ROBERT PRESTON Forever The Music Man
Debra Warren
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Publication Date – August 2022
542 pp. 6 x 9
13 b/w photos
ISBN: 979-8-9863110-2-9 (Hardcover) $28.00
ISBN: 979-8-9863110-0-5 (Paperback) $19.99
ISBN: 979-8-9863110-1-2 (eBook) $17.99
Contact Information
Contact the author at foreverthemusicman@gmail.com
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Purchasing
Robert Preston – Forever The Music Man is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, IndieBound.org, and at select book retailers and libraries.
Press Release
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Blurbs
“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
“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
Reviews
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.”
—Midwest Book Review
Synopsis
Born Robert Preston Meservey in the suburbs of Boston in 1918, Preston moved with his family to Los Angeles as a toddler. He caught the acting bug in high school and continued as an actor with a Shakespearean acting troupe and at the Pasadena Playhouse before being discovered by Paramount Studios in 1938 at the age of nineteen. After languishing in B-movies for over a decade, he made the decision to seek success on the Broadway stage.
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, Robert 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 with Preston’s family members and fellow actors including Rosemary Harris, Christopher Walken, Lesley Ann Warren, Loretta Swit, Bob Gunton, Neva Small, and others, have 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.
Despite some fits and starts in both his professional and private life, what emerges from the fabric of Preston’s life is the undeniable truth of his versatility as a performer, one who possessed the innate ability to perform superbly in a variety of genres – drama, comedy, westerns, or musicals. As a testament to his skill as an actor, Preston continued to deliver remarkable performances on stage and screen and strived to reach new apogees, even when cast in flawed projects, up until his untimely death in 1987.
Excerpt
An excerpt from page 40 of Robert Preston – Forever The Music Man which describes the filming of Beau Geste (1939) and Robert Preston’s good-natured, puckish interactions with the film’s notorious director William “Wild Bill” Wellman:
“Preston had an “inside track” with the director since his father and Wellman had attended high school together in Newton, Massachusetts. Preston knew all the outrageous stories circulating about Wellman were true since his father had confirmed them all. Wellman razzed Preston mercilessly on the set, insisting on calling him “Meservey” throughout the entire production of Beau Geste. On one occasion, Preston checked the next day’s production schedule and call sheet and, realizing he would not be required for any scenes, decided to stay up playing poker until the wee hours of the morning. The all-nighter left Preston bleary-eyed and unsteady by sunrise. When Bill Wellman learned that Preston was sleep-deprived after a night of gambling, he “hurriedly rearranged the shooting schedule to have Bob do the scene in which he carries first, Gary Cooper, then Brian Donlevy, into the desert fort.” Although running on empty, Preston successfully completed the scene in one take, a feat that surprised both himself and Wild Bill Wellman.”
Author Bio
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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 Facebook at www.facebook.com/foreverthemusicman
