Hollywood Rajah

Book excerpt: HE DISCOVERED GARBO AND GABLE. FOR NINE YEARS HE WAS THE HIGHEST SALARIED MAN IN THE U.S. HIS LIFE SURPASSED ALL HIS GREATEST FILMS IN LUXURY, NOTORIETY AND TRAGEDY. HE WAS A MAN TO BE FEARED. First published in 1960, Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Times of Louis B. Mayer is the explosive biography of the head of MGM studio; the fabulous behind-the-scenes story of the most powerful of Hollywood’s famed tycoons, it is a story more fantastic than any ever brought to the screen. This is the extravagant life story of Louis B. Mayer, once head of the largest motion picture studio in the world, and the most controversial subject in Hollywood’s notorious history—a man who went everywhere, did everything, and knew everyone worth knowing. A man whose tapeworm ego had to be fed by driving activity, ruthless use of power, and adventures with beautiful women. Louis B. Mayer was a power to be feared, a man who deliberately surrounded and protected himself with myths and legends. Now his true story can be told.