✨ Featured Offer
Used, Very Good
$8.69
List Price: $29.95
🚚
See all 5 offers from $6.53 FREE standard delivery by: 28 Mar 2026
Overview
John McCabe's participation in the writing of James Cagney's autobiography, the many years of friendship that followed, and an intense period of interview and discussion in preparation for a musical comedy based on Cagney's life--a show that never saw the light of day--make him Cagney's ideal biographer. And, indeed, he has written a searching chronicle of this major actor's life and career, packed with history and anecdote, and profusely illustrated. Cagney came from a poor Irish-American New York family but once he found his métier as an actor, it was not long before he was recognized as a brilliantly energetic and powerful phenomenon. After the tremendous impact ofPublic Enemy--in which he notoriously pushed half a grapefruit into Mae Clarke's face--he was typecast as a gangster because of the terrifying violence that seemed to be pent up within him. Years of pitched battle with Warner Brothers finally liberated him from those roles, and he went on to star in such triumphs as the musicalsYankee Doodle Dandy(winning the 1942 Oscar for best actor) andLove Me or Leave Me.Even so, one of his greatest later roles involved a return to crime--as the psychopathic killer in the terrifying White Heat. He retired from films in 1961 after making Billy Wilder'sOne, Two, Three,only to return twenty years later forRagtime. But however much Cagney personified violence and explosive energy on the screen, in life he was a quiet, introspective, and deeply private man, a poet, painter, and environmentalist, whose marriage to his early vaudeville partner was famously loyal and happy. His story is one of the few Hollywood biographies that reflect a fulfilled life as well as a spectacular career.
| ISBN-13 | 9780679446071 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0679446079 |
| Weight | 1.85 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 6.50 x 1.50 x 10.00 In |
| List Price | $29.95 |
| Format | Hardcover |
|---|---|
| Pages | 416 pages |
| Publisher | Knopf |
| Published On | 1997-11-18 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Aspen Book Company
Denver, CO, USA
A well-loved companion. Corners and cover might show a little wear and you could find some notes or ...
Free delivery by: 28 Mar 2026
✨ Used, Very Good
Seller details
Half Price Books Inc
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 28 Mar 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
Half Price Books Inc
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 28 Mar 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
HPB-Emerald
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 28 Mar 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
HPB-Emerald
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 28 Mar 2026