This is a pioneering and posthumous biography of a charismatic icon of Tinseltown whose rule over the hearts of American moviegoers lasted for more than half a century. It's loaded with never-before-published revelations that look behind the innocent-looking baby blues that enthralled the movie-going public. He became one of the most potent, desirable, and ambiguous sex symbols in America, a former sailor from Shaker Heights, Ohio, who parlayed his ambisexual charm and extraordinary good looks into one of the most successful careers in Hollywood. It's all here, as recorded by celebrity chronicler Darwin Porter—the dirt and the glory, the bad and the beautiful, the giddy highs and the agonizing lows of a great American star. This title won an honorable mention for biography from the NEW ENGLAND BOOK FESTIVAL in 2010