George Raft

UK: W H Allen, 1975. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. H/B 286 pages, condition is very good, an owners name to the flyleaf. . Alleged friend of the underworld and fabulous 'ladies' man', George Raft's personal life has an intrinsic and peculiar link with the image he projected in his films. Investigating all aspects of this diverse and mesmeric personality, Lewis Yablonsky has spent months with Raft discussing his life and work and, in his researches, has interviewed many close friends of the star himself, such as Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra and Mae West. This authorised biography is the result - a portrait of the man who, perhaps more than any other star of the '30s and '40s, was the embodiment of machismo, giving a new style to masculinity, coolness masking hot emotions beneath. That cool look is his trademark, defined for ever in George Burns' humorous tribute - 'Raft and Gary Cooper once played a scene in front of a cigar store, and it looked like the wooden Indian was over-acting.' Yet under that mask there is a man plagued by phobias and fears. Since his early films. Raft has refused to view himself on screen, and even shies away from looking in the mirror. Brought up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, learning life the hard way. Raft followed various glamorous careers - those of dancer, fighter and sportsman - before achieving fame as an actor. Hitting his film audiences right between the eyes, he is remembered for such successes as Scarface, They Drive by Night, Each Dawn / Die, Manpower and Bolero. More recently he came into the public eye again with rumours of possible gangster connections and the refusal to let him stay in Britain.