Foxy Lady: The Authorized Biography of Lynn Bari

by Jeff Adam Gordon

Lynn Bari was Hollywood's consummate contract player during the golden age of movies. Beautiful, immensely talented and popular with moviegoers and co-workers alike, she had seemed destined to become a major star - but her ascent was sabotaged by unresolved problems with her domineering, alcoholic mother and three exploitative marriages. Foxy Lady is based on author Jeff Gordon's extensive conversations with Bari, a warm and highly intelligent woman with a delicious sense of humor and the gift of total recall. Gordon's research also involved interviews with dozens of Lynn's friends, family members and professional associates, including Anthony Quinn, Alice Faye, Claire Trevor, Roddy McDowall and George Montgomery. Jeff Gordon is a noted film historian whose work has appeared in Classic Images, Films of the Golden Age, Focus on Film, and numerous other entertainment-oriented publications. In 1984 he formed Jagarts, a retail business and rental archive dealing with the history of American movies through graphic art, photography and publicity. Gordon had been at the helm of a cinema society in New York City for seven years. Since 2004 he has been running a film group in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he currently resides.

Genres: Biography

500 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2010

About the author

Jeff Gordon was a collector and dealer of film memorabilia. Jeff was, early in his career, a staff member at New York's Lincoln Center and regularly wrote encyclopedic articles for Films of The Golden Age and other journals and magazines. At the time of his death, Jeff lived in Dallas where he enjoyed a formal relationship with the Hamon Arts Library of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, to which he has willed his extensive collection of vintage movies, movie posters, and other salient memorabilia.

Reviews

[Zoe Krainik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of Lynn Bari before reading this book, but now I can't forget her! This is an incredibly interesting, detailed bio with a perfect mix of personal and film information that flow seamlessly. The book is loaded with photos!! Perhaps my favorite inclusion are Bari's own thoughts of what is being discussed (included in bold type mixed into the narrative). I can really find no fault with this biography! Buy it!

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We expect 500 pages on Judy Garland (the next wife of Bari's 2nd husband), but why a 500-page bio on Bari? In a nutshell, because she deserves it. She accomplished the nearly impossible task while at 20th Century Fox - her studio for 14 years from late 1933 - of rising from extra and bit parts to starring in "B" films (bottom half of a double feature), and eventually co-starring in "A" films. Then, during the post-WW2 collapse of the studio system, she was let go, to sink or swim on her own. The author gives the reader an inside look at how a major studio produces films, how a very young wannabe actress learns her craft and, without the support (or hindrance) of the studio, leaves her Fox 'family' and builds a successful 20-year career freelancing in TV and theatre.

Bari was determined to be a film star. She appeared to have the makings of a star, but didn't achieve her goal, though she came close. The author doesn't over-indulge in "what ifs", such as what if Zanuck had promoted Bari as he did newcomers Linda Darnell and Gene Tierney, what if he had given Bari starring roles in major productions sooner, what if her screen image had been altered, etc. But apparently Bari, beautiful, vibrant and magnetic in person, lacked that magical quality that only the camera can see, which, magnified on the screen, made stars out of certain of her competitors.

A bigger "what if" is would she have climbed higher without the toxic influence of her mother and the 3 vampires she married. Bari was a smart lady, so why did she repeatedly make self-destructive choices? This is a major subject in the book and the author gives it thorough coverage. I accept his opinions and speculations regarding her personality and behavior because he has steeped himself over a long period in her life and work. And most importantly, he interviewed Bari. We have her words, as well as those of family members, friends, and associates who also spoke with the author, and he has set off their comments in indented paragraphs, with Bari's comments in boldface. No paraphrasing. No ellipses. No filters. Quoting the source verbatim permits the reader to 'know' Bari in a way similar to how the author from his extensive phone interviews knew her.

The years after Bari retired from show biz, could, had they been written up in the tabloids, been a sad recitation of major health problems and loss. But the author, and Bari herself, sees her last years, after moving to Santa Barbara, as a time of introspection and acceptance of where she was and how she got there. These final chapters are a gift to the reader, who, as does the author and virtually everyone who ever met her, like Bari, and are glad she steered herself past the rocks and sailed into a becalmed and safe port.

This is an extraordinarily well-researched, well-organized, and well-written bio with the right balance of admiration, sympathy, and objectivity. Also, the book contains a multitude of b/w photos, 1 or 2 on every other page, all nice size and of mostly good to very-good quality, plus a gorgeous cover photo and foxy title. I would have liked an appendix listing her radio and stage appearances (as there is of her film and TV work), but even without this, the book is perfection. In fact, star bios don't get any better than this. Kudos to Jeff Gordon and Bear Manor.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m an avid fan of Lynn Bari. The five star rating might be a little bias. This excellent biography of her by Jeff Gordon shook me emotionally, but I’ll try to be pragmatic in my justification for this rating.

I’ll start by saying that this book is successful because it can appeal to large group of readers (not limited to those who might devotedly watch through Bari’s filmography like myself). The quotes from Bari that Gordon includes provide great insight to the corrupt film studio politics of 1940’s 20th Century Fox so it serves as a good book for those interested in 1940’s filmmaking.

The films Lynn Bari was featured in are discussed with snarky and witty comments from her, but her personal life is also adequately examined from her failed marriages and resulting stress and alcoholism that wrecked her physically.

But most prominent and recurring of all throughout this book is the emphasis of her intelligence, individuality, and authority that she breathed in her life and movies. Fox (and Bari’s husbands) didn’t know what to do with a woman who possessed such qualities

I’ve read biographies that are structured around interviews and they never work out well because the authors voice is absent. But Gordon is careful maintain his own honest analysis—the good and the bad—of Bari’s life with her words as support. He knew Lynn Bari and they had a warm friendship that is brought to life in the final chapter as the process for creating the book was explained.

[Rick Burin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed biography of 20th Century Fox contract player, Lynn Bari, with a neat gimmick: its standard chronological narrative is studded with chunks of oral history from interviews conducted with the subject not long before her death.

If the book is undermined by Gordon's lovestruck approach to his subject, at least it only clouds his prose with exculpatory caveats, rather than obscuring the facts. His grabby thesis – introduced in an unforgettable prologue co-starring Ronald Colman – is that Bari's career was held back by her alcoholic mother, and by three bad husbands. And while he never fully sells us on it, his fast-paced and impeccably-researched biography still offers another intriguing slant on an eternally fascinating world.

[Samantha Glasser]

I met the author at Cinevent many years ago, and I always kicked myself for not buying a copy of the book from him. (At the time I was a college student with very little money and I was only vaguely aware of Lynn Bari.) Bari was a staple of the Cinevent film program and the Columbus Moving Picture Show has made a point of carrying on that tradition. In 2025 we will see her in Pier 13 with Lloyd Nolan, another staple, so I figured it was time to buy the book.

[Marc Bohm-Klotzek · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best biographies I have ever read !
The author ,Mr Gordon , is clearly inspired by his subject ,Miss Bari ,without ' hero worshipping ' her.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great job my friend!