No Intermissions: The Life Of Agnes De Mille - Softcover

Carol Easton has written acclaimed biographies of Agnes de Mille, Stan Kenton, and Sam Goldwyn. She lives in California.

"Agnes is a very demanding person, she eats up the air," said a friend of choreographer, writer and cultural whirlwind Agnes de Mille. This biography is equally daunting. Easton, biographer of Sam Goldwyn, Jacqueline du Pre and Stan Keaton, has evaluated almost every dance movement, artistic exchange and tantrum of de Mille's 88 years. But far from being irksome, the detailed chronology gathers strength as its subject careens from wild success (Oklahoma and Rodeo) to chaotic failure (Sebastian lasted one night, and Come Summer closed after seven performances). Along the way, Easton doesn't neglect de Mille's equally unpredictable emotional life. Daughter of playwright William de Mille, niece of Hollywood's larger-than-life Cecil B. de Mille, she had a torturous relationship with her mother, Anna, that dominated her early career. Later, her 45-year marriage to Walter Prude, an executive of the Sol Hurok Agency, held together despite internal competition and marked divergence of personalities. The account of their last years together is deeply moving. Nor does Easton forget de Mille's almost accidental writing career. Her Dance to the Piper was a 1952 bestseller, and throughout her career, she always had a literary project under way. Her major life of Martha Graham was published in 1991, only two years before her death. This skillful portrait assumes a deep interest in the world of dance and musical theater. Photos not seen by PW.
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