Summary of Lynn Haney's Gregory Peck

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 In 1942, talent scouts had been circling the young man named Gregory Peck. He had a deep, resonant voice that could reach all the way to the back row of the orchestra and the rear row of the balcony. He was darkly handsome and intelligent.

#2 Greg was not born to the spotlight, but he ended up in it anyway. He began his career in La Jolla, a seaside community on the outskirts of San Diego. He was not only lucky, but he also had a talent for creating luck.

#3 In Manhattan, he landed a two-year scholarship to the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse. He was trained by Sanford Meisner, the school’s director, who came out of the Group Theater, which revolutionized American acting in the 1930s with psychologically truthful performances.

#4 Greg’s life was not easy. He was lonely, insecure, and often at a loose end. But Greta, his wife, helped him get through those difficulties. She was the hairdresser to Katharine Cornell, star of Guthrie McClintic’s touring theater company, and she steadfastly believed in his acting ability.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822537385

IRB Media

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Insights on Lynn Haney's Gregory Peck

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 18

Insights from Chapter 19

Insights from Chapter 20

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In 1942, talent scouts had been circling the young man named Gregory Peck. He had a deep, resonant voice that could reach all the way to the back row of the orchestra and the rear row of the balcony. He was darkly handsome and intelligent.

#2

Greg was not born to the spotlight, but he ended up in it anyway. He began his career in La Jolla, a seaside community on the outskirts of San Diego. He was not only lucky, but he also had a talent for creating luck.

#3

In Manhattan, he landed a two-year scholarship to the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse. He was trained by Sanford Meisner, the school’s director, who came out of the Group Theater, which revolutionized American acting in the 1930s with psychologically truthful performances.

#4

Greg’s life was not easy. He was lonely, insecure, and often at a loose end. But Greta, his wife, helped him get through those difficulties. She was the hairdresser to Katharine Cornell, star of Guthrie McClintic’s touring theater company, and she steadfastly believed in his acting ability.

#5

After the war, Greg and Greta were thrown together. They were married simply because they were both looking for security. Greg was determined to stabilize their relationship.

#6

Greg was not sure what to do. He was developing solid theater credentials, but he was also afraid that if he didn’t make it, he would have no choice but to go to Hollywood and become a movie star.

#7

Greg and Greta arrived in Los Angeles, and were soon wined and dined by the studios. They enjoyed the Golden Age of movies, and saw how each movie empire was producing 70 or 80 films a year.

#8

Louis B Mayer was the most powerful and feared mogul at Paramount. The stars in his stable had to submit to his antics and conniving if they wanted to survive.

#9

Greg finally agreed to do a movie with top screenwriter Casey Robinson. Robinson did not give him the usual sign-with-me-and-I’ll-make-you-a-star line. He told him that in his opinion he was a star, and offered him the principal role in Days of Glory.

#10

Greg and Greta moved to California in 1943. They camped in the Monterey Motor Court off Sunset Boulevard because wartime made housing scarce. They rented a pink house high up in the Hollywood Hills.

#11

Greg was tested for the role of the priest in The Keys of the Kingdom, which was being directed by John M Stahl. The character of Father Chisholm ranges in appearance from age 18 to 82. With his surefire instinct for what moviegoers wanted, Zanuck knew Greg would be right for the role.

#12

Greg’s first Oscar nomination came for The Keys of the Kingdom, which was also his first film with David O. Selznick. His wife, the actress Margaret Sullavan, was pressuring him to sell his talent agency for Broadway production. He did so in 1945.

#13

The Valley of Decision is the story of a servant who becomes a mistress in a wealthy Pittsburgh industrialist’s home and spends the rest of