Katharine
Cornell by Lucille M. Pederson
This reference summarizes and overviews the life
and career of Katharine Cornell, one of the foremost actresses of
the American stage from 1920 to 1960. The book begins with a
biography that briefly discusses Cornell's life and achievements.
A chronology then outlines the most significant events in her
career. The chapters that follow provide detailed information on
her stage appearances and radio, film, and television work. The
credits, casts, synopses, brief histories, commentaries, and
selected critical reviews are included for each of the plays in
which she appeared. An extensive bibliography of books, journals,
newspaper articles, and reviews provides a list of additional
information about Cornell's life and career. Appendices list her
awards and honors, the plays and films in which she declined to
appear, and works authored by her.
Passing
Performances : Queer Readings of Leading Players in American
Theater History by Robert A. Schanke (Editor), Kim
Marra (Editor)
From the suspect heroism of Edwin Forrest,
paragon of 19th-century American manhood, to the "lavender
marriage" of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the private lives
of leading actors are unearthed in 14 stimulating essays by
historians of American theater. The subtitle Queer Readings...
is especially apt, in that Passing Performances continually
addresses the promises and perils of "outing" famous
figures who lived, in some cases, before the terms homosexual,
gay, and lesbian were coined, and before many of the
behaviors now associated with same-sex love took on their current
meanings. While the best essays here explore the larger
significance of these actors' romantic affiliations--how it
affected their performances, for example, or their choice of
roles--many have a more narrow focus on sexual orientation, and
are thus hampered by what the editors call the "vexed and
elusive" evidence of sex acts or desires. Lacking documentary
evidence or eyewitness accounts, writers are forced to rely (with
varying success) on gossip and anecdote, and sometimes on gender
stereotyping. Mary Martin is classified as bisexual, for instance,
almost solely on the basis of her haircut. Despite occasional
leaps of faith, Passing Performances capably fills a
longtime gap in theatrical history and the expanding queer
curriculum. --Regina Marler
