Donald Spoto (born June 28, 1941) is an American biographer and theologian. He is known for his best-selling biographies of people in the worlds of film and theater, and more recently for his books on theology and spirituality. Spoto has written 29 books,"Donald Spoto"
Penguin Random House. including biographies of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

, Grace Kelly,

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

, and

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

. The BBC/HBO television film '' The Girl'' (2012), about Tippi Hedren's experience during the filming of '' The Birds'' (1963), was based in part on Spoto's work on Hitchcock. Spoto has also written biographical accounts of the House of Windsor from the Victorian era to

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, and of religious figures such as

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, Saint

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

, and Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

; the latter was made into a television program by

Faith & Values Media The Vision Interfaith Satellite Network (VISN) was an American religious cable and satellite television network that was owned by the interfaith group National Interfaith Cable Coalition, in cooperation with cable operators. The channel became k ...

.Biography of Donald Spoto
.
Reluctant Saint: Francis of Assisi
'' Home page, accessed 17 September 2007.

Early life and education

A native of

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, Spoto graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1959 and received his BA summa cum laude from

Iona College Iona University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochell ...

in 1963 and his MA and PhD from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1966 and 1970, respectively. In 2013, the Academy of Art University (San Francisco) bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to literature and education."Finding Aid for the Donald Spoto Papers, ca. 1940–1988"
Online Archive of California. Accessed 17 September 2007.

Career

Teaching

Spoto taught theology, Christian mysticism, and Biblical literature at

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

, at the College of New Rochelle, and later film studies at the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

from 1966 until 1986. From 1987 he taught at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. In addition, he was a visiting lecturer at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and the National Film Theatre in London from 1980 until 1986. Since 2003, he has been permanent Guest Lecturer at the Danish Film Institute,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Spoto has served on the boards of directors of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

Death Penalty Focus Founded in 1988, Death Penalty Focus is a non-profit organization dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment through grassroots organizing, research, and the dissemination of information about the death penalty and its alternatives. With o ...

, and the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based Children's Legal Protection Center.

Writing

In the 1970s Spoto began writing biographies of film directors, actors and playwrights. He has also written accounts of such religious figures as

, St. Joan of Arc, and St.

. The latter was made into a television program of the same title, ''Reluctant Saint: Francis of Assisi'', produced for

. Spoto's ''Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life'' was adapted into a four-hour drama which aired in 2000 on CBS. He was an executive producer of the project, along with George Stelzner of West Egg Studios. Spoto served as script consultant for '' The Girl'' (2012), an

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

TV movie based on Spoto's books about

. Starring

Toby Jones Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama ''Orlando'' in 1992. He ...

and

Sienna Miller Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian ''Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli cal ...

, the film offers an account of Hitchcock's treatment of Tippi Hedren during the filming of '' The Birds'' (1963).

Reception

In 1992, ''Publishers Weekly'' called his life of Laurence Olivier "a magnificent, moving biography worthy of its protean subject".

Michael Coveney Michael Coveney (born 24 July 1948) is a British theatre critic. Education and career Coveney was born in London and educated at St Ignatius’ College, Stamford Hill, and Worcester College, Oxford. After graduation, he worked as a script re ...

, reviewing the Alan Bates biography in 2007 in ''The Guardian'', described him as "an American quasi-academic gossipmonger who has produced zestful, authoritative books..."

Barry Forshaw Barry Forshaw is a writer, broadcaster and journalist whose books include '' British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia'', '' The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction'', '' Brit Noir'', '' British Gothic Cinema'', ''Nordic Noir'', '' Sex and Film'', '' Euro N ...

wrote in ''The Times'' that Spoto is "one of the most perspicacious biographers, a man whose insights into his subjects are always razor-sharp."

Personal life

Spoto is openly gay and lives with his husband, Ole Flemming Larsen, near Copenhagen, Denmark.

Selected works

*(1976; rev. ed. 1999). ''The Art of Alfred Hitchcock''. Doubleday Anchor. *(1978). ''Stanley Kramer, Film Maker''. Putnam. *(1978). ''Camerado: Hollywood and the American Man''. Plume. *(1983). ''The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock''. Little, Brown & Co. *(1985). ''The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams''. Little, Brown & Co. *(1985). ''Falling in Love Again: Marlene Dietrich''. Little, Brown & Co. *(1989). ''Lenya: A Life''. Little, Brown & Co. *(1990). ''Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges''. Little, Brown & Co. *(1992). ''Laurence Olivier: A Biography''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. *(1992). ''Blue Angel: The Life of Marlene Dietrich''. Doubleday. *(1993). ''Marilyn Monroe: The Biography''. Harper Collins. *(1995). ''A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor''. HarperCollins. *(1995). ''The Decline and Fall of the House of Windsor''.

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. **Also published as ''Dynasty: The Turbulent Saga of the Royal Family from Victoria to Diana''. *(1996). ''Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean''. HarperCollins. *(1997). ''Diana: The Last Year''.

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. *(1997). ''Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman''. HarperCollins. *(1998). ''The Hidden Jesus: A New Life''.

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

. *(2000). ''Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life''. St. Martin's Press. *(2002). ''Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi''.

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

. *(2002). ''In Silence: Why We Pray''. Viking Press. *(2006). ''Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn''. Random House/Harmony. *(2007). ''Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint''. HarperSanFrancisco. *(2007). ''Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates''. Hutchinson *(2008). ''Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies''. Random House/Harmony and Hutchinson. *(2009). ''High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly''. Random House/Harmony. *(2010). ''Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford''. Morrow. *(2012). ''The Redgraves: A Family Epic''. Crown. *(2016). ''A Girl's Got To Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright''. University Press of Mississippi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spoto, Donald 1941 births American biographers Living people Writers from New Rochelle, New York Iona College (New York) alumni Fordham University alumni Historians of the Children's Crusade Iona Preparatory School alumni American gay writers LGBT people from New York (state) Celebrity biographers Historians from New York (state) 21st-century LGBT people