Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s

The title of this book is misleading in that this is not a copy of Mary Astor's diary. It is a book about the custody trial of her daughter, in which the diaries figured prominently, in that her husband threatened to use the diaries against her in order to show that she was unfit to have custody of their daughter. So the book is interesting, but the title is quite misleading.
As a vignette of old Hollywood, it is not bad. It makes Mary Aster look very human, not particularly good, not at all particularly bad, certainly not by today's standards anyway.

While I would have liked more dirty details from the diaries, this was a good read. I have always loved her performance in Dodsworth, and after reading this I appreciate what a truly great actress she was if she could give a performance like that during this turbulent trial. Some good gossipy bits in there, too.

Of one of Hollywood's greatest scandals. While certainly no saint,, this extensively researched book proves that unlike no many of Astor's films, the truth is not always black and white. No saint, but certainly no sinnrt!

Multiple lives mixed with Hollywood celebrity a sprinkle of scandal and then shaken with human emotions is what Joseph Egan gives us in The Purple Diaries. Joseph Egan has a style that draws the reader in and keeps them riveted. He has taken a complex story and presented it in a way that is both insightful and easy to follow. What could have become a story of caricatures is instead a story about compassion for a little girl whose life could have embroiled in constant battles between her parents. From start to finnish Joseph Egan has take a story out of the headlines and into our hearts.

This was an interesting book. I learned a lot about Mary Astor that I never knew. It is very honest and doesn't pull any punches. Well written and good research which makes Mary Astor come alive. I would recommend this book.

Mary Astor was a very talented actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood who happened to possess the morals of a monkey. Rather than just chronicle her antics, Egan has attempted some amateur psychoanalysis 80+ years removed from his subject. This makes for some rather tedious reading, as no matter how inexplicable or hurtful to others Astor's behavior was, Egan can always find an excuse. If he can find nothing else, he can point the finger at one of Astor's contemporaries who committed some outrage of their own.

I give the book three stars, as it is well researched and uses material supplied by Astor's family. However, the author continually passes judgment on the thoughts and actions of people who lived eighty years ago using contemporary standards, and that get very tiresome after a few chapters.

I was really excited to get this book. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. It was very dull and lifeless. As stated in the title, most of the book was about the child custody trial. Even though I used to be a legal assistant, I found all of it boring, flat and repetitive. I understand wanting to be respectful of Miss Astor's life, but this book was just soulless and ultimately dull.

Nothing in the diary was revealed. The whole book was skewed in Ms. Astor's favor, including some inappropriate snarkiness from the author. It would have been nice to let the reader determine who was at fault in the marriage and divorce. If I wanted to read repetitive court transcripts, I would have done so instead of buying this book.

In 1936, actress Mary Astor (THE MALTESE FALCON, THE GREAT LIE) was embroiled in a nasty, headline-grabbing custody battle with her second husband, Dr. Franklyn Thorpe, over their young daughter. Thorpe stole two 200-page ledgers that Astor used as diaries to detail her amorous adventures in Hollywood and the numerous affairs she, Thorpe and many Hollywood's luminaries were conducting. Leaking pages from these diaries to the press, Thorpe threatened to ruin Astor's career by exposing her ongoing affair with married playwright George S. Kaufman. Many film studios also feared that revealed intimate details could tarnish the images of her friends and costars, including MGM head Irving Thalberg and his wife, Norma Shearer. Joseph Egan's meticulously researched and compulsively readable THE PURPLE DIARIES re-creates the two-month court hearing and simultaneous media frenzy through diary excerpts, vintage reporting, court transcripts and new interviews.

Astor emerges as a complex and fascinating person. "Brought up to be hard on herself, she was equally hard on those around her," writes Egan. While neither warm nor nurturing, she was willing to risk her livelihood to prevent her daughter from being raised the way that had stunted her own childhood. Egan does an outstanding job of revealing the emotional background behind each player's actions, never creating villains in this drama.

THE PURPLE DIARIES is a fascinating piece of Hollywood detective work, a character study of a forward-thinking and sexually liberated woman and an examination of the tabloid press. Egan takes an 80-year-old scandal and brings it to life with compassion and psychological insight. Film buffs will find The Purple Diaries irresistible.

THE PURPLE DIARIES revisits Mary Astor's 1936 scandalous child custody case and her sexually explicit diaries that threatened to ruin her career.

Without doubt, Mary Astor was a psychological mess.

She was raised by two cold, manipulating parents who took advantage of her early acting career by controlling the money she earned and giving her a paltry allowance. Her father was a crackpot, a man who preached half-baked ideas, and both Mary Astor and her mother were only “permitted” to listen in agreement. Since Mary did not receive the love and physical tenderness from her parents, she recoiled at physical touch and love. That is, until John Barrymore came along and took her as his “student.” He tried to tutor her in life’s realities, and tried to get her to stand up for herself, but it was only until their relationship cooled that she grew a backbone. She went into a string of relationships and marriages afterwards, not knowing real love.

Her affairs, particularly with playwright George S. Kaufman, were soul-less and interesting. He was a piece of work, too.

The forthcoming scandal with the publication of her diary was astonishing.

This is a very good telling of the life of one of Hollywood’s premiere star actresses, and the writing is intelligent.

Though I only read a sample of this book, I placed it on my wish list so I can read the entire book later

This meticulously researched presentation of the facts surrounding the Mary Astor custody trial and diary scandal draws on court records and family history and reads like a novel! It presents the story of two flawed people battling for custody of their 4-year old daughter and the ensuing "Hollywood drama" that captured the attention of a nation. Sadly, it also documents the shenanigans of the press and the fabricated diary contents they wrote that were presented as facts and that ever after influenced how Mary Astor was viewed by history. It sets the record straight, while being wonderfully readable. Highly recommended for film buffs, movie star aficionados and anyone looking for an excellent, factual read.

★★★★★ from Christy Putnam on February 3, 2017

Purple? I'd Say It Was More Like Gold!

Having a top-notch researcher plumbing the depths of archives for minute details that flesh out the experiences of all the major players in one of the hottest scandals to ever grace newspaper headlines makes fascinating reading. Access to Mary Astor's daughter, Marylyn Thorpe Roh, and being able to conduct an in-depth interview with her makes the narrative arrive to a coda that captures all the nuances of the mother and daughter struggles through the trial and its aftermath. Roh, the only person who could answer all of biographer Joseph Egan's probing questions consented to several interviews and shared her personal experiences, photos, and memories of her mother. A more compelling analysis of the main player in such a well-publlicized saga doesn't exist, while the evolution of such a massive research project is just as fascinating as its subject. Photos of and comments about major Hollywood players, high-priced legal eagles, abusive parents, and a self-seeking ex-husband enrich Egan's narrative as much as the motivations of such a popular Oscar-winning actress who struggled with alcoholism and a heart condition while also realizing one of her earlier ambitions to become a writer. If you are intrigued, this review pales when compared to the actual treasures of reading "The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s."

Joseph Egan has written a highly readable account of one of Hollywood's most infamous scandals. He does this with facts, not the hyperbole generated by rumor or fictitious sensationalism (Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon comes to mind.) During his research, Egan developed a close friendship with Astor's daughter Marylyn, whose insight into her mother's life allows for a more personal touch. Truth moves the narrative forward, and believe me, it's a page turner. Egan dives into Astor's back-story, bringing all the key figures "to life." He prepares the reader to understand Astor's life choices. The key players in Astor's custody trial are all fleshed out: her husband, her lover George Kaufman, her attorney Roland Rich Woolley, her champion Ruth Chatterton, and Judge Goodwin J. Knight. Actual trial transcripts put the reader in the front row of the courtroom, where each pertinent bombshell is followed by the next. There is an excellent selection of photos and news headlines - many from the Astor family archives. You couldn't ask for a better Introduction, than the one written by Astor's great-grandson Andrew Yang. The Purple Diaries, injected with "humor with bite" is a lively, honest read. Film fans are indebted to Egan for this literate, entertaining account from Hollywood's Golden Age.

1930’s Hollywood was a glamorous and fascinating place. When one of the top stars of the day, Mary Astor, decides to divorce her husband, the ensuing custody battle and threat to release her infamous diaries has the American public riveted. The diary, purported to list the names of Mary’s lover’s, threatened the lifestyle of the screen’s leading men. This was a fascinating book. It was well paced and contained enough back story to engage the imagination. Overall, well worth picking up.

