Night Stalker Archives : Sixties Cinema

Carol Lynley Front/Back Covers Unveiling

September 30, 2020 by Tom Lisanti

Soon to be released from BearManor Media. More details to follow in coming weeks.

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21 hours ago

So sad to hear of the passing of 1960s actress Joan Blackman. She was my favorite of the 4 1960s Joan starlets (Joan Freeman and two that I interviewed, Joan O'Brien and Joan Staley). She was a beautiful, fresh-faced actress with acting talent. Joan appeared opposite Elvis Presley in two of my favorite Presley movies the travelogue Blue Hawaii (1961), that set the pace for many future Elvis musicals with pretty scenery and lots of even prettier girls, where she was a half-Hawaiian tour guide in love with the King and the more serios drama with music, Kid Galahad (1962). With a less glamorous look, Blackman was excellent as the sister of boxing promoter Gig Young who falls with new boxer, Elvis, to her brother's chagrin.

Joan also worked with Tony Fanciosa in Career (1959), Jerry Lewis in Visit to a Small Planet (1960), Tony Curtis in The Great Imposter (1961), and Richard Chamberlain in Twilight of Honor (1963). She had a memorable role on the TV series Peyton Place as Marian Fowler the culprit in an infamous hit-and-run but after her film career unjustly slid into low-budget fodder like Intimacy (1966), The Destructors (1967) and Daring Game (1968) opposite Lloyd Bridges. She disappeared from the limelight for about 5 years before remerging playing character roles in a several 1970s drive-in and cult movies such as Pets, Macon County Line and Moonrunners before retiring from acting.

I tried reaching out to Joan Blackman several times for an interview for my books to no avail. She is one of several that I failed to speak with that truly disappointed me. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sixties Cinema Books

6 days ago

Celebrate the 46th Anniversary of Texas!
Relive the cult soap with Texas: An Oral History of Daytime TV's Answer to Dallas—the definitive behind-the-scenes book featuring interviews with the stars, writers and production crew. A must-have for every soap fan! Available from Amazon and other online book sellers. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sixties Cinema Books

3 weeks ago

My friend Nelson Aspen shared this stunning colorized publicity photo of Carol Lynley as Jean Harlow from Magna Pictures’ Harlow (1965). Harlow expert Darrell Rooney commented in my book Dueling Harlows that this was his favorite gown, designed by Nolan Miller, from either Harlow biopics. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sixties Cinema Books

1 month ago

Celebrate 51 Years of Ryan's Hope!
Relive the Emmy-winning soap with Ryan's Hope: An Oral History of Daytime's Groundbreaking Soap—the definitive behind-the-scenes book featuring interviews with the stars, writers and production crew. A must-have for every soap fan! Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sixties Cinema Books

1 month ago

I have been concentrating so much on my soap opera books, that I glossed over these editorial reviews for Dueling Harlows. Better late than never, but thanks, Carolyn, James, and Louise for the kind words.

Editorial Reviews
"Full of details and on-and-off screen drama, this book will appeal to film historians and devotees of Hollywood's Golden Age."--Carolyn M. Mulac, Library Journal

"Dueling Harlows is one of the most interesting and entertaining books about film production, promotion, and distribution that this reviewer has read. Lisanti's skilled writing style, his vast knowledge, and his penchant for detail benefits this truly valuable study that includes exclusive quotes and many revealing surprises."--James L. Neibaur, author of The Mae West Films

"What a terrific book. Tom Lisanti gives a nonfiction tale the narrative arc, excitment, and tension I associate with a great novel. But its even more compelling because its not fiction. The people are real. The incidents did actually happen. And somehow he lets us see all of it. I got to know a lot of people whose names were familiar but I never met them. Now I feel that I did. That is one of the many pleasures of Tom's writing--he makes these people so available. I loved the book and enjoyed every moment of reading it."--Louise Shaffer, Emmy Award winning actress and author of The Three Miss Margarets: A Novel ... See MoreSee Less

Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress's Life to the Silver Screen

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Dueling Harlows: The Race to Bring the Actress's Life to the Silver Screen

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Sixties Cinema Books

2 months ago

A Saturday throwback. Sixteen years ago, this month, the late Gail Gerber and I attended the IPPY Awards ceremony here in NYC where we were presented with the Silver Medal for Best Autobiography/ Memoir. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sixties Cinema Books

2 months ago

You bet your sweet bippy! I won another Ippy! My Dueling Harlows book received the 2026 Independent Publisher Book Awards (the IPPY) for Best Performing Arts book. I took home the bronze and am blown away. It is my second IPPY. The late Gail Gerber and I won the silver back in 2010 for Best Memoir for her book Trippin' with Terry Southern. I have been submitting my books ever since but thought I would never win again. What a nice surprise!

Special thanks to McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers for publishing the book, Elisabeth Pearson for her copy editing, and all the interviewees including the late Carol Lynley, Lindsay Bloom, Darrell Rooney, Carol Hollenbeck, and Maureen Gaffney Wolfson. ... See MoreSee Less

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