Spellbound by Beauty
Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies
"Fascinating . . . probes an even darker side of Hitchcock." –Newsday
It is remarkable how infrequently, over a period of more than fifty years, Alfred Hitchcock spoke about the legendary actresses he directed–including Ingrid Bergman, Kim Novak, and Grace Kelly. But his leading ladies greatly enriched his films, and many of them achieved international stardom precisely because of their work for Hitchcock.
Rich with new material, anecdotes, and never-before-told personal observations, this explosive portrait details Hitchcock’s outbursts of cruelty, the shocking humor, and the odd amalgam of adoration and contempt that characterized Hitchcock’s obsessive relationships with women–and that also, paradoxically, fed his genius.
Spellbound by Beauty offers important insights into the life of a brilliant and tortured artist, and pays…
Donald Spoto is the author of 25 books, including bestselling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, and Audrey Hepburn. He earned his PhD degree from Fordham University. Spoto is married to the Danish school administrator Ole Flemming Larsen; they live in a quiet village, an hour's drive from Copenhagen.