Overview

"The meteoric rise of ""Killer Diller"" Barry Diller has been a major player in the entertainment industry for more than thirty years. Always on the cutting edge, he revolutionized television with such groundbreaking concepts as the movie-of-the-week and the miniseries. He greenlighted the megahits Raiders of the Lost Ark, 48 Hours, and Terms of Endearment. Now, industry insider George Mair takes you behind the scenes for a perceptive, penetrating, and completely captivating look at both the public persona and the private life of a legendary media mogul. Learn the truth about: * The critical acclaim--and the controversy--behind The Simpsons and Married . . . With Children * The abortive CBS-QVC merger: what went wrong and why * Hardball and heartbreak on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers * Wheeling and dealing with Hollywood heavyhitters Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, Marvin Davis, Michael Eisner, and many, many more! ""He taught movie executives to put some passion into their jobs. The business is a better place because of Barry.""--the late Dawn Steel studio head and onetime Barry Diller protege at Paramount ""He really is the brightest of the bunch."" --Julia Phillips Academy Award(r)-winning producer bestselling author of You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again"

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9780471299486

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Reviews

Despite backroom machinations, swashbuckling deals, and towering personalities, this tepid biography is far from being a thriller-diller. While it requires a substantial stretch of imagination to call Barry Diller America's greatest entertainment mogul, he is certainly one of the more visionary and driven players in the media marketplace today. He was largely responsible for creating the Fox network, his feel for product is superb, and his attention to detail is legendary. No surprise then that his various wheelings and dealings are closely watched as harbingers of the industry's future direction. Like many wildly successful people, Diller skipped college in favor of an early start on his career, rocketing from that great cliched launching pad, the mailroom of William Morris, to ABC, where he quickly rose through the ranks. From there it was off to Hollywood, where, still in his early 30s, he helped save Paramount. This won him the job of CEO at Fox, where he deftly turned the ailing company into the fourth network. But then came the inevitable falling out with owner Rupert Murdoch, and Diller was swiftly jettisoned. Since his ouster, using the home-shopping channel QVC as his lever, he has tried to work his way back to power. After the failed pursuit of Paramount and CBS, he is now buying up independent television stations with the presumed goal of building another network. All fascinating stuff - but fumbled in Mair's (Bette, 1995, etc.) gawky hands. He has a slim grasp of the telling detail or anecdote, the dead-on quote, the revealing aside. He is also woefully reticent about the notoriously private Diller's personal life. Mair does have a good, gut feel for the raw and often brutal workings of big business, but his overarching narrative clunkiness undoes him. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

GEORGE MAIR, formerly Editorial Director for CBS, is the author of 12 books, including Oprah Winfrey: The Real Story and Best Bette: The Life of Bette Midler. Mr. Mair lives in Dana Point, California.

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