Description
From the Dust Jacket
In last year’s number-one bestseller Gracie: A Love Story, George Burns told of his lifelong love affair with his wife and stage partner, Gracie Allen. All My Best Friends is the grand story of the only other passion in his life—show business and the legendary stars. George Burns’s career has spanned the history of modern show business; he has starred in big-time vaudeville; in radio, television, the movies, and the recording industry; and on the nightclub stage. All My Best Friends is the history of modern show business, as George Burns has lived it. More than that, it is the backstage story of the people who made that history. They were all his best friends: Jolson and Jessel and Cantor and Durante; the Marx Brothers and the Ritz Brothers; Ed Wynn, Sophie Tucker, and Fanny Brice; Walter Matthau, Carol Channing, Bobby Darin, Ann-Margret, and Brooke Shields. And most of all, Jack Benny. This is the story of friendship and love, both onstage and off. “Most of what I said is true,” George Burns admits. “The rest is show business.” As a group, George’s friends created and shaped show business today. Like George, many of them started by performing on street corners, and eventually they made it in vaudeville. In this book we get to know them as they really were: their loves and feuds, their gimmicks. With the invention of radio a new form of comedy developed — the situation comedy. And then came the movies, which attracted the stars of vaudeville and radio, and the Hollywood entertainment community was born. At the center of this community was a group of top comedians who met for lunch daily at a large roundtable at the Hillcrest Country Club. As one of the last survivors of that famed roundtable, George Burns remembers what it was really like.
Publishing Info
All My Best Friends by George Burns with David Fisher. From the First Printing by G.P. Putnam’s Sons with 1989 copyright. The ISBN is 0-399-13483-2. This hardcover book measures about 9-1/4″ x 6-1/4″ and has 320 pages, with 76 b/w photos in three sections of the book.
Condition
See the photo above. The book is in very good condition overall. The dust jacket has rubbing and other storage. The boards and pages are in near new condition. No names or other markings noted. From clean, smoke-free home.
Shipping
Generally sent the same day payment arrives. Unless you request otherwise, I will wrap the book in plastic wrap to help protect it from the elements, create a custom-made cardboard box to ship it in, and send via Media Mail with Delivery Confirmation tracking. See the shipping page for the cost to send a two-pound Media Mail package. Insurance is an additional cost as described. I am delighted to combine postage and insurance costs if you purchase more than one item. The second item may travel for free or just a few cents more — so it’s worth taking a look at my other items before you complete your order.
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