Herbie J Pilato’s new book celebrates Classic TV Women

Glamour, Gidgets and the Girl Next Door

The darling Donna Douglas who with both gusto and grace played the hot and hollering Elly May Clampett, the diamond in the rough on The Beverly Hillbillies…The barrier-and race-breaking performance of the distinguished Diahann Carroll as Julia in the same-named, first-African-American-led sitcom in TV history…The smart and sassy magic of Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie…Mary Tyler Moore…Lynda Carter…Dawn Wells…Farrah Fawcett…Suzanne Somers…Sally Field…each of them and more are probed, prodded and paid tribute to GLAMOUR, GIDGETS AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR: TELEVISION’S ICONIC WOMEN OF THE 50s, 60s, and 70s, which is filled with insightful, entertaining and revealing biographies by renowned classic television historian, producer and consultant Herbie J Pilato (Retro Active Television, Twitch Upon A Star, The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom, among others).

According to Herbie J Pilato, “There are so many charismatic women who have made their ‘beauty-mark’ in television. I wanted to celebrate their contributions, not only with regard to aesthetic appeal but to honor the intelligence, individual wit, and unique talent and style that each of them have contributed to television—and how that great medium in particular was utilized to introduce and showcase so many amazing and wonderful women to the world.”

Rowman & Littlefield is a leading independent publisher, headquartered just outside Washington DC, with strengths in: • Academic Publishing in the Humanities and Social Sciences • Publishing Government and Official Data • Educational Publishing

          “Pilato pays tribute to the women who lit up the small screen in such now-classic shows as I Dream of Jeannie, Charlie’s Angels and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He devotes 5 to 10 pages to each actress, recounting her rise to fame, her experience on the show (or shows) she starred in, and some basic facts about her life. Among the profiled are Sally Field, who rose to fame in two very disparate roles in Gidget and The Flying Nun before going on to movie stardom; Cher, whose variety show launched her singing career; Patty Duke, who charmed viewers as Patty and her look-alike cousin Cathy on The Patty Duke Show but was forbidden to watch the show by her tyrannical managers; and Nichelle Nichols, who made history on the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek. With photographs of the leading ladies and plenty of quotes culled from magazines and interviews, Pilato’s guide will be a welcome trip down memory lane for many readers and a terrific resource for all film and television buffs.” - Booklist “Back in the 60s and 70s, women on TV really knew how to work their magic on viewers, especially those playing witches or genies. Now, television historian Herbie J Pilato celebrates those small-screen sorceresses, as well as the surfer girls, sweethearts and superwomen that were the stuff of male baby boomers' fantasies, in the new book ‘Glamour, Gidgets and the Girl Next Door.’ Pilato has penned breezy profiles of 45 ‘iconic’ actresses, from Gale Storm (My Little Margie) to Mary Tyler Moore, who personified boomer TV in chapters with titles like ‘Teen Angels,’ ‘Country Girls,’ ‘Wonder Women’ and ‘Liberated Souls.’ Peppered throughout are interviews from many of the women, including Elinor Donahue (Father Knows Best), Adrienne Barbeau (Maude), Diahann Carroll (Julia) and Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman). There's also plenty of trivia. Dawn Wells, for example, played Mrs. Howell in a stage musical of Gilligan's Island. And while it's clear the women enjoyed the spotlight, they also seem humble. ‘It's flattering that anyone would consider me an icon,’ Donahue says in the book, but I don't.’” - Newsday

     Glamour, Gidgets and the Girl Next Door celebrates 75 iconic female stars from the 50s, 60s and 70s, including Patty Duke, Sally Field, Mary Tyler Moore, Lynda Carter, Farrah Fawcett, and more!

Links to book resellers:

(1) http://www.amazon.com/Herbie-J-Pilato/e/B000APA6Q8/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
(2) http://www.amazon.com/Herbie-J-Pilato/e/B000APA6Q8/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
(3) http://www.amazon.com/Herbie-J-Pilato/e/B000APA6Q8/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
(4) http://www.amazon.com/Herbie-J-Pilato/e/B000APA6Q8/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1