Donald Spoto

Early life and education A native of New Rochelle, New York, Spoto graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1959 and received his BA summa cum laude from Iona College in 1963 and his MA and PhD from Fordham University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. In 2013, the Academy of Art University (San Francisco) bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to literature and education.

Career Teaching Spoto taught theology, Christian mysticism, and Biblical literature at Fairfield University, at the College of New Rochelle, and later film studies at the New School for Social Research from 1966 until 1986. He taught intensive Latin at the CUNY Latin/Greek Institute in the summer of 1974. From 1987 he taught at the University of Southern California. In addition, he was a visiting lecturer at the British Film Institute and the National Film Theatre in London from 1980 until 1986. Michael Coveney, reviewing the Alan Bates biography in 2007 in The Guardian, described him as "an American quasi-academic gossipmonger who has produced zestful, authoritative books..." Barry Forshaw wrote in The Times that Spoto is "one of the most perspicacious biographers, a man whose insights into his subjects are always razor-sharp."

His biography of Teresa Wright, A Girl's Got to Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright was published in February 2016. Spoto was a close friend to Wright for more than 30 years and was given exclusive access by her family to her papers and correspondence. Publishers Weekly called the biography "an engaging and intimate portrait". Library Journal praised the book as "an affectionate tribute to a shamefully neglected talent".

Personal life and death Spoto was openly gay and lived with his husband, Ole Flemming Larsen, near Copenhagen, Denmark.

Spoto died of a brain hemorrhage in Køge on February 11, 2023, at the age of 81.

Selected works

(1976; rev. ed. 1999). The Art of Alfred Hitchcock. Doubleday Anchor. (1978). Stanley Kramer, Film Maker. Putnam. (1978). Camerado: Hollywood and the American Man. Plume. (1983). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Little, Brown & Co. (1985). The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Little, Brown & Co. (1985). Falling in Love Again: Marlene Dietrich. Little, Brown & Co. (1989). Lenya: A Life. Little, Brown & Co. (1990). Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges. Little, Brown & Co. (1992). Laurence Olivier: A Biography. HarperCollins. (1992). Blue Angel: The Life of Marlene Dietrich. Doubleday. (1993). Marilyn Monroe: The Biography. Harper Collins. (1995). A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. HarperCollins. (1995). The Decline and Fall of the House of Windsor. Simon & Schuster. Also published as Dynasty: The Turbulent Saga of the Royal Family from Victoria to Diana. (1996). Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean. HarperCollins. (1997). Diana: The Last Year. Random House. (1997). Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman. HarperCollins. (1998). The Hidden Jesus: A New Life. St. Martin's Press. (2000). Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life. St. Martin's Press. (2002). Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. Viking Press. (2002). In Silence: Why We Pray. Viking Press. (2006). Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn. Random House/Harmony. (2007). Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint. HarperSanFrancisco. (2007). Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates. Hutchinson (2008). Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies. Random House/Harmony and Hutchinson. (2009). High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly. Random House/Harmony. (2010). Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford. Morrow. (2012). The Redgraves: A Family Epic. Crown. (2016). A Girl's Got To Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright. University Press of Mississippi.