THE HOLLYWOOD SCANDALS is a trio of two-act plays by Hollywood biographer, historian, screenwriter and playwright Michael B. Druxman, each inspired by one of the most sordid events ever to shock the Movieland community. Filled with rampant sex, suicides and even murder, these three black comedies present Tinseltown at its darkest.B MOVIE tells of the Franchot Tone/Barbara Payton/Tom Neal affair, a torrid and violent triangle that exploded in the early 1950s and kept giving the tabloid press spicy items for well over a decade.Rex Harrison is the central character of SEXY REXY, a brilliant "Henry Higgins" in MY FAIR LADY, but totally disliked by his show business colleagues. Harrison's career was almost destroyed in the 1940s when his mistress, actress Carole Landis, committed suicide, an act that was repeated years later by a former wife, actress Rachel Roberts.LANA & JOHNNY WERE LOVERS deals with perhaps the most sensational celebrity scandal of the 20th century, the affair between movie queen Lana Turner and mobster Johnny Stompanato, who met his violent end in 1958 at the hand of Turner's teenage daughter.The plays utilize simple costumes and props, and are designed to be staged on a single setting, with shifts in lighting to denote changes in time and place.
About the Author: Michael B. Druxman is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter whose credits include CHEYENNE WARRIOR with Kelly Preston; DILLINGER AND CAPONE starring Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham; and THE DOORWAY with Roy Scheider, which he also directed. He is also a prolific playwright, his one-person play, Jolson, having had numerous productions around the country. Other produced stage credits include one-person plays about Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy and Orson Welles. These and plays about Errol Flynn, Maurice Chevalier, Clara Bow, Basil Rathbone and Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy have been individually published under the collective title of THE HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS. Additionally, Mr. Druxman is the author of more than 15 published books, including nonfiction works about Hollywood, its movies, and the people who make them (e.g., BASIL RATHBONE, MAKE IT AGAIN, SAM: A Survey of Movie Remakes, ONE GOOD FILM DESERVES ANOTHER: A Survey of Movie Sequels, MERV [Griffin], THE MUSICAL and MISS DINAH SHORE. He has written 3 novels, NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE, SHADOW WATCHER and MURDER IN BABYLON, a book of short stories, entitled DRACULA MEETS JACK THE RIPPER & OTHER REVISIONIST HISTORIES, plus the humorous revisionist history and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker. An acknowledged Hollywood historian, he has also written television documentaries and has been interviewed for various retrospective featurettes that have accompanied DVD releases of classic films (e.g. THE MALTESE FALCON, etc.). Mr. Druxman is a former Hollywood publicist of 35 years experience who has represented many film and television stars, as well as noted directors, producers and composers. He has taught various dramatic writing and film appreciation courses in an adult university and is the author of HOW TO WRITE A STORY...ANY STORY: THE ART OF STORYTELLING, which has been used as a text in several colleges. He is often invited to speak to groups of aspiring film and television professionals to discuss screenwriting and the realities of show business. A native of Seattle who graduated from Garfield High School and the University of Washington, Mr. Druxman moved with his wife, Sandy, from Los Angeles to Austin, TX in 2009. His memoirs, MY FORTY-FIVE YEARS IN HOLLYWOOD AND HOW I ESCAPED ALIVE (2010) and LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT OF HOLLYWOOD(2013) are published by Bear Manor Media.