{"product_id":"a-girls-got-to-breathe-donald-spoto-9781496861672","title":"A Girl's Got to Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright","description":"The actress Teresa Wright (1918-2005) lived a rich, complex, magnificent life against the backdrop of Golden Age Hollywood, Broadway, and television. There was no indication, from her astonishingly difficult--indeed, horrifying--childhood, of the success that would follow, nor of the universal acclaim and admiration that accompanied her everywhere. Her two marriages--to the writers Niven Busch (\u003ci\u003eThe Postman Always Rings Twice\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eDuel in the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e) and Robert Anderson (\u003ci\u003eTea and Sympathy\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eI Never Sang for My Father\u003c\/i\u003e)--provide a good deal of the drama, warmth, poignancy, and heartbreak of her life story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"I never wanted to be a star,\" she told the noted biographer Donald Spoto at dinner in 1978. \"I wanted only to be an actress.\" She began acting on the stage in summer stock and repertory at the age of eighteen. When Thornton Wilder and Jed Harris saw her in an ing?nue role, she was chosen to understudy the part of Emily in the original production of \u003ci\u003eOur Town\u003c\/i\u003e (1938), which she then played in touring productions. Samuel Goldwyn saw her first starring role on Broadway--in the historic production of \u003ci\u003eLife with Father\u003c\/i\u003e--and at once he offered her a long contract. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e She was the only actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for her first three pictures (\u003ci\u003eThe Little Foxes\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Pride of the Yankees\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eMrs. Miniver\u003c\/i\u003e), and she won one for the third film. Movie fans and scholars to this day admire her performance in the classics \u003ci\u003eShadow of a Doubt\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best Years of Our Lives\u003c\/i\u003e. The circumstances of her tenure at Goldwyn, and the drama of her breaking that contract, forever changed the treatment of stars. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Wright's family and heirs appointed Spoto as her authorized biographer and offered him exclusive access to her letters and papers. Major supporting players in this story include Robert Anderson, Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler, Karl Malden, Elia Kazan, Jean Simmons, Dorothy McGuire, Bette Davis, George Cukor, Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, the artist Al Hirschfeld, Stella Adler, and more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Donald Spoto\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1496861671\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781496861672\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Mississippi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/15\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 284\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Donald Spoto","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46807204528383,"sku":"9781496861672","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d302bd63-a45f-4004-91d3-0b467bd8d97c.jpg?v=1745378823","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-girls-got-to-breathe-donald-spoto-9781496861672","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}