A Front Row Seat

From her idyllic childhood in the American midwest, to her Oscar-nominated performance in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and the social circles of New York and Los Angeles, actress Nancy Olson Livingston has lived abundantly. In her memoir, A Front Row Seat, Livingston treats readers to an intimate, charming chronicle of her life as an actress, wife, and mother, and her memories of many of the most notable figures and moments of her time.   Livingston shares reminiscences of her marriages to lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner, creator of award-winning musicals Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, and My Fair Lady (which was dedicated to her), and Alan Wendell Livingston, former president of Capitol Records, who created Bozo the Clown and signed legendary musical artists including Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Band and Don McLean. One of the last living actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Livingston shares memorable encounters with countless celebrities – William Holden, Billy Wilder, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, and John Wayne to name a few – and less pleasant experiences with Howard Hughes and John F. Kennedy that act as reminders of women's long struggle for equality and dignity. Entertaining and engrossing, _A Front Row Seat_ deftly interweaves Livingston's life with her observations of the artists, celebrities, and luminaries with whom she came in contact – a paean to the 20th century and a treasure for readers enamored with a bygone era.

Table of Contents:
Book I Introduction   Rockland County, September 1950   The Beginning   My Ancestors   Growing Up in Milwaukee   The Lake   World War II   Theatrical Dreams   My First New York Adventure   Paramount Pictures - The Beginning of a Career   Sunset Boulevard   Hollywood   Marilyn Monroe   Courtship   The Dance   Lee and Ira Gershwin   The Dance Continues   Marriage   Frederick Lowe   Rockland County   Plane Crash   Liza and Me   John Wayne   Starting Over   Alan Lerner's Family and Growing Up   Joe Lerner   My Fair Lady   Battle Cry   Journey to Broadway   Gigi   The Music Stops   Divorce   Sidney Chaplin   Emmet Hughes   Nelson Rockefellar   Life as a Single Parent   Disney   The Inauguration of JFK   Mrs. Kemeny   A Special Memory   A Shocking Story   A New Beginning   A Christmas Gift   Mary Mary   A Rainbow Emerging   My Second Wedding   Book II Introduction   Mr. and Mrs. Alan W. Livingston   Moving   A Sad Story   My Second Husband   Laurie and Peter and Alan Jay   Life in a Whirlwind on Camden Drive   Dad   Capitol Records   Nat Cole   Up the Ladder   Frank Sinatra   NBC and Bonanza   An Ex-Girlfriend and an Ex-Wife   Judy Garland, Oscar Levant, and the 2000 Year Old Man   Enlarging the Family and JFK   The Beatles   The Beatles in My Mother's Garden   Christopher   Another Beatle Party   Russia   Share   Jennifer Jones   The Band   A Miracle   The End of an Era   MediaArts and Don McLean   EST   On Board at the Music Center   A New Challenge   Grace Kelly and the Heimlich Maneuver   Natalie Wood   My Mother   A New Path for Alan Livingston   An Escape   New York Life Again   An Unexpected Offer from Blue Ribbon   Changing Traditions   Four Weddings and Two Funerals   LA Politics   Nancy and Ronnie   25th Anniversary Chairman   Another 25th Anniversary with Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, and Michael Feinstein   Billy Wilder Tribute   Andrew Lloyd Weber   An Unforgettable Moment   China   Another Challenge for Alan   Completion   Expanding Our Family Again   Goodbye   La Dolce Vita   Laura   Family Updates   Ending this Book   Stories I Hesitate to Tell   Ending this Book Again

About the Author :
Nancy Olson Livingston was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sunset Boulevard (1950). She has appeared in several films, including Union Station, Battle Cry, Pollyanna, The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), and Airport 1975 (1974). She has also starred in three plays on Broadway, Tunnel of Love, Send Me No Flowers, and Mary, Mary, and guest-starred in a number of television shows. She lives in Beverly Hills, CA.