ROBERT PRESTON Forever The Music Man

The song “Seventy-Six Trombones” from The Music Man would forever link Robert Preston to the Broadway musical and the iconic 1962 film that would establish him as a Hollywood and Broadway star. His role as Harold Hill in The Music Man was a pivotal moment for the actor who appeared in dozens of films as well as theater and television productions. Although Harold Hill was admittedly not Preston’s favorite character, it was this singular, spectacular role that catapulted him to stage and screen stardom and ensured he would forever remain the Music Man.

In a film and stage career that spanned five decades, Robert Preston managed to survive the studio system and the fickleness of the film industry while maintaining his integrity and calling his own shots. A master at shielding his private life, Preston was a distinguished actor and gifted artist on the public stage, yet remained a reclusive, enigmatic man in his private life. Extensive archival research and interviews Preston’s family members and fellow actors including Rosemary Harris, Christopher Walken, Lesley Ann Warren, Loretta Swit, Bob Gunton, Neva Small, and others, has unveiled a richly detailed portrait of the gifted actor’s personal life as well as an overview of the films and Broadway productions to which he lent his talent.

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Debra Warren

A Word From The Author

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Debra Warren is the author or coauthor of four books, including Robert Preston – Forever The Music Man; Highwood, Illinois – 100 Years Of Progress; Brugioni History Book; Church of St. Mary 125th Anniversary Book; and The Dream (screenplay). She currently resides in Lake Forest, Illinois with her family. Connect with her on Twitter @Brandwearer1 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/foreverthemusicman 

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What Reviewers Are Saying​

Author Debra Warren “conducted extensive research to bring Preston’s life to light, resulting in a biographical sketch that offers not just enlightenment about his personality and career, but a sense of the times that influenced his vocational trajectory.”

“Warren creates the kind of in-depth inspection that lends to a thorough understanding, including footnoted references that lead back to interviews and sources that support her portrait of Preston’s outlook and experiences. . . the result is a powerful survey recommended not just for prior fans of Robert Preston’s films, but for would-be actors who can use his proven routes to success to hone their own paths forward in the competitive industry.”

“Readers outside of acting who choose Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man for its scholarly probe into Preston’s life and achievements will find the close attention to the variety of productions to be enlightening and absorbing. Libraries strong in film and stage biographies must have this delightful, in-depth profile of Robert Preston’s world and how he approached and furthered his career within it.”                  D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW (October 2022 Issue)
D. Donovan​-Senior Book
Reviewer MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
“From Broadway to Hollywood and back again, Preston’s tireless work ethic and solid professionalism have always been legendary, but until now no single narrative has so thoroughly portrayed the man behind the performer. Debra Warren has written a fascinating and meticulous chronology of a heretofore enigmatic star – gregarious but intensely private, overachieving but underestimated, charismatic but modest, strategizing but sincere. Often the subject of both gossip and adulation – sometimes simultaneously – Preston is now revealed in the full spectrum of his personality. Ms. Warren’s passion for detail makes this biography as invaluable a reference as it is an enticing read.”
Ron Spivak, Musical Theater Historian
-Ron Spivak​Musical Theater Historian
“Debra Warren captures the breadth and depth of Robert Preston’s remarkable career, his discipline and generosity as an actor, and his immense charm. Warren also reveals the private life behind this gregarious personality, and the selfless woman who for over four decades was Preston’s haven from the tempests of show business. A well-researched—and long-overdue—biography on this beloved prince of the American screen and stage.”
Paul F. Brown, author of Rufus: James Agee in Tennessee
Paul F. Brown​Author, Rufus: James Agee in Tennessee

“Warren has done an exhaustive amount of research and interviews to compile so much about a man whom she makes clear was notoriously private… What [Warren] has written is the type of work that will, without doubt, become part of a canonical collection of texts about Hollywood history and the people who drove it. It is the type of book that is so deeply informative that it falls into a category that I would be so boldly confident to say should be preserved for its cultural and historical significance. Preston was a complicated man in a complicated industry, but it is the intentionally simplistic ways in which he approached life in general that make his story compelling.” Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews