While many of classic Hollywood’s major stars have been studied over the years, there is much to examine about some of the not-so-well-known players that often led troubled lives or met tragic endings. Film was proving to be a powerful medium that not only entertained audiences but also exposed them to people and scenarios different from who or what they might encounter in their daily lives.
Katherine Fusco’s Hollywood’s Others: Love and Limitation in the Star System argues that the film industry allowed viewers to connect with different groups while also testing the limits of empathy in these portrayals. Here, Fusco shines the spotlight on marginalized stardomes and the complicated contexts from which some of these films and portrayals emerged. Fusco’s book is novel in its broad range of stories compiled under this theme, from ambiguously-gendered stars to conspiracy theories surrounding some of these individuals.
Hometowns to Hollywood 