First published 2019
Producer and film historian Gordon Frost sits down with the people who knew Chance Hardwick best. The young actor rose from Midwestern obscurity to become postwar America's most magnetic screen presence after his breakout role in Plains and Hills. Then he died tragically at the height of his fame. Years later, those closest to him still struggle to understand who he really was. Frost interviews Chance's family members, friends, former lovers, and industry colleagues. Each person reveals different pieces of the puzzle. The oral history traces Chance's journey from his small town origins through his acting training in New York to his transformation into a Hollywood legend. But contradictions emerge in their testimonies. Some loved him deeply while others despised him. A mysterious woman appears at his grave every year on the anniversary of his death, adding another layer to the enigma. Set against the backdrop of 1950s America, the investigation becomes a meditation on the nature of celebrity and the impossibility of truly knowing another person.
Genres: drama, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, biographical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hollywood, Midwest, New York
Period: 1950s
280 pages · Hardcover · Rare Bird