It all started in 1995, when I was still in college, and checked out a VHS copy of Three on a Match from the Glendora Public Library on a whim. I developed a deep connection with this incredible woman, but she also played a major part in shaping and defining who I am today. She drove an ambulance in England during World War II, wrote an 18-volume history of the world, and died in obscurity on Oahu in 1979. In the process, it also turned into a deep relationship with a woman I never met.ĭvorak fought the powerful Hollywood studio system in court (and lost). What started out as a passing interest in an obscure film actress turned into a 15-year quest to uncover her life story. On second thought, maybe you haven’t heard of Ann.Īt this point, I know so much about Ann that I literally wrote the book on her: Ann Dvorak: Hollywood’s Forgotten Rebel. Sure, Ann made movies for another 20 years, but she lost her shot at superstardom. This was a big no-no in the days of the powerful Hollywood studio system. contract to go on an eight-month honeymoon. Then she fell madly in love with a co-star, eloped, and walked out on her Warner Bros. Reporters called the 19-year-old actress “Hollywood’s New Cinderella,” and she seemed poised to become a household name.

She made headlines in early 1932 with a coveted role in Scarface, a film produced by Howard Hughes.

Starlet means