PRAISE FOR NIGEL GOODALLS PREVIOUS BOOKS
Kylie Naked (with Jenny Stanley-Clarke)
To their credit, the authors dont try and shatter her girl-next -door image and her career is covered in almost bang- up-to -date detail, including an extra chapter to take account of her recent success with Cant Get You Out Of My Head and her fantastic performance at the 2002 Brit Awards. Hopefully the Princess of Pop will find time one day to pen her autobiography, but until then Kylie Naked is as thorough and an enjoyable account of her life as you could possibly want.
Jonathan Weir, Amazon.co.uk
Winona Ryder The Biography
Overall, this biography is a very interesting read. The chronological nature of the book is especially useful if referring back to it at a later point, and there is also a filmography and a list of Winonas awards and nominations at the back. Combined with this is a comprehensive index making it easy to find references to particular films and people, should you wish to do so. Although it can never be as insightful as an authorised biography, or indeed an autobiography, this book is just as good as it can be. By collating information from a diverse selection of sources, Nigel Goodall has produced a good book that is well worth reading whether youre a fan of Winona Ryder or not.
T. J. Mackey, Dooyou Online
Whats Eating Johnny Depp
Nigel Goodall does it again! He was the author of an estimable book about Kylie Minogue, one of the only books about the Australian pop princess to try to dig behind the myth and to get the facts right. Try to get it if you possibly can, its called Kylie Naked. With his life of Johnny Depp we can see Goodall once again hovering over the glamour stars of US cinema (he has written previously on one of Depps leading ladies, the also diminutive trouble magnet Winona Ryder) and coming up with an intriguing portrait of a very talented man whose only trouble is corralling in all his passions. He was a teen star in Jump Street and a horror franchise, and then the director John Waters took a chance on him and cast him in his hillbilly epic Cry Baby. Depp had enough smarts to say hell yes to this offer and before the movie had ended audiences fell in love with his goofy charm and of course, the shot where his pants fall off and hes left to wander in his jockey shorts. Depp showed great depth in a variety of independent and studio movies, including Donnie Brasco, but it wasnt until recently that he was thought of in terms of being able to open a movie. Throughout this chequered career (which includes a directorial debut of his own, apparently dire enough to doom a lesser man) Goodall keeps up as best as he can, and both of them end up on the same page. Im looking forward to a remake of A Star Is Born with Depp and Minogue, it would be utterly of the present moment
Kevin Killan, Amazon.com
To the next generation of telly addicts
my grandsons, Harvey and Kenzie, with love.
People always think Im a millionaire because I work in television, but Im not that rich. I have been very lucky, though.
Fearne Cotton
Contents
During a concert performance in Las Vegas in August 1970, Elvis Presley said, There was a guy who said one time, he said, You never stood in that mans shoes or saw things through his eyes, or stood and watched with helpless hands, while the heart inside you dies. So help your brother along the way, no matter where he starts, because the same God that made you, made him, too. Id like to sing a song along the same line That analogy seemed apt as I readied this manuscript.
Thanks to John Blake for asking me to write it and to Mark Hanks for getting it commissioned to me. Thanks too, to my editor Vicky McGeown for being simply fantastic with every aspect of its production, and to my copy editor Jane Donovan for making sense of it all. I am also indebted to Sean Delaney at the British Film Institute for the dozens of articles and providing an accurate television listing. For their support and encouragement with most other things, my thanks go to Keith Hayward for coming up with some last-minute research facts and figures, Charlotte Rasmussen for her critique and for being such a huge fan of all my previous works ever since I wrote about Winona Ryder, Guy Buckland for the great author picture, Graeme Andrew for the stunning cover and brilliant design, Neil Rees, my Kylie cohort, for his generosity and input, John Highfield for his advice and help and for some great press, Diana Colbert for always doing such a great job with publicity, Michael Wilson for locating some late snippets of news and info, my accountant Jon Terry for, well, being my accountant, and Simon Golding for his friendship every step of the way I cannot imagine sharing my 3am emails with anyone else. As always, my love to my children Adam and Kim for their usual enthusiasm and for understanding and appreciating the long hours that went into this work.
Nigel Goodall
Growing up, there were certain things that for me encapsulated the romance of pop music. If you loved it, youd read about your favourite bands in Smash Hits or NME, save up your money to buy their records and wait all week to see them on TOTP.
F earne Marie Cotton was fifteen years old. She had just won an audition to be a presenter for the Disney Channel in a national search for talent. Not that she had any intention of becoming a presenter; she had always had her mind set on being an actress. And that, to all intents and purposes, is the role she thought she was auditioning for. It had been her dream for the last ten years, ever since she started taking drama and ballet lessons, in and out of school. Never in a million years had she thought about presenting childrens shows on television.
If the secret of success is an unhappy childhood, then Fearne should never have been destined for greatness in the world of television because her childhood was everything but unhappy. There are no horror stories of abuse or lost parentage, or being moved from home to home, refuge to refuge, traumas that spiralled out of control, or being raised by druggie parents. No indeed, her story is quite the opposite. She was born on 3 September 1981 in Northwood, north-west London, but grew up in the nearby suburb of Eastcote, in Abbotsbury Gardens. From the very beginning it was quite clear that she was fortunate enough to have a pretty stable upbringing, unlike so many of Britains most famous celebrities.
And perhaps what is more remarkable is that today Fearne is one of the most popular faces on television, both in the UK and in America, an ex-childrens presenter, a rock chick with royal approval and a star. Much of her success she puts down to her mother, Lynn. She is exceptional, says Fearne. She knew I didnt love school and wanted to do something different with my life and she didnt try and stop me. She just advised me to do what makes you happy. If I hadnt had her support from the start, I might never have given acting and presenting a go. Shes always been open-minded and supportive even in a distant way. She lets me get on with it but is interested in what I do. Shes a strong woman who doesnt take any shit from anyone and definitely wears the trousers in the marriage. Shes very spontaneous and impulsive.
Shed say, Right, were moving house! and we did, Fearne recalls. And thats how I like to live, too. Both of her parents have passed away and I dont know how she coped, but she did. She was the one who had to break the news both times to the rest of the family, which must have been heartbreaking for her. But she helped us all to be strong. That was a massive inspiration. My mums attitude to life is youve got to get on with it. You cant get bullied and battered in this industry and its taught me to be strong. If you get knocked down, you get back up and carry on.
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