World War II Veterans in Hollywood

Profiling World War II veterans who became famous Hollywood personalities, this book presents biographical chapters on celebrities like Audie Murphy, “America’s number one soldier”; Clark Gable, the “King of Hollywood”; Jimmy Stewart, combat pilot; Gene Autry, the “singing cowboy,” who flew the infamous Hump; the amorous Mickey Rooney; Jackie Coogan, “the Kid” who crashed gliders in the jungle; James Arness, who acquired his Gunsmoke limp in the mountains of Italy; Tony Bennett, who discovered his voice during the Battle of the Bulge; and Lee Marvin, a Marine NCO who invaded 29 islands. Profiles of these and 21 others include little-known stories and details.

Art Evans is a former race car driver, Paramount Communications vice president for production, Army Reservist, police officer and author of a number of books and numerous articles for photography and automotive magazines as well as professional journals. He lives in Redondo Beach, California.

Art Evans
Foreword by Perry King
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 246
Bibliographic Info: 83 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7777-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3967-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Foreword by Perry King 1
Preface 3
1. Audie Murphy 5
2. Sterling Hayden 13
3. Eddie Albert 19
4. Jimmy Stewart 26
5. Joseph Wapner 33
6. Gene Autry 38
7. Neville Brand 44
8. Art Carney 49
9. Don Adams 55
10. Jackie Coogan 60
11. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 67
12. Charlton Heston 77
13. Jason Robards 85
14. James Arness 93
15. Peter (Aurness) Graves 99
16. Ernest Borgnine 101
17. Tony Bennett 110
18. Mickey Rooney 118
19. Tyrone Power 127
20. Charles Bronson 134
21. Tony Curtis 141
22. Lee Marvin 149
23. Rod Serling 157
24. Kirk Douglas 163
25. Charles Durning 172
26. Henry Fonda 178
27. Clark Gable 186
28. Mel Brooks 196
29. Rod Steiger 204
30. Norman Lear 210
31. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. 218
Epilogue 224
Bibliography 227
Index 229