Product Description
More than twenty years after her death, Ethel Merman continues to set the standard for American musical theater. The stories about the supremely talented, famously strong-willed, fearsomely blunt, and terrifyingly exacting woman are stuff of legend. But who was Ethel Agnes Z immermann, really? Brian Kellow’s definitive biography of the great Merman is superb, and the first account to examine both the artist and the woman with as much critical rigor as empathy. Through dozens of interviews with her colleagues, friends, and family members, Kellow traces the arc of her life and her thirty-year singing career to reveal many surprising facts about Broadway’s biggest star. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

The Ultimate Merman Book
There are several books about Ethel Merman -- two autobiographies (I love her but there's a lot of revision in Ethel's version of her life and times) and three biographies including Brian Kellow's Ethel Merman: A Life. Mr. Kellow's book is the best of the three non-autobiographical books on the market. In the two previous biographies, the late Ms. Merman is portrayed as a drunk and a monster who undercut any performer she saw as a threat. Brian Kellow's portrait of Ethel Merman is thorough and realistic -- warts and all -- about this icon of the 20th century musical theatre. It is the first book to look at Ethel Merman in the context of being a woman in a male dominated business during the first three-quarters of the 20th century. As anyone who reads Opera News knows, Brian Kellow is an excellent writer. Ethel Merman: A Life provides him the opportunity to write tellingly about the non-opera diva who dominated American Musical Theatre for a half-century.It is an excellent book and "must read" for anyone interested in the life and times of the great EM!

Merman for the rest of us
As someone with only a superficial knowledge of Ethel Merman and her place in the American musical theater, this book was a revelation.It's not only a fascinating and lively portrait of this one-of-a-kind show biz icon, the book also provides some terrific insight into how the Broadway musical evolved with the ever changing currents of American culture.

Kellow wisely avoids the biographer's temptation to write an "authoritative" version of his subject's life.He avoids the pitfalls of the academic tome and instead offers the reader a vivid portrait of Merman's professional triumphs and personal failures.Kellow sketches the arc of Merman's life through vivid anecdotes, the memories of those who knew her, and, most importantly, through Merman's own words.For me, the latter was the most enlightening and entertaining.Bossy, brassy, sharp-tongued and often vulgar, Merman was at heart a kid from Queens who, Kellow reminds us, despite her success and the circles she ran in, would never be accused of pretentious affectation.

And to me, that's the real joy of this book.Kellow lets us see Merman warts and all.This is certainly no hagiography, but Kellow clearly has affection and respect for this legend of the musical theatre.His prose is vibrant and evocative as he deftly shows the reader how Merman owned the stage like no one before or since.And Kellow doesn't sentimentalize Merman's ill fortune offstage. In the end, Merman was incapable of being anything but the persona she had created, and in the end, that was all she was left with.Kellow understands that this is the heart of the Merman story-- the monumental achievements onstage and the disappointments, betrayals and tragedies of her life offstage.

Finally, I have to say that there were many hilarious moments in this book.Kellow deftly lets these moments play without embellishment.Often it's Merman in her own words who provides the laughs.But any book about Merman would have to include the incredible number of show biz legends she either knew or worked with. Many of these moments are terrific but one bit in particular concerning a moment onstage between a young Betty Grable and the incomparable Bert Lahr nearly caused me to crack a rib with laughter.

This book is a real page turner and not just for people with an interest in Merman or the American musical theater.You don't need to be a Merman fan or a Broadway fan to thoroughly enjoy this compelling portrait of a time when American power and American culture were ascendant and Ethel Merman was the confident voice of a nation hitting its stride.

Finally, an author who writes intelligent biographies!
I've read three of Mr. Kellows biographies, so I feel I can speak from an informed perspective.His writing is intelligent, introspective and thoroughly researched.He writes, not to the lowest common demominator in the reading public, but rather to bright, educated people who want something more than mind candy or brain fluff.
I've always bought a biography because of the subject, not the author.Well, I can say whole-heartedly that I shall be looking for the next book, regardlesss of subject, by this talented writer.

