It was the Hollywood romance that warmed hearts and thrilled audiences, but the path to true love was littered with alcoholism, abandonment and bitter disappointments. Humphrey Bogart had crawled up the hard way, leaving behind a childhood without affection for a life as the idol of millions. Bogie's road to stardom had been long and tough, forging a superstar who hated being in the spotlight as much as he loved being in the bar. With three marriages to his name and a reputation as one of the hardest drinkers in Hollywood, happiness was always fleeting. Lauren Bacall grew up in New York as the apple of her hard-working mother's eye, dreaming of a life in the limelight. Modelling by day and tearing tickets at night, when she was summoned to Hollywood to make a screentest, young Betty Bacall grabbed it with both hands. There she was reborn as the vampish Lauren Bacall, a teenage nobody who would make her debut in To Have and Have Not opposite the quintessential Hollywood tough guy, Humphrey Bogart. Nobody expected what came next, but the love affair between Bogie and Bacall took the world by storm. The Real Bogie & Bacall tells the story of two people whose romance shouldn't have worked? but did. AUTHOR: Catherine Curzon is a historian of old Hollywood and even older royalty. Catherine has appeared on Radio 4's PM programme and Dan Snow's Story of England, as well as radio stations across Europe and the UK. Her work has been featured online by BBC News, BBC History Extra and the Daily Express, and in publications including All About History and Who Do You Think You Are?. Further afield, Catherine's expertise has been featured by Smithsonian Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, Town & Country, Elle Australia, Der Bund, La Vanguardia, and Metropoles, among others. She has spoken at venues including Kenwood House, Wellington College, the Royal Pavilion, the National Maritime Museum, and Dr Johnson's House. As one half of Ellie Curzon (with Helen Barrell), her World War Two sagas for Bookouture and Orion have achieved bestseller status in the UK. Catherine holds a Master's degree in Film and when not cheering for the Terriers, can be found by following the distant strains of Dean Martin. She lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill with a rakish gent and a very woolly dog. 32 b/w illustrations
