Most Popular Books by Michael Munn

Many of the stars of the silver screen in twentieth-century Hollywood became national icons, larger-than-life figures held up as paragons of American virtues. Unfortunately, the private lives of actors such as John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Errol Flynn rarely lived up to the idealistic roles they portrayed. However, James Stewart was known as the underdog fighter in many of his films and in real life. He was highly decorated for his bravery during his time as a bomber pilot during World War II and was adored for his earnest and kindly persona. Here many unknown sides of Stewart are revealed: his explosive temper, his complex love affairs, his service as a secret agent for the FBI, his innate shyness, and his passionate patriotism. Munn’s personal touch shines through his writing, as he was a friend of Stewart and his wife, Gloria, and interviewed them as well as their colleagues and friends. This definitive biography reveals the childhood ups and downs that formed this cinema hero, explores the legendary Fonda–Stewart relationship, and recounts Stewart’s experiences making acclaimed films that include The Philadelphia Story, Rear Window, Anatomy of a Murder, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

''Ava tells me she''s told you things you shouldn''t know. Let me tell you this: you never tell anyone - not in my lifetime.'' This is the warning that Michael Munn received over the telephone from Ol''Blue Eyes himself when he was spending time at Ava Gardner''s house one day. Suffice it to say that he has never spoken to anyone about the contents of this book until now, after Frank Sinatra''s death. Sinatra: The Untold Story is an extraordinary book that gives us an insight into the darker side of Frank''s life - in particular his dealings with the Mob, and how he made a secret pact with the FBI to nail Chicago Mob Boss Sam Giancana as the man behind the conspiracy to kill Marilyn Monroe. The author unearths new evidence that contradicts the accepted accounts of Monroe''s death and inevitably implicates the Kennedies, the FBI, and CIA and the Mafia. We learn how Sinatra feared for Monroe''s safety after being shown photos of a drugged and drunk Monroe by Giancana. And how Sinatra was questioned by the FBI after Monroe''s death. And how Giancana then sent Sinatra the skin of a lamb''s head (signifying that he was soon to be killed) for his part in the FBI investigation. get free from the Mafia''s control in later life. This fascinating biography contains exclusive material and has extremely wideranging implications.

The design patterns in this book capture best practices and solutions to recurring problems in machine learning. The authors, three Google engineers, catalog proven methods to help data scientists tackle common problems throughout the ML process. These design patterns codify the experience of hundreds of experts into straightforward, approachable advice. In this book, you will find detailed explanations of 30 patterns for data and problem representation, operationalization, repeatability, reproducibility, flexibility, explainability, and fairness. Each pattern includes a description of the problem, a variety of potential solutions, and recommendations for choosing the best technique for your situation. You''ll learn how to: Identify and mitigate common challenges when training, evaluating, and deploying ML models Represent data for different ML model types, including embeddings, feature crosses, and more Choose the right model type for specific problems Build a robust training loop that uses checkpoints, distribution strategy, and hyperparameter tuning Deploy scalable ML systems that you can retrain and update to reflect new data Interpret model predictions for stakeholders and ensure models are treating users fairly

This in-depth and absorbing biography, looks at the many facets of this consummate movie star and reveals that his story is not simply one of a meteoric rise, and takes a much closer look at his private life.

‘ After reading this affectionately candid biography, it is hard not to echo Olivier’ s response on hearing of Burton’ s death: “ He was so young, so young” ’ Daily Mail A man of contradictions, Richard Burton’ s life and remarkable career are revealed by a writer who knew him from 1968 up to Burton’ s last film. Recounting Burton’ s deepest and often darkest thoughts and secrets, as well as hell-raising stories quashed by the Hollywood system, such as affairs with Monroe and Lana Turner, being caught in a brothel with Errol Flynn and a fist fight with Frank Sinatra, Munn offers a stunning portrait of a great man. From nursing Burton through an epileptic seizure to witnessing Burton’ s part in East End gang violence, this is an intimate and deeply moving biography. Writer, actor, director and former journalist and Hollywood publicist, Michael Munn, has written twenty-one books, including the best selling John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth and the acclaimed Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend

David Niven appeared in films for over 50 years of his life, from swashbucklers such as The Prisoner of Zenda and The Guns of Navarone to the Pink Panther series. Despite his on-screen persona, Niven wasn’ t always the perfect gentleman. He was insecure both privately and professionally and used people to get ahead. But he did, he said, ‘ at least try to be a decent man.’ He knew he often failed, although it isn’ t easy to find people who ever had a bad word to say about him. In this fascinating biography of the star, Munn looks at the funny stories and the sad underlying truth, from his outrageous days with Errol Flynn and their irrevocable split – ‘ You always know where you are with Flynn. He always lets you down’ – and numerous affairs with stars and prostitutes, to an attempted suicide, his horrific experiences in war-torn France and the breakdown and blame of his second marriage. This compelling text includes interviews with his second wife, Hjordis, John Huston, Rex Harrison, Laurence Olivier, Loretta Young (they discussed marriage once), Niven’ s long-time friend Michael Trubshawe, Peter Ustinov, Ava Gardner and many more. Funny, poignant and told with the compassion of one who knew him, this is a fascinating portrayal of a legend that really gets behind the screen and autobiographical persona. ‘ Reveals the actor’ s dark side and drastically changes the light-hearted self-portrait that Niven draws of himself in The Moon’ s a Balloon’ Sunday Express Writer, actor, director and former journalist and Hollywood publicist, Michael Munn, has written 21 books, including the best selling John Wayne: the Man behind the Myth and the acclaimed Richard Burton: Prince of Players

In Nazi Germany, the cult of celebrity was the embodiment of Hitler’s style of cultural governance. Hitler’s rise to power owed much to the creation of his own celebrity, and the country’s greatest stars, whether they were actors, writers, or musicians, could be one of only two things. If they were compliant, they were lauded and awarded status symbols for the regime; but if they resisted—or were simply Jewish—they were traitors to be interned and murdered. This fascinating analysis offers a shocking portrait of a Hitler shaped by aspirations to Hollywood-style fame, of the correlation between art and ambition, of films used as weapons, and of sexual predilections. The Führer believed he was an artist, not a politician, and in his Germany politics and culture became one. His celebrity was cultivated and nurtured by Joseph Goebbels, Germany’s supreme head of culture. Hitler and Goebbels enjoyed the company of beautiful female film stars, and Goebbels had his own “casting couch.” In Germany’s version of Hollywood there were scandals, starlets, secret agents, premieres, and party politics. The Third Reich would launch filmmaker