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Fallen Idols
Many of the world’s most successful people have seen their careers nosedive following sex scandals, addictions, brushes with the law, corruption or financial troubles.
The higher they have risen in the public eye, the greater their fall. Some have managed to bounce back - were forgiven and rehabilitated into the public sphere, others never recovered. A few, like Amy Winehouse, died still haunted by the demons that had plagued them in their tragically short yet spectacular lives or like UK media personality Jimmy Savile, had their dark secrets exposed after they died. Fallen Idols looks at the Hollywood greats, pop icons, sex symbols, politicians, sports stars and celebrities, who became household names but fell from grace charting the demise of the powerful and popular, from President Richard Nixon to Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe to Whitney Houston.
Bibliographical note: The strap line 'Popular icons who fell from grace' on the front cover is not carried through to the title page that has just 'Fallen Idols'. The book is, therefore, correctly catalogued as per the title page.
The higher they have risen in the public eye, the greater their fall. Some have managed to bounce back - were forgiven and rehabilitated into the public sphere, others never recovered. A few, like Amy Winehouse, died still haunted by the demons that had plagued them in their tragically short yet spectacular lives or like UK media personality Jimmy Savile, had their dark secrets exposed after they died. Fallen Idols looks at the Hollywood greats, pop icons, sex symbols, politicians, sports stars and celebrities, who became household names but fell from grace charting the demise of the powerful and popular, from President Richard Nixon to Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe to Whitney Houston.
Bibliographical note: The strap line 'Popular icons who fell from grace' on the front cover is not carried through to the title page that has just 'Fallen Idols'. The book is, therefore, correctly catalogued as per the title page.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2013
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2020
To some, many of the people in this book may not even have been idols, but hey-hey they were certainly in the public eye at the height of their fame and then, most of them, were relegated to the trash bin either during their lifetime or after their deaths. And when it was the latter, some of the hidden, or in some cases not so hidden, truths came out.
Celebrity careers often nosedived following sex scandals, addictions, brushes with the law, corruption or financial troubles and it would seem that the higher these people had risen in the public eye, the greater is their fall. Some do manage to bounce back, having been forgiven, or offences forgotten and they are rehabilitated into the public sphere, some to carry out sterling work for the community; others who never recovered or died. There is a mixture of all these, shall we say, endings in 'Fallen Idols'.
Film star Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle is an early example. He was at the height of his career when he was accused of an offence against an actress and, although there were a number of versions of what happened, he was proved to be innocent. However Arbuckle's career was finished. He tried comebacks but they never really worked. And Clara Bow, the 'It' girl who brought 'aggressive sex appeal to the silent films of the Roaring Twenties' was another who fell from grace. This happened when her private life came to the fore when she was pursuing a case against her secretary Daisy DeVoe for stealing thousands of dollars from her. Although she did make a comeback, she never achieved the success of her younger days and when she died aged 60, she was almost alone in the world.
Others featured, and there are many, are Lord Lucan - did he ever survive that awful night when he allegedly murdered his children's nanny in mistake for his own wife? -, John Profumo, who did not tell the truth to Parliament and suffered for his part in the Christine Keeler affair (he was one who did come back and was later awarded a gong by the Queen for his charitable work), Sid Vicious of the sex pistols who was hell bent on destruction, of his instruments and subsequently of himself, Marilyn Monroe who died in mysterious circumstances, Amy Winehouse, who had an amazing few years in her short life and, of course, Elvis Presley, whose decline apparently began when he separated from his wife.
There are others, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana who was another hell bent on destruction, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who could not, and did not want to, handle the adulation that was thrown his way, Whitney Houston, whose life and career was one of massive ups and downs until the ultimate ending, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, who struggled to beat his drug addiction, Judy Garland, whose life took a very sad turn, Robert Maxwell, who massively robbed his pensioners of their just rewards and that talented footballer George Best, who drank himself to an early grave. And there is Richard Nixon whose Watergate antics cost him dearly; I will just mention that I was once in his company when I worked in Downing Street and what surprised me about him was that he wasn't as tall as I thought he would be and secondly he was heavily made up, and I mean heavily!
There are many others but finally there is a certain Jimmy Saville, who was feted during his lifetime - in certain quarters anyway because other quarters were aware of his misdemeanours and did nothing about them - and whose career was in tatters when investigated after his death. My daughter never liked him when she was a young girl and used to leave the room if he appeared on screen and she always said that he was 'creepy'. Ironically the book reveals that he was barred from the BBC's 'Children in Need' campaign 'over his "creepy" behaviour'!
It is a fascinating, if somewhat sad book that is worth a read if one wants to learn a little more about the demise of the powerful and popular who once had everything to play for.
Celebrity careers often nosedived following sex scandals, addictions, brushes with the law, corruption or financial troubles and it would seem that the higher these people had risen in the public eye, the greater is their fall. Some do manage to bounce back, having been forgiven, or offences forgotten and they are rehabilitated into the public sphere, some to carry out sterling work for the community; others who never recovered or died. There is a mixture of all these, shall we say, endings in 'Fallen Idols'.
Film star Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle is an early example. He was at the height of his career when he was accused of an offence against an actress and, although there were a number of versions of what happened, he was proved to be innocent. However Arbuckle's career was finished. He tried comebacks but they never really worked. And Clara Bow, the 'It' girl who brought 'aggressive sex appeal to the silent films of the Roaring Twenties' was another who fell from grace. This happened when her private life came to the fore when she was pursuing a case against her secretary Daisy DeVoe for stealing thousands of dollars from her. Although she did make a comeback, she never achieved the success of her younger days and when she died aged 60, she was almost alone in the world.
Others featured, and there are many, are Lord Lucan - did he ever survive that awful night when he allegedly murdered his children's nanny in mistake for his own wife? -, John Profumo, who did not tell the truth to Parliament and suffered for his part in the Christine Keeler affair (he was one who did come back and was later awarded a gong by the Queen for his charitable work), Sid Vicious of the sex pistols who was hell bent on destruction, of his instruments and subsequently of himself, Marilyn Monroe who died in mysterious circumstances, Amy Winehouse, who had an amazing few years in her short life and, of course, Elvis Presley, whose decline apparently began when he separated from his wife.
There are others, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana who was another hell bent on destruction, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who could not, and did not want to, handle the adulation that was thrown his way, Whitney Houston, whose life and career was one of massive ups and downs until the ultimate ending, Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, who struggled to beat his drug addiction, Judy Garland, whose life took a very sad turn, Robert Maxwell, who massively robbed his pensioners of their just rewards and that talented footballer George Best, who drank himself to an early grave. And there is Richard Nixon whose Watergate antics cost him dearly; I will just mention that I was once in his company when I worked in Downing Street and what surprised me about him was that he wasn't as tall as I thought he would be and secondly he was heavily made up, and I mean heavily!
There are many others but finally there is a certain Jimmy Saville, who was feted during his lifetime - in certain quarters anyway because other quarters were aware of his misdemeanours and did nothing about them - and whose career was in tatters when investigated after his death. My daughter never liked him when she was a young girl and used to leave the room if he appeared on screen and she always said that he was 'creepy'. Ironically the book reveals that he was barred from the BBC's 'Children in Need' campaign 'over his "creepy" behaviour'!
It is a fascinating, if somewhat sad book that is worth a read if one wants to learn a little more about the demise of the powerful and popular who once had everything to play for.
Want to read
December 6, 2020I found some of the writing a bit basic but it's a nice book to have. Have not managed to complete it yet....
January 26, 2014
Good book, pretty much read this interesting read in a day.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews