The best new fall books about classic Hollywood

The Golden Age of Hollywood and it's larger-than-life figures has attained legendary status in today's pop culture.

But while this bygone era of moviemaking may have been more glamorous than any of us can ever aspire to, at its heart it was just a collective of people living out their lives, making art, and existing with all of their human foibles, just as we do today.

And though the adage goes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend," there's actually far more reward to be mined from the real story that unpacks and redefines the legend. This fall there is a cornucopia of new titles that delve into the lives and business choices and legacies of many of the denizens of classic Hollywood.

We've rounded up our six favorite, all out this fall, so that you can take a literary journey into Hollywood's past.

<em>The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir</em> by Paul Newman

Paul Newman has been gone since 2008, but the estimable actor, known for his Adonis physique, sparkling blue eyes, and Actors' Studio honed technique, left his story behind, unbeknownst to us. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Newman and his friend Stewart Stern conducted interviews — with his family, his collaborators, his friends, and Newman himself — with the intent of crafting it into a memoir. Ultimately, Newman burned the tapes of those interviews and his family presumed the effort lost to time. But after a discovery of transcripts and notes tucked away in the laundry room of his Connecticut home, Newman at last gets to tell his story, in his own words, supplemented by the accounts of those who knew him best. It's an unprecedented and incisive look at a man, who despite his charms and legendary marriage to Joanne Woodward, preferred his privacy. Newman does not go easy on himself, nor does he allow his fellow storytellers to pull their punches. It's an unflinching look at the life of one of the greatest actors to live, and it pairs superbly with Ethan Hawke's The Last Movie Stars, a moving documentary that brings the words of the transcripts in these pages to even more vital life. (Oct. 18)

<em>Hollywood: The Oral History</em> by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson

Jeanine Basinger (The Star Machine) and Sam Wasson (Fosse) are two of our best chroniclers of Hollywood's past, but this collaboration marks their most ambitious work yet. Culled from nearly three thousand interviews from the archives of the American Film Institute, Hollywood: An Oral History features the voices of hundreds of luminaries from Hollywood's earliest beginnings through to the present day. It offers a unique first-hand account of the industry's founding and ever-evolving approaches, offering up an oral history of the cultural institution we've dubbed simply "Hollywood" that is unparalleled in scope and vision. (Nov. 8)

<em>A Front Row Seat</em> by Nancy Olson Livingston

Nancy Olson is one of the last surviving stars of the studio era, known best for her Oscar-nominated turn as aspiring screenwriter Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard. In this memoir, Olson Livingston recounts not only her time working with the likes of William Holden and Billy Wilder, but memories of her childhood and encounters with many of Hollywood's most notorious, glamorous figures. It also chronicles the years of her marriages to Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady, Gigi, Camelot) and Alan Wendell Livingston, former president of Capitol Records. As its title suggests, A Front Row Seat is a first-hand account of what it was like to live at the heart of American culture in the mid-century from one of its last surviving talents. (Nov. 15)

<em>Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film</em> by Luis I. Reyes

Though the Hispanic and Latino communities are still fighting for nuanced, equal representation on screen today, they've always been a core part of Hollywood history. This new book from TCM publishing offers readers an in-depth look at Latin and Hispanic artists in the film industry, including actors like Rita Hayworth, Anthony Quinn, Jennifer Lopez, and more, as well as behind-the-scenes visionaries such as cinematographer John Alonzo, Citizen Kane scenic artist Mario Larrinaga, and Oscar-winning makeup artist Beatrice de Alba. TCM has lately excelled at reframing Hollywood history and uncovering oft-ignored parts of its myth-making. Reyes' book is a sterling addition to the collection, complete with pages and pages of lush photography, in addition to its vital storytelling. (Sept. 13)

<em>Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies</em> by Lara Gabrielle

For decades, Marion Davies has been overshadowed by her relationship to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (and its fictionalization in Citizen Kane). Film historian at last gives the comedienne her due in this comprehensive biography. Notoriously reluctant to give interviews, Davies has largely remained an enigma, but Gabrielle uses meticulous research, unprecedented access to archives around the world, and interviews with those who knew Davies to shine light on a talented woman often reduced to the footnote of her romantic relationships. Brokering her own deals with studio heads and navigating stigma and disability, Davies was a fierce woman who blazed a trail amidst a Hollywood increasingly dominated by powerful men. At last, she is treated with the respect and reverence she merits through Gabrielle's writing. (Sept. 27)

<em>Elizabeth Taylor: The Grit and Glamour of an Icon</em> by Kate Andersen Brower

This fall is a windfall of riches for Old Hollywood lovers when it comes to access to the inner lives and archives of some of its most illustrious stars. But there is perhaps no bigger (or more misunderstood) star than Elizabeth Taylor, who at last gets an authorized biography courtesy of Kate Andersen Brower and the Taylor estate. With access to Taylor's unpublished letters, diary entries, and off-the-record interview transcripts, as well as her own interviews with 250 of Taylor's closest friends and family, readers will get the most personal look at Taylor ever put to paper. From her decades-long career as an actress, evolving from child star to Oscar-winning talent, to her notorious private life (including her eight marriages), Taylor's life at last gets a biographical treatment that can tell her story in many of her own words. (Dec. 6)

Related content:

• Paul Newman recounts getting intimate with Joanne Woodward in 'f--- hut' in posthumous memoir

• Why Ethan Hawke asked George Clooney to give voice to Paul Newman in The Last Movie Stars doc

• Elizabeth Taylor gets her first-ever authorized biography: See the cover