One of the most gifted actors of the 1930s and 1940s, John Garfield is too little remembered today. His gritty, true-to-life performances in 35 films, including Body and Soul, which was one of the first movies to raise the ugly specter of race relations in the United States, and in 16 Broadway productions were all highly acclaimed. Garfield is best recalled, by some, for having been targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee for his liberal political beliefs. Garfield was one of many Hollywood stars blacklisted by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his cronies. "Acting is my life," he said in a speech in 1939. Deprived of that opportunity, he died in 1952. This generously illustrated work examines the actor's personal and professional life, recounting a bygone era of Hollywood and American history.

But soon, seduced by the myth of Hollywood and the reality of Warner Brothers, he made his movie debut, in 1938, in Four Daughters and immediately established himself as an earthy, rebellious and electrifying presence on the screen - in retrospect, the James Dean of the Depression era.

In this one-of-a-kind Hollywood history, the creator of Instagram's celebrated @ThisWasHollywood reveals the forgotten past of the film world in a dazzling visual package modeled on the classic fan magazines of yesteryear. From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age. The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at ninety-three, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking. Drawing on new interviews, archival research, and an exhaustive library of photographs, This Was Hollywood is a compelling and visually stunning catalogue of the lost history of the movies.

John Garfield was, and remains, one of the most impactful actors of 20th century American cinema. A towering influence on so many screen performers who came along afterward, Garfield managed to create a lasting image, despite living a life that was marked with tragedy, including the loss of a child. When he left the studios and began doing independent films, his politics informed his projects and he was blacklisted by Hollywood, leading to his early death of a heart attack at only 39 years of age. This book is a film-by-film look at his work, from the brash characters he played in his studio productions, to the tormented antiheroes of film noir that he later portrayed. His work continues to resonate into the 21stcentury. 

THE STORY: We witness the last few days of Charlie Castle, a top movie star and an idealist, whose years of compromise with his beliefs for the sake of a Hollywood career have resulted in the slow destruction of his personality. We see his struggle

Starting with their award winning profiles of Fred Astaire in 1980, Joan Kramer and David Heeley documented the lives and careers of many Hollywood legends, establishing a reputation for finding the un-findable, persuading the reluctant, and maintaining unique relationships long after the end credits rolled. These were recognized as high-quality, definitive film portraits, which revitalized the genre and made it a mainstay of television programming. This is their insiders’ view of the famous and the powerful: Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Lew Wasserman, Ronald Reagan, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Jane Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss, Audrey Hepburn, and Bette Davis, among others. Kramer and Heeley’s behind the scenes stories of the productions and the personalities involved are amusing, sometimes moving, often revealing, and have never been told before.