The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s

The story of Mary Astor's custody battle for her little girl Marylyn is one not too well known to today's fans. It's the stuff Hollywood legend is made of. Not only does this center around a Hollywood icon and most fascinating lady, it indicates the massive and all-encompassing industry the Hollywood studio era was.Joseph Egan does an excellent job in documenting the great custody battle Mary Astor faced in 1936. This story has, from it's scandalous beginning, been reported in true Hollywood fashions - with great sensationalism, much hearsay and falsehoods. Egan has done a very thorough job of researching and setting the record on this case straight.What's more is that Joseph Egan has done such meticulous research on the supporting characters and the entire cast of this tale, that he creates an incredibly full picture of the entire thing. While presenting the facts as they are documented he manages to connect all those dots in between due to all the knowledge of each and every one. He thus creates a wonderful balance between a well-documented record and an appealing, fascinating and often entertaining tale. There is a very clear story line and despite all the judicial procedures and Hollywood drama, Egan has made it easy to follow the very blurred and squiggly lines. He also rounds off the story with information about all principals and their lives onward, including the little leading lady herself - Astor's daghter Marylyn.

Very interesting read for anyone with the slightest curiosity about the " early Hollywood " days. Mary Astor's life saga is and her personal peccadillo's reveal she was a woman before her time. Reading about the developing culture, opulence and hierarchy's within the Hollywood community was interesting and provides a fascinating comparison of different generations in this famous/infamous town on the West coast. Mary Astor's attempt to be a good parent, professional actor, socialite and mistress is a very entertaining light read. Take the time to read this book if you want to be entertained in a positive way.

As scandals go, it wasn't long lived or remembered. Today, it wouldn't even be considered a scandal. But, back in the 1930s a married woman was easy prey to a jerk husband who used blackmail and violence to get his own way.Mary Astor stood up to hers, and in the end probably gave many women the courage to do the same. This nice little book digs continue background and separated the BS from the truth concerning a custody battle Astor had with her jerk off husband. It was front page need for a few weeks because during the court case it was revealed that Astor kept a diary that named names and detailed her affairs with several notables of the time.In the end it was all sound and fury ... But makes a good read for anyone interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Although I am a fan of vintage Hollywood, I somehow had never previously read anything more detailed than a passing reference to Mary Astor's 1930s scandal, so I began this book truly not knowing what the outcome of the story would be. I was riveted. I found the book absolutely fascinating, well researched, and well written. Each personality in the case was brought to life and I came away with not only a thorough understanding of the case and its shock value in its day, but also a sympathy to all parties involved and their respective motivations. Especially fascinating was the update on Marylyn, who is now in her 80s, and seems to have lived a life unaffected by the calamity that surrounded her custody in her early years. Overall, a highly recommended and compelling read!!!

I purchased this book because I am a fan of George S. Kaufman, the Pulitzer-winning playwright whose affair with Mary Astor was the center of the custody trial detailed by the story.The book is unabashedly and explicitly about Mary Astor; it relies heavily on the accounts of her daughter Marilyn, who was at the center of the custody battle. It portrays Astor's attorney Roland Rich Wooley as the Perry Mason of divorce court, while Joseph Anderson, the attorney for her estranged husband Dr. Franklyn Thorpe, is less adept.It is about as sympathetic to Astor as one might reasonably expect, yet still presents her as a human and mother with all of the foibles and shortcomings humans and mothers have. The book made me interested in Astor as an actress and person, much to its credit.It has a vivid way of bringing its players to life. We get to know each of them as complex individuals and personalities, bereft of hero-worship. The story's focus is less on a wide span of decades but on a few years in the mid-1930s, allowing us to focus on who the people were and what they were doing and saying specifically at that particular time. While no one is condemned, no one escapes this story unscathed. I knocked off a star for a few minor grammatical errors and pacing issues, but the story is deeply and thoroughly researched, its characters compelling. The book is recommended.From the perspective of a Kaufman fan, it is refreshing to read about the playwright in a book that does not revere him, or focus specifically on his work as a playwright or member of the Algonquin Round Table. Indeed, I do not even recall the famous Round Table being mentioned in this book. For the first time, we get to know Kaufman the man, in his prime, with the people closest to him, particularly his wife Beatrice, one of the most tragically under-examined lives of the twentieth century.In reviewing the lives and careers of the players following the trial, the author uses the phrase "what (Kaufman) is remembered for, if he is remembered at all..." which seems amusing because Kaufman still has untold numbers of fans.If you are considering this book because you might want to know more about Kaufman, again, this book focuses on that brief period in the mid-1930s, when he was at the peak of his career. It covers his association with Irving Thalberg and The Marx Brothers film "A Night At The Opera" better than any account I have read, and takes us into his collaboration with Moss Hart to write "You Can't Take It With You" while the trial was underway.The book paints a portrait of a neurotic author who privately crafted himself as a brilliant womanizer. The custody trial opened up a very private life, leaving him feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable. What if the scandal had destroyed him? It must have weighed on his mind as he labored on what would become his greatest and most enduring work, secreted away in Hart's home in California, desperate to avoid being dragged into court and humiliated. It gives the play added poignancy.It also features an interview with Beatrice, and an interview with Kaufman himself following the trial, in which his great wit borne of neurosis is in full display.Going into the book wanting to know more about Kaufman yet knowing it was about Astor, I felt fully gratified and recommend this book to Kaufman fans.

having a hard time putting the book down so I can get some sleep at night! Love the courtroom scenes, and my sympathies are entirely with Miss Astor.

I am enjoying this interesting account of Mary Astor and her diary Which became world headlines in the 1930s. She was a talented and creative artist but as with so many creative people highly complex difficult to really know.No doubt she struggled with many inner demons but stood up to the trial with inner fortitude. If you are a fan this is recommended.

really enjoyed

Not as scandalous as it pretends to be but still interesting.

A story about well-known actors and writers. People whose names I knew, movies I saw, books and stories I read; and knew nothing about their personal lives; until now. Worth the read.