College Term-Paper Treatment of Star's Life
This inconsequential book reads like a lengthy college term paper or master's thesis, filled with facts acquired from other sources (including Merman's own autobiography) but shedding little new light on the subject.Many details are left out and some things she is now best known for are glossed over in just a paragraph.For example, the great 1960s' TV appearances she made are summarized in one paragraph with no details.

Add to that the fact that the index is incomplete and that often more time is spent giving biographical information on her collaborators than on their collaboration, and you have a weak piece that is written at the level of a mediocre college student. Most frustrating is the author's conjecture--instead of digging to find out details, he writes things like "Perhaps Ethel felt" or "It's possible that she..."The year-by-year narrative style makes it uninspired reading--like a very long Wikipedia entry.

SHE WAS THE GREATEST !!!
As an oldtimer(77) I was always in awe of Merman's extraordinary powerful voice.I did meet the lady once, and became a bigger fan.This book is a wonderful record of her life.It has great detail, is kindly to her - we read how demanding she could be, but rightly so.I loved every page of the book, and also it has some interesting facts about the shows she starred in. I can highly reccomend this book to anyone who was a fan of Ethel.Unfortunately you have to be a "Senior" to appreciate her story.I loved it.!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Lady!
I loved Ethel Merman all my life and still enjoy her singing and acting to this day.However, this book was really boring to me, except for the parts about her marriage to Ernest Borgnine.Those were hilarious!She is a wonderful lady and classy from head to toe.I just thought the book went into too much detail about studio background stuff that I don't really have interest in.Someone else may enjoy it though.It was good to read how she developed her strong personality.She is missed by us all.

Lively reading
It's as if Ethel is sitting there telling you her life story.It's a bright lively read and if she fudges a few details and glosses over some of the seamier stuff it is certainly more open and honest that most stars' autobiographies.

This was released in 1978 - 6 years before her death so it does cover most of her life.Fill in the rest with Bob Thomas' I GOT RHYTHM: THE ETHEL MERMAN STORY.

Inaccurate and selective - but a 'class act'
I'm nearly embarrassed to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography, largely because its details (particularly regarding Ethel's private life) are highly selective and sanitised. Still, as a long time fan of Ethel Merman's, I found it a very tasteful presentation, and a pleasant survey of her career, even if there is little detail about the shows themselves.

Brassy though Ethel was known to be, I truly believe she sought both to present her life in excellent taste (that is putting it mildly - she gives the impression she was a virgin at 30) and to reminisce with warmth (making her marriage to the volatile Bob Levitt seem so rosy that one wonders why they ever divorced.)

It is a pleasant 'read,' and has a nice flavour of an elderly lady with an exciting life presenting the details as she would have liked the public to know them. ... Read more

Product Description
Broadway star Ethel Merman's voice was a mesmerizing force and her vitality was legendary, yet the popular perception of La Merm as the irrepressible wonder falls far short of all that she was and all that she meant to Americans over so many decades. This marvelously detailed biography is the first to tell the full story of how the stenographer from Queens, New York, became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age. Mining official and unofficial sources, including interviews with Merman's family and her personal scrapbooks, Caryl Flinn unearths new details of Merman's life and finds that behind the high-octane personality was a remarkably pragmatic woman who never lost sight of her roots.
Brass Diva takes us from Merman's working-class beginnings through the extraordinary career that was launched in 1930 when, playing a secondary role in a Gershwin Brothers' show, she became an overnight sensation singing "I Got Rhythm." From there, we follow Merman's hits on Broadway, her uneven successes in Hollywood, and her afterlife as a beloved camp icon. This definitive work on the phenomenon that was Ethel Merman is also the first to thoroughly explore her robust influence on American popular culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

It's in the details
How about this? A biography of Ethel Merman that really tells the true story of her life. Not all the made up bitch-diva tales that chorus boys have dished about for years, but instead a revealing portrait of an immensely talented, supremely confident and remarkably shy woman.

