Astor, Mary

My Story: An Autobiography

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. “Her name was Lucile Langhanke. She was a farm girl from the Middle West, a lonely, beautiful child who became the tormented victim of her parents’ greed. At twenty she was a star, the pampered, glamorous movie queen known to the world as Mary Astor” (from front flap). Mary Astor (1906-1987) achieved a decades-long acting career despite the influences and disadvantages thrust upon her against her will. At the age of fourteen, Mary, a.k.a. Lucile, landed her first role followed quickly by several more, and her family moved to Hollywood in 1923. At seventeen, her big break came when she was plucked for a role in Beau Brummel (1924) by the stage-actor-turned-film-star John Barrymore (grandfather of the currently famous actress Drew Barrymore). The tumultuous decade that followed was filled with personal strife and professional discord as her parents sought to control her personal life and finances. At twenty-six, she finally gained her independence and proceeded to navigate the torrid industry of early Hollywood. Her most well-known performance was as Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941), and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1941 for her portrayal of Sandra Kovak (concert pianist) in The Great Lie (1941). Several marriages later and after many years of scandal and public controversy, a nervous breakdown led her to begin writing, parsing through her early life and relationships without much mention of her career. This became My Story, and it was a bestseller. Falling in love with writing, Mary began writing novels, publishing two before officially retiring from film in 1964 after 109 films over 45 years. She published three more novels, and followed-up My Story with A Life on Film (1971), in which she tackled the complexities of her career. This is a rescued relic of a bygone era of Hollywood with a revealing behind-the-curtain perspective on the industry from one young girl subjected to its wicked ways. Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket: First Edition, as stated on copyright page, First Printing, though not explicitly stated thereon. Book is in considerably Good condition with significant shelf-wear to fine-edges of spine; minor aging to pages, otherwise crisp and unmarked. Dust-jacket is in Poor condition with bumping and scratching to front, back covers, heavy creasing and multiple tears with accompanying restoration-related tape only on the interior. Text and photos on front, back covers and flaps are not impacted (see photos). Good / Poor. [Item #5483]

Price: $15.00