entries covering key personalities; and topical entries covering key themes, genres, and fictional characters. An extensive index helps guide students, researchers, and general readers.

James Robert Parish
Published by Contemporary Books
288 pp., 70 b/w photographs
$14.95, paperback


From the birth of the silver screen, "It Girls" laid down a sequined trail of self-indulgence and scandalous bad behavior. The stars in this exclusive sorority are both loved and loathed by the press, the fans, and even by each other.

Among the many tantalizing leading ladies profiled–both as to their onscreen careers and offcamera antics–in this volume are Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Dolores Del Rio, Hedy Lamarr, Demi Moore, Vera Ralston, Norma Shearer, Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Taylor, Lupe Velez, and Mae West.

James Robert Parish
Published by Contemporary Books
416 pp., 100 b/w photographs
$16.95, paperback

The death of a celebrity is often as fascinating as—and sometimes more fascinating than—a star's actual life. Arranged in an encyclopedic approach by manner of death, these well-researched accounts include details of celebrities' colorful lives and unusual deaths, their funerals, and the intriguing aftermath.

James Robert Parish
Published by Contemporary Books
288 pp., 50 b/w photographs
$14.95, paperback

Parish provides a road map to the stormy and sometimes wacky lives of the show business famous who've taken a walk on the wild side. From tales of drug addiction and alcoholism to sex scandals and murder, and just plain naughty behavior, Parish delivers the behind-the-scenes facts on 70 of the most notorious movie and television stars in Hollywood history.

James Robert Parish
Published by Thunder's Mouth Press
320 pp., 17 b/w photographs
$24.95, hardback

Extensively researched, Gus Van Sant examines his career from the inauspicious debut of Mala Noche to the haunting Drugstore Cowboy; from the angst-ridden My Own Private Idaho and the mainstream black comedy To Die For to the Oscar-nominated Good Will Hunting and the high-profile Finding Forrester.

James Robert Parish
Published by Thunder's Mouth Press
224 pp., 30 color and b/w photographs
$17.95, paperback

Jet Li, the first book published in English about the "Gene Kelly of the action film," follows him from his days in Hong Kong as an extraordinarily successful actor in classics like Once Upon a Time in China and his overlooked work as a director and producer. Special attention is given to his Hollywood debut alongside Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4, his star turns in the gangland fable Romeo Must Die and the sci-fi blockbuster The One, as well as assessing his position in today's world cinema.