Friday, January 28, 2022

Book review - "A Girl's Got to Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright" by Donald Spoto

 Teresa Wright seems a little bland a subject for Spoto until one reads they were good friends. I guess she deserves a book but there wasn't that much drama. She was pretty, nice, a good actor. She had a spectacular start to her career - understudied on Our Town then a part in Life with Father then Goldwyn and Little Foxes, Pride of the Yankees, Mrs Miniver... that's an amazing run. Throw in Best Years of Our Lives... it's a wonder she isn't better remembered.

A few things. She moved out of town at the behest of her husband Niven Busch and also quit her contract with Goldwyn. Both were mistakes. I think Wright would've struggled post war anyway - nice girls tend to have a short life span as stars (eg Jeanne Crain). But Wright could've delayed it - maybe done a Loretta Young/Donna Reed style transition to TV star. She did enjoy some successes later on like Dark at the Top of the Stairs on stage. A lot of stage acting.

The marriage with Busch busted up though he wasn't bad, just liked rooting around and living on ranches. Second husband was Robert Anderson - this book fleshes out him and that was really interesting because not much is known about him. For someone accused of being gay when younger (hence Tea and Sympathy) he had a lively straight love life - flings with Deborah Kerr, Ingrid Bergman and Audrey Hepburn (I guess everyone sleeps with them) then Wright but also cheating on her. She had an emotional fling with Sterling Hayden.

Wright seems to have been a decent, hard working nice person. It doesn't always make for a compelling antagonist - the colourful support players like Busch and Anderson steal the show.

But a really interesting book - two biographies really because it goes in depth on Anderson. 

No comments: