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Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos (Screen Classics) Paperback – September 14, 2021
Scandal, adultery, secret marriages, divorce, custody battles, suicide attempts, and alcoholism―the trials and tribulations of the Costellos were as riveting as any Hollywood feature film. This eccentric and talented clan was one of the twentieth century's most famous families of actors, until their achievements were eclipsed by their own immutable penchant for self-destruction. Patriarch Maurice Costello was considered the first screen idol until his career, marked by accusations of spousal abuse, drunkenness, and physical assault, abruptly ended. Costello's daughter, Helene, was the first actress to star in an all-talking picture, but her career was ruined by a very public divorce from Lowell Sherman, who testified that his wife was a drunk and an avid reader of pornography. And though the original members of this family may be gone, the legacy lives on―most notably through actress Drew Barrymore.
Written with unprecedented access to the family's personal documents and artifacts, as well as interviews with several family members, Film's First Family explores the dramatic history of the Costellos and their extraordinary significance to the stage and screen.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateSeptember 14, 2021
- Dimensions6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100813151945
- ISBN-13978-0813151946
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Shulman's Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos is a good read on a prolific acting dynasty―underrated to this day―and is as good on their lives as it is on their careers."―Allan R. Ellenberger, author of Miriam Hopkins: Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel
"Incorporating careful research and fascinating unpublished diaries, correspondence, and interviews, Terry Chester Shulman recreates a forgotten time, place, and family who contributed a unique style of acting that molded early film history. The narrative traces the lives of Maurice, Dolores, and Helene Costello―as well as that other famous family, the Barrymores―to provide an important reminder of how the greatest celebrities of their time were mere humans and, sometimes, their own worst enemies. Shulman's book will evoke a reader's need to revisit the film work of both gifted families with new insights and great compassion."―Gabriella Oldham, coauthor of Harry Langdon: King of Silent Comedy
"At long last, there is a well-researched account of one of cinema's most overlooked dynasties. Author Terry Shulman meticulously traces the thespian lineage from family patriarch Maurice Costello and wife Mae to their daughters Helene and Dolores Costello, Warner Bros. 'Belle of the Screen' whose tempestuous marriage to John Barrymore blended America's two greatest acting families of the last century with grandson John Drew Barrymore and great granddaughter Drew Barrymore continuing the family tradition. A requisite addition to any cinema library."―Alan K. Rode, author of Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film
"Finally we can learn the truth about this storied family! Relying on primary source material, and with tight, succinct prose, Terry Chester Shulman has provided a wealth of narrative about the troubled, talented, beautiful, and doomed Costellos."―Tracey Goessel, author of The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks
"A fascinating, endlessly insightful, and beautifully written portrait of a tempestuous family that played a pivotal role in the development of American film. Shulman's prose brims with intelligence and wit as he follows the Costellos through trials and triumphs and, heartbreakingly, back again. Film's First Family is a captivating, first-class contribution to film literature."―Vanda Krefft, author of The Man Who Made the Movies: The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of William Fox
"Maurice Costello was one of the first true movie stars, but if he is remembered today it is primarily because his daughter Dolores married John Barrymore, merging two American acting dynasties. Author Terry Shulman had access to Costello family archives and interviewed Dolores Barrymore Bedell (the daughter of John Barrymore and Dolores Costello) and Helene Costello's daughter Deirdre to research this sweeping storyenough juicy material to have filled several volumes."―Leonard Maltin
About the Author
Terry Chester Shulman is an acclaimed author and a veteran historical journalist whose work has appeared nationally in magazines and newspapers.
Product details
- Publisher : University Press of Kentucky; Reprint edition (September 14, 2021)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0813151945
- ISBN-13 : 978-0813151946
- Item Weight : 15.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,495,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,783 in Rich & Famous Biographies
- #10,875 in Movie History & Criticism
- #28,300 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies
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About the author
Terry Chester Shulman is the acclaimed author of the groundbreaking triple film biography "Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos." He is a veteran historian and journalist, having appeared in national magazines, newspapers and historical publications. He lives in Venice, California.
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His stardom in pictures was brief, however, due to personal problems involving alcohol and wife-beating. As author Shulman brilliantly writes in FILM’S FIRST FAMILY, Costello was ill prepared for stardom and wealth. His waywardness led him and his family to dire straights before his two daughters, the ethereal, yet strong-willed Dolores and the younger, frivolous Helene took over popularity as teenagers in the lingering days of silent pictures. Helene starred in the first feature talkie film THE LIGHTS OF NEW YORK in 1928, the same year her sister Dolores nearly drowned in Michael Curtiz’ epic NOAH’S ARK. By the coming of sound, both actresses were on their way out. (Dolores would later appear in Orson Welles 1942 masterpiece THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS.) However, of more importance, it was she who wed theatre and film legend John Barrymore and produced two children in the 1930s. And here is where the significance of the Costello story becomes relevant today.
Shulman intimately details the tragedy of the Costello dynasty with relentless stories of abuse - emotional, financial, and physical - within the nucleus of the family and in their numerous marriages and tragedies. Because of Maurice’s stardom coming just as movies were becoming popular in American entertainment, there was no precedence for him to judge and monitor the ramifications of his behavior. Unfortunately, each Costello suffered. A sad story, but quite interesting in that it has not been as completely told before.
FILM’S FIRST FAMILY is an important book. Once the Barrymore name is introduced by author Shulman, it becomes a motion picture primer. Dolores and John Barrymore’s only son, John Barrymore Jr., equally handsome and just as reckless as his father, was in turn the father of actress Drew Barrymore of today. But the author only mentions Ms. Barrymore in passing, as this compelling book is about her forebearers. Extremely readable and at times hard to put down, FILM’S FIRST FAMILY is not a critical career study by any stretch. Nor does the author include stage or film chronologies at the end of the book, though the family’s career highlights are mentioned. Instead this fascinating book offers us a more personal history of an acting family gone awry at the dawn of film history. A recommended read, and a quality book most certainly.
It's a welcome thing to read a nonfiction book that's as much of a page turner as a novel, while still crammed with historical detail. Terry's writing really delivers on this. It’s easy to get swept up in this multigenerational tale that proves that celebrity family scandals are as old as Hollywood—in fact the Costellos set the standard high very early on! "Untold Story" is no exaggeration, either: There’s abundant detail about Maurice, Dolores, and Helene Costello, and their legendary collision with John Barrymore, much of it revealed here for the first time. Maurice’s fall from stardom is all the more excruciating when you read about it in his personal diary, parts of which are shared here for the first time. Terry's book is a primer on how brutal the entertainment business has always been.
Solid historical research, tons of previously unseen material, the often shocking story of a legendary screen family, plus John Barrymore… What’s not to love?