- Mark Bego
-
Mark Bego (b. Oak Park, Michigan, 23 September 1952) is a best selling author of top performers in the rock & roll and show business. By having more than 10 million books in print, Mark Bego has been acknowledged as "the prince of pop bios" - the best selling biographer in the rock and pop field.[1] Bego has written 54 books, two of which have been New York Times Best Sellers. Bego has written biographers about some of entertainment's biggest stars, including: Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Billy Joel, Patsy Cline, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more.[2]
Mark Bego's book on pop-legend Michael Jackson, entitled Michael! was released a week after the infamous Pepsi Cola commercial in which Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire. The book sold three million copies in the United States alone and landed on the New York Times Best Sellers for six weeks.[3] Bego also got the chance to travel with Jackson and his brothers on the "Victory!" Tour, and subsequently wrote the book entitled On The Road With Michael! [4]
The following year, in 1985, Bego wrote the million-selling Madonna! About the pop icon. It was so popular that he has twice expanded the book as Madonna: Blonde Ambition (1992 and 2001). From 1978 to 1980 he was the Nightlife Editor for Manhattan’s Cue, covering everything from Studio 54 to all of the jazz and cabaret clubs in the city. From 1983 to 1985 he was Editor-In-Chief of Modern Screen. His writing has also appeared in People, US, Billboard, Record World, Cosmopolitan, The Star[disambiguation needed
], and the National Enquirer.He has also written books with Micky Dolenz of The Monkees (I’m a Believer), Debbie Gibson (Between the Lines), and Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night (One is the Loneliest Number). In addition, Bego has written a book called One Minute Before Midnight with Ruth Mueller.[5] Bego’s book subjects have ranged from Elvis Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Julia Roberts, Whitney Houston, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, and Jackson Browne to Cher and Bette Midler. In 1994, his more general books published included Country Gals (life stories of Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, and other famed women in country music, and Country Hunks (spotlighting Vince Gill, Billy Ray Cyrus, George Strait and others). Bego also authored the reference books TV Rock (The History of Rock & Roll on Television) and The Rock & Roll Almanac. He has also written books about Hollywood in its heyday The Best of “Modern Screen", and Rock Hudson: Public and Private. Bego wrote a memoir with Memphis Mafia member Lamar Fike called An Uncommon Journey: On Elvis Presley Boulevard. He co-wrote a screenplay based on the book called ’57 to ’60: One of the Boys.
At the height of the box-office success of the film Titanic, Bego wrote the biography of the movie’s star Leonardo DiCaprio: Romantic Hero. It spent six weeks on The New York Times best-seller list in 1998.
In 2008, Bego published his 51st pop culture book, written with Randy Jones of Village People, entitled Macho Man. Recently, Bego penned his own show business memoir, Paperback Writer. He frequently is seen on television speaking about show business, on such shows as Entertainment Tonight, Biography, and True Hollywood Story.
Recent news
Mark Bego released a biography of Elton John in 2009.[6] Mark Bego himself has said of the biography, "Previous books have handled his life with kid gloves, nearly making him into a tasteful 21st century George Gershwin. In reality, Elton's life more closely parallels that of Oscar Wilde. He has been wild, glitzy, boozy, bawdy and unconventional. This is the book that every Elton John fan has been waiting for. It is filled with all of the addictions, the self-doubts, bad toupees, affairs and scandals." [7]
In the summer of 2009, Mark Bego appeared on ABC talking about Michael Jackson's death.[8] The clip can be seen at the ABC site
Links
Mark Bego's Official Page: http://www.markbego.com/
Mark Bego's Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Bego/e/B001H6MLBM/ref=sr_tc_2_0
Mark Bego on the Pipeline Entertainment Page: http://www.pipeline-talent.com/
References
- ^ Mark Bego's Website http://www.markbego.com/bio.shtml
- ^ http://cwgfeatures.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-conversation-with-mark-bego.html
- ^ pipeline-talent.com/
- ^ http://cwgfeatures.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-conversation-with-mark-bego.html
- ^ http://www.celebrityhealthfitness.com/?p=668
- ^ http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=outthere&article=237
- ^ http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=outthere&article=237
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/meta/search/imageDetail?format=plain&source=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2Fimages%2FEntertainment%2Fabc_ann_wtb_mj_090629
Categories:- American biographers
- Living people
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
