Nigel Goodall - Demi Moore - The Most Powerful Woman in Hollywood

Title Page

DEMI MOORE: THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN HOLLYWOOD

by

Nigel Goodall

Publisher Information

First published in Great Britain in 2000 by

Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd

This digital edition published and distributed in 2012 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

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Dedication

To Sue, Simon and Louise, this ones for you!

Authors Note

The moment one begins to investigate the truth of the simplest facts which one has accepted as true, it is as though one had stepped off a firm narrow path into a bog of quicksand every step one takes one steps deeper into the bog of uncertainty.

Leonard Woolf

This is a story of fame. It is a story of celebrity and its consequences. There are no villains here. No twisted plots and no whodunit ending. Although Demi Moore may well be the most photographed, written about, and talked about Hollywood star, she is also in many ways the most misunderstood, both because of our ever increasing rush to judgement and, perhaps more to the point, simply because she appears to be so well known.

The British historian Richard Holmes describes the biographer as a sort of tramp permanently knocking at the kitchen window and secretly hoping he might be invited in for supper. That is probably true. It was for me in the fact that I wanted to tell a story that Holmes would have described as one leading to a relationship of trust between biographer and subject. Although I did not have the opportunity to get to know Demi Moore personally, the trust is always what one seeks whether authorised or not. As Holmes correctly states: the possibility of error is constant in all biography. I think it is important to clarify that Demi Moore was not interviewed for this book, and has in no way co-operated with or participated in the preparation of this biography. Nor has she endorsed or authorised its contents.

That is why I would like to suggest that this work, like any other, is a beginning not an end, an invitation to inquiry, not an attempt at foreclosure. So much of what becomes a story, whether formally or merely in the relation of a dinner table anecdote is based upon verbal shorthand, metaphorical leaps of faith, and an interpretation of the facts. But facts can change, and new interpretations can at any moment, alter our interpretation of them.

Another reason for suggesting that this is my story of Demi Moore: it cannot be the story of Demi Moore. There is no such thing; even autobiography, or perhaps autobiography most of all, represents an editing of the facts, a selection of detail, an attempt to make sense of the various, arbitrary developments of someones real life. In the end, there should be nothing shocking about human existence, because in the end, whatever has occurred is simply human. If I have succeeded in my aim, then I have given the reader the tools to create his or her own portrait of Demi Moore, the opportunity to reinvent and reinterpret, within the broad context of a particular time and place, the life of a remarkable actress and woman. The highest paid of her time, and probably the most powerful of her generation.

Acknowledgements

Many dozens of people made Demi Moore: The Most Powerful Woman In Hollywood possible. First and foremost all those unnamed who agreed to be interviewed and gave me so much of their time. Thanks also to my publisher Bill Campbell and his colleagues at Mainstream, especially my editorial co-ordinator Caroline Budge who was tireless in tinkering with the nut and bolts of the manuscript; to the eminently wise Adam Parfitt for his suggestions; Keith Hayward, whom every writer should have as their researcher (but mercifully dont); Neil Rees for the striking cover design of this digital edition, which I shall be putting up on my office wall; Kjell Gunnarsson at Demi Moore Org who did his best to satisfy my demands for information ; Nick White and all at the British Film Institute Library and Archive in London who gave much-needed assistance with scripts and production notes; Sally Thomason at Blockbuster Entertainment (my local video store at Pevensey) for the endless supply of Demis movies, and Graham Taggart for very kindly lending me cassettes of Wisdom and The Seventh Sign. Thanks too, to my sometimes agent, Robert Smith for his continued support, to Kelli Whiting for the phone calls, and to Charlotte Rasmussen, who I have lost track with the number of film glossaries she has prepared for my books, but they are always fascinating and intriguing.

Among my friends and colleagues who provided advice, practical information, help and encouragement in various combinations were: Simon Russell, Caroline Osborn, Mike Derrick, Sarah Edwards, Jonathan and Sue Terry, John Highfield, Tim Bowden, Karen Terry, Tim Spray, Elizabeth Cunningham, Bob and Chris Costen, Scott and Ana Coldwell, Neil Milner, Anne Sprinks, Peter Lewry, Simon and Louise Groves, Peter Sinclair, Sue Baverstock, and of course my children Adam and Kim who as always cared and shared. Many film company press offices also helped unstintingly, among them, I am most grateful to Lawrence Atkinson at Buena Vista (UK) and Georgina Partridge at Entertainment Films (UK); and Tracy Lopez at Columbia-Tristar for her help on another project. I would be remiss if I didnt mention Roy Galloway at Eastbournes town centre Curzon Cineplex for his tireless hospitality every time one of my books is published, and Shawn Derry in Florida for creating and maintaining my website.

I would also like to thank those who maintain the following Internet sites for their often unsung research efforts: Demi Moore Org ; Demi Moore Unofficial Homepage; The Unofficial Site For Demi Moore; the Amazing Demi Moore Gossip Page; Hollywood Online; E! Online; People Online; The Journal Online; Chicago Tribune; Discovery Channel Online; Demophonic Home Page; Save The Earth Magazine Online; The Smoking Gun Archive; Mr Showbiz; the Internet Movie Database as well as the Yahoo, Excite and Deja.Com search engines.

I would also like to thank the following magazines and newspapers for their coverage of Demi over the years, all of which I consulted during my research: LA Daily News (formerly Valley News ); Los Angeles Herald Examiner; Chicago Sun-Times, Interview; Now; National Enquirer; Moviegoer; Seventeen; OK!; Variety; Screen International; The Globe; Daily Mail; The Sun; Empire: People Weekly; Premiere; Washington Post; In Style; Film Review; Vanity Fair; Sky; TV & Satellite Week; Sight and Sound, Radio Times, Flicks; Marie Clare; Cinemania; and Cable Guide. Thanks also to all the journalists who have interviewed Demi, and whose articles also formed a valuable part of my research.

I am also indebted to several books: Hollywood: The New Generation, James Cameron-Wilson (Batsford, 1997), The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Movies (Virgin Books, 1995), Chronicle of the Cinema (Dorling Kindersley, 1995), and the immensely helpful Bruce Willis: The Unauthorised Biography , John Parker (Virgin, 1997).

And finally thanks to Demi Moore and her publicist, Pat Kingsley, who responded to my request for an interview and co-operation in such a straightforward and uncomplicated way that any other star of her magnitude, I feel sure, would have unleashed publicists and pitbull lawyers, whereas Ms Kingsleys office at PMK simply suggested I continue with my book, but without their help. And for that I thank her. It probably forced me to work harder than an official biographer might. I hope she discovers that her trust has been rewarded with a book that accurately and fairly sums up Demis life and career so far.