A fascinating look at Mary Astor and the court case she fought for her daughter. I was unable to put this book down. Excellently researched. The author explains the case and relates it to the times and mores of 1930's Hollywood and America.

I was looking forward to reading this book and it didn’t disappoint. And What a story it tells. Well researched and well written. If you consider yourself a movie fan this book is a must. This will be the definitive book on the subject for many years to come.

After reading the other book with a similar title and enjoying it but wanting to know MORE...here is the more! More detailed, better researched and filled with facts and fancies and respect for the parties involved...Well written and worth reading even if you read the other book.

The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s by Joseph Egan is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early November.

Years going by in a moment, the story only really revolves a trial, a child, and a diary. It's relatively okay and reads a lot like an extended book report. A decent try, but not the celebrity story that I was looking for.

I apologize if there are any hardcore Mary Astor fans on here but this book was a disaster. Yes, there was a contentious divorce but that is the way it is in the early decades of our nations. Anyway, this is no spoiler because there is nothing to spoil. Very sad situation played out in the papers but those news papers had NO idea what was coming down the pike. But now with TMZ and Ben Shapiro they are showing us the other side of Hollywood and calling a man who drugged a 13 year old girl and getting away with it through flight. He will face his hell later. And for Whoopie Goldberg saying it wasn't (rape rape) we have lost our minds and our morals. I only mention I have about this book was it was boring and repetitive. That led me into divorce which many A listers are getting divorced. Just watch over your kids, Hollywood. What happens when its you how gets targeted.

Joseph Egan’s best-selling chronicle THE PURPLE DIARIES – MARY ASTOR AND THE MOST SENSATIONAL HOLLYWOOD SCANDAL OF THE 1930S is an important piece of “reporting”. And that is exactly how it reads. Egan has taken a very important Hollywood scandal of the 1930s, equal to that of the Fatty Arbuckle-Virginia Rappe case and the Rudolph Valentino-“Pink Powder Puff” shocker of the 1920s, and reported it as it happened, more or less, in a book that is quite an easy, breezy read. But it lacks much sustenance…

Mary Astor, a huge star of patrician beauty of the silent and early talkie silver screen, shocked prurient America of 1936 in the scandal sheets when it was revealed she had carried on a much heated, and much privately documented, affair with one of America’s leading playwrights George Kaufman while she was still married to Dr. Franklyn Thorpe. Astor had kept a private diary, which her divorced husband eventually discovered, detailing her affair with Kaufman (and other men). Thorpe in turn used “The Purple Diary” as wielding device in the subsequent child custody case over their daughter Marylyn. The court case was bitter, malicious, and the papers and public ate it up.

Astor’s career was peaking in the late 1930s with her excellent work in such films as DODSWORTH (which she was filming during the trial in 1936), and Samuel Goldwyn’s THE HURRICANE (1937). She would eventually win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress of 1941 in Warner Bros. THE GREAT LIE (with Bette Davis), the same year she was immortalized as “Brigid O’Shaughnessy in THE MALTESE FALCON, with Humphrey Bogart. The public eventually forgave Aster her indiscretions. But the effects of this scandal, plus the residual damage done to her by parents, and an early ill-fated love affair with actor John Barrymore, led Astor to drink and unhappiness, though she enjoyed a solid career.

No, THE PURPLE DIARIES is not a full blown biography of the great Astor. She herself wrote her own autobiography MY STORY in 1959, as well as a follow-up about her career A LIFE ON FILM in 1972. Nor is THE PRUPLE DIARY a terribly thorough “fleshing out” of the woman or actress. Perhaps it is not meant to be. But what it is, is a mostly thorough detailing of the court case with heavy leaning on newspaper reporting and transcripts from the trial. On the telling of the scandal, author Egan has done his job. But by the final ruling, and the epilog, the book leaves one with an aggravating feeling that one has been shortchanged. In actuality, the trial was “much ado about nothing.” But the reader, at least this one, is left longing to know more about the Mary Astor who was so wrongly maligned.

This What is a well-organized book detailing Mary Esther’s custody trial for her child. I would have given this five stars because it was entertaining. However, it was extremely distracting that the author is incapable of distinguishing between homonyms. He needs to hire a proofreader, since a basic grasp of the language appears to be missing from his skills.