Goldwyn: A Biography of the Man Behind the Myth

by Arthur Marx

Arthur Marx shows us a Goldwyn who was a highly complex and puzzling individual. He supplies in abundance the famous Goldwynisms and a good many stories printed here for the first time. Rich in anecdotal detail about both Goldwyn's personal and his professional life, this biography is a testament to his role as both a perfectionist in art and a founder of one of America's great industries.

494 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1976

About the author

Arthur Marx was an American author, a former ranked amateur tennis player, and son of entertainer Groucho Marx and his first wife, Ruth Johnson.

Reviews

[Scott Campbell]

I wanted to read A. Scott Berg's biography but accidentally ended up with this version instead. It was interesting, and as Groucho Marx's son, the author had access to a lot of the people mentioned in the book. I felt the book was a little on the light side and the writing could have been better, but overall it was an interesting read.

[Amy Dale]

Started fantastically but by page 147 I was getting bogged down and I skimmed through the remaining 300 pages looking for gems.

I absolutely loved the beginning, telling of his running away across Europe as a child,alone and how he got jobs and became the best and his crazy schemes. I loved all his hilarious mixed up quotes too.

Once you get beyond that, it's really pretty homogeneous, it's about partners, quarrels,money, fighting for rights over films and companies, trying to sign stars and writing screenplays. After awhile,it just all sounds the same. There was some cool sections which touched on various actresses and actors where you got a little knowledge about them,but not nearly as much as I expected.

[Luke Devenish]

A marvellous monster. I felt nothing but affection for him all the way through. Thoroughly enjoyed this. What a glorious character.