Ethel Merman...Shy? Yes. Her way of dealing with that shyness was to create the character Ethel Merman: Big Brassy Broadway Belter. Even in the first page of her autobiography she recalls a TV Talk show host asking her if she cried easily. She replied, no not particularly although there was something about weddings that always brought a tear to her eye. But then she added "I should have cried at a few of my own,"breaking up the host and convulsing the studio audience and reinforcing her image as the professional brass diva. A more personal and compelling appearance was when Ralph Edwards surprised her on This Is Your Life. A tearful Merman graciously thanks Edwards at the end revealing the side that she seldom showed in public.

Carol Finn does a remarkably thorough job reconstructing the events of Merman's life right down to the moment she collapsed from a stroke caused by an undetected brain tumor. Merman was only 76 when she died in February 1984, spending her last few months as an invalid barely able to speak. Up until then she was going strong and in fact was booked with her concert tours for the next three years. It seemed impossible that her energetic life would be stopped so suddenly and without any warning.

Finn was fortunate to have had the cooperation of Merman's son Bobby who shared may revealing and personal reminiscences of his mother, and she makes extensive use of the Merman scrapbooks. She doesn't gloss over the negative stoies but goes to great lengths to debunk some of the Merman myths.Of the four biogreaphies published since Merman's death, this one gets closer to the real woman beneath that "Brass Diva" exterior.

As Merman herself would often say "How about that?"

Not a pleasant person, nor a pleasant book
Cannot recommend; she was an enigma or a self absorbed uneducated diva.The portrait painted by this book did little to enhance her appeal.A bore about a boor.

Dull and Error-Ridden
Nobody really expects a snappy read from a scholarly-looking tome like this where every other paragraph contains numerous citations to indexed references in the back; one assumes that's the price of accuracy.

But despite it's lofty intentions, this hefty cradle-to-grave (and beyond) examination of the Broadway legend's life contains a surprising amount of misinformation, something that becomes apparent to anyone familiar with Merman (and show business in general) just through a cursory skim.

Among other things, author claims It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was produced by Universal (actually it was United Artists), wrongly credits Universal with creating the Cinerama process (that studio never even released a picture in this process), screws up names of a number of plays/movies (it's Under the Yum Yum Tree, not The Yum Yum Tree and so on) and provides the erroneous information that Marlo Thomas produced her That Girl series (on which Merman appeared several times) under the pseudonym Danny Arnold--which will come as a big surprise to anyone familiar with the work of TV veteran Arnold and a number of other very real producers who worked on the show over the years. How much else is wrong? Who knows? And these are mistakes I discovered while just casually leafing through the book.

Nitpicking? Perhaps. But even if everything else IS correct, whatever made Merman such a legendary character is buried under such a mountain of minutiea that her magic is lost. Skip this one and read the far more enjoyable Ethel Merman: A Life by Brian Kellow instead. With the exception of Merman's famed lungpower, big isn't necessarily better.

A definitive Merman
Just finished the two new bios on Ethel Merman, and while both have a lot to offer, this one, written by Flinn is the one to read if you only wanted one.While Kellow does admirably in his take on the Merm and his linear is better constructed, Flinn really seeks out more details, not only from her personal life, but from her career as well.Especially well done is her research on her two most famous films, CALL ME MADAM and THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS.While Kellow devotes only a few pages to SHOW BUSINESS, Flinn devotes a whole chapter, noting the changes that took place from the stories inception to the end product.Very well researched and interesting to read.She also goes into all of her TV appearances in much more detail, as well as her two failed pilots. If one wants to know about Merman, one wants details on her work and Flinn wins with flying colors.Flinn also details more of Mermans marital problems than Kellow.For instance, he never mentions anything about Six's abuse of her, where Flinn goes into it quite a lot. There are many other facets that Kellow either ignores or doesn't know about that Flinn dwelves into. However, Kellow goes into bit of detail about her feud with Fernando Lamas and his apparent upstaging her by wearing tight white pants to accentuate his "crouch" area.She was fumming mad.Flinn doesn't go into this at all. She also doesn't go into the Ernest Borgnine marriage fiasco as well as Kellow.He mentions his script girl as living with them and his affair with her. They both hint at the physical abuse aspect. A shame these two wonderful authors didn't colaborate on just one book.That would definately be the essential Merman biography.

Who Was Ethel REALLY?
I've always been kind of a Merman fan, but after reading this beautiful bio/analysis by Prof. Flinn, I realize that this woman was FASCINATING.She was also a bundle of contradictions -- a feminist before her time but also a lady who just wanted a good husband and a happy family life.As a performer she was a consummate professional.AND she was a gay icon.It all comes together in this great book.I couldn't put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
For nearly three decades Ethel Merman virtually guranteed Broadway success. This in-depth portrait details her career, marriages, affairs, and her children. It includes a complete glossary of all of Merman's appearances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Poor research and lack of respect for the subject does this one in
Ethel Merman remains one of Broadway's most colorful stars, and there is enough fodder for a really good book covering here career.

This isn't it.

Geoffrey Mark's book is riddled with factual errors. A few glaring ones:

Merman was born in 1908 (not 1906!)(A line in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINES sums it up: "My age is the only thing I lie about and I don't add on, I take off!")

Merman recorded "The Hostess with the Mostes' " for Decca in November 1950 and it WAS on the original 12" Lp release. Where does the author come up with the claim that it was added to the 1955 reissue??? Better research needed.

Merman did NOT claim in her autobiography that Sandra Church died in obscurity. (She did say something like that about her GYPSY standby!) In fact Merman says nothing negative about Church at all.

These (and other wrong dates and misstatements) destroy the credibility of other passages that Marks claims exclusive knowledge. Does anyone REALLY know what happened between Miss Merman and Ernest Borgnine on their wedding night?

Worst of all, the discography misses label and catalogue numbers for many releases but includes a few. Maddening.

I can't fault the author for his opinions, but when he spends the opening chapter lambasting Merman's two autobiographies and Bob Thomas's excellent I GOT RHYTHM only to directly steal passages from all three something is out of balance.

It's a shame that the warmth and respect he had for Lucille Ball in the book on her TV series is nowhere in evidence here.

Don't bother, unless............
Don't bother buying this book unless you are a fan of supermarket tabloids. There are many factual errors & the author seems far more interested in speculating about Ms. Merman's private life than in providing factual information on one of the greatest performers in Broadway history. I was furtunate enough to see Ms. Merman in all of the shows she did after 1940. She was a true original & deserves nuch, much better than she receives from this author.

Bravo La Merm!
I have been a theatergoer for over four decades and much of what I read here I believe to be quite true!! I began my career with Ethelin Hello,Dolly! seeing her in the show five times.There are no words to describe those standing ovations and Ethel's handling of her two new songs!It was heaven at the theater. I went to the performance a Wednesday matinee where it broke the record for being the longest running show in Broadway history at the time. I still recall being backstage with Ethel and a big cake.Ethel complained of perhaps a little heartburn from an earllier Englsh muffin!!

I recall a good natured Ethel volunteering at Roosevelt Hospital helping ordinary visitors and patients while staying near her parents. That was the talk of New York forawhile.There is still a tree outside the hospital dedicated to the Zimmermans.

I remember the l965 revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" -the one sometimes coldly called Granny Get Your Gun, but I also remember the whole town talking about Ethel bringing down the house every night with the new old fashioned wedding song that Mr. Berlin had written for her.

And while I didn't see "Gypsy" doesn't Ms. Merman really haunt every peformance of that watershed musical?Isn't she the one you really "hear" yelling, "sing out, Louise" as Rose comes barreling down the aisle? Isn't she the one you always imagine in the dowdy coat? Isn't she always belting "Some People" in your mind's ear?

Mr. Mark seems to capture a great deal of Ethel's story here. He clearly respects her.She was a great New York character at a time New York was well known for characters (and that could certainly include a salty mouth). It was common knowledge as I recall that Ethel loved men. (Maybe that's why she got along with Cole Porter so well?) She could be both a lady and a broad, it seemed. But she was above all a performer matched by no other.At a time when the type of star that Ethel represented no longer really exists, this book is a very decent if not perfect tribute. I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading it. The author knows a lot of what he is talking about here.If you are a totally jaded, wizened, spoiled, curmudgeon this may not be your cup of tea. On the other hand if you know little to nothing about La Merm or just missed her era or simply miss her era, this book could be a lovely waltz down memory lane.

Everything's Coming Up Razzes
Absolute drek. But where to begin? The author's constant use of the heretofor unknown nickname "Mermo"? His skewed critical facilities (Merman's overbearing "Mad World" performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination?!)? Or his near complete disregard for facts and a fractured chronology that will have even the most casual Merman observer rolling their eyes? The "Ethel Merman Disco Album" of star bios.

Not just Merman, but the Broadway scene and how she fits in
Ethel Merman's stardom came from her fame in the Broadway musical; yet it's surprising to note that there aren't a large number of books on the market covering her life and career as it relates to the concurrent rise of Broadway shows. That's why ETHEL MERMAN: THE BIGGEST STAR ON BROADWAY is an important survey of not only her life but the Broadway scene as a whole: she worked with some of the biggest names of her time and their stories blend with hers in a fine biographical survey. Very highly recommended indeed.
... Read more

Product Description
This new book contains the most comprehensive bibliography of Ethel Merman's work and materials written on this great American entertainer. She dominated the American musical stage as no other performer has, yet she appeared in only fifteen Broadway productions between 1930 and 1970. The book details the 55-year career encompassing cabaret, vaudeville, recordings, radio, televisions, films and the concert stage. The book is divided into the following categories: biographical essay, chronology, filmography, stage appearances, radio and television appearances, discography, bibliography, and subject index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Resource--in Reference Style
Ethel Merman:A Bio-Bibliography is an excellent resource for the acquainted fan--one whose is familiar with all of Ethel's works and her personal style.However, it is NOT a book for beginners.It iswritten primarily in reference style (i.e., B01, B02, D32, etc.).The bookis an excellent source of information, but it is in no way any form ofpleasure reading.Those interested in purchasing this book should besure they do not wish to view any pictures of Merman (there is only one),nor do they wish to read more than three pages of prose.However,the book is nonetheless a substantial REFERENCE resource.I would behappy to correspond further with any interested parties atjbradleyrogers@hotmail.com ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Alanis Morissette, Amy Grant, Whitney Houston, Sheryl Crow, Sophie B. Hawkins, Janet Jackson, Ethel Merman, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Pat Benatar, Regina Spektor, Bette Midler, Joan Jett, Zooey Deschanel, Lita Ford, Grace Bumbry, Vicki Sue Robinson, Paula Cole, Ronnie Spector, Milagro Vargas, Jennifer Grassman, Mildred Miller, Jan Degaetani, Isabel Leonard, Linda Maguire, Rhona Bennett, Kate Nauta, Barbara Mcalister, Ardis Krainik, Barbara Dever, Louise Caselotti, Irene Dalis, Nedda Casei. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 305. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians. She first performed on stage with her family beginning at the age of seven, and later started her career as an actress with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976. She went on to appear in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Fame. At age sixteen in 1982, she signed a recording contract with A ... Read more

Product Description
GYPSY SONGS:LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU.SMALLWORLD.EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSES.YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY FROM ME.TOGETHER WHEREVER WE GO. ... Read more