Lawrence J. Quirk

Lawrence J. Quirk (born 1923) is an American writer and a longtime Hollywood reporter and film historian.

Life as a film critic and Hollywood biographer

Lawrence J. Quirk is the nephew of James R. Quirk, editor and publisher of Hollywood's "Photoplay" magazine. He was an Army sergeant in Korea, a reporter for the Hearst papers, and a film magazine editor and publisher. One of America's foremost film historians, Quirk has been a film critic, writer, and editor for many publications. Since the 1960s, 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. Quirk has also appeared on many radio and television programs, including "Good Morning America", "Good Morning, New York", "A Current Affair", CNN, Fox News Channel and others. He was profiled by Patricia Bosworth for the April 1998 Hollywood issue of "Vanity Fair". He lives in New York City.

Commentaries on his writings

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, from her beginnings as a dancer in silent films of the 1920s to her portrayals of working-class shop girls in the Depression thirties, to her Oscar-winning performances in classic films such as "Mildred Pierce", 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" (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop) 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.

Other books

*"Robert Francis Kennedy: The Man and the Politician" (1968)
*"The Films of Joan Crawford" (1968)
*"The Films of Ingrid Bergman" (1970)
*"The Films of Fredric March" (1971)
*"The Great Romantic Films" (1974)
*"The Films of Robert Taylor" (1975)
*"The Films of Ronald Colman" (1977)
*"The Films of Warren Beatty" (1979)
*"The Films of Myrna Loy" (1980)
*"The Films of Gloria Swanson" (1984)
*"Claudette Colbert: An Illustrated Biography" (1985)
*"Jane Wyman: The Actress and the Woman: An Illustrated Biography" (1986)
*"Lauren Bacall: Her Films and Career" (1986)
*"Norma: The Story of Norma Shearer" (1988)
*"The Films of Katharine Hepburn", by Homer Dickens, revised and updated by Lawrence J. Quirk (1990)
*"The Life and Wild Times of Cher" (1992)
*"Great War Films: From the Birth of a Nation to Today" (1994)
*"James Stewart: Behind the Scenes of a Wonderful Life" (1997)

Reviews by the author

*"Lulu in Hollywood:" A Disgraceful Pot-Pouri of Blatant Falsehoods, Distortions and Odd Biographical Omissions: Self-Pitying, Self-Congratulatory - and Self-Serving " (June 1982)
*"Brilliant Pittsburgh Journalist Barry Paris Coming Out with a Major Biography of Louise Brooks" (August 1986)

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)