Celebrity Secrets: Official Government Files on the Rich and Famous
Nick Redfern. Paraview Pocket Books, $17.99 (252pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-2866-1
This collection offers a roundup of the titillating, mundane, hilarious and unusual information gathered by government agencies-including the FBI, CIA and military-on more than 20 celebrities. Collected through Freedom of Information Act requests, this provides a quick-reading peek into the files of Errol Flynn, John Wayne, Billie Holiday and Princess Diana, among others. Each chapter provides a brief bio, explains why the government investigated and then lays open the file, highlighting details both juicy and inane and answering some frequently asked celebrity quesitons: Was John Lennon funding Irish terrorism? Was Frank Sinatra really in league with the mob? Why was Jimi Hendrix discharged from the Army? And what in the hell were the Kingsmen singing about, anyway? Frequently, the motivation behind an agency's interest is the most intriguing part of the file; Rock Hudson, for example, was tailed by the FBI because he was slated to portray one of their own in a film. Several dozen short entries round up the book, covering Lucille Ball, Jack London and the Sex Pistols, to name a few. This title is satisfying both as a repository of quick and dirty celebrity trivia and as a revealing cross-section of Washington's long, tense relationship with Hollywood.
Details
Reviewed on: 02/19/2007
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 272 pages - 978-1-4165-3846-2