Film's First Family: The Untold Story of the Costellos

ISBN: 9780813178097; Hardcover304 pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in, 34 b&w photosPublished by: The University Press of KentuckyFilm's First FamilyThe Untold Story of the Costellosby Terry Chester ShulmanScandal, adultery, secret marriages, celebrity, divorce, custody battles, suicide attempts, and alcoholism -- the trials and tribulations of the Costellos were as riveting as any Hollywood feature film. Written with unprecedented access to the family's personal documents and artifacts -- and interviews with several family members, including Dolores Barrymore Bedell (the daughter of John Barrymore and Dolores Costello) and Helene's daughter Deirdre -- this riveting study explores the dramatic history of the Costellos and their extraordinary significance to the stage and screen.This eccentric, tragic, yet talented clan was one of the twentieth century's most accomplished families of actors -- second only to the Barrymores, with whom they intermarried and begat a film dynasty riddled with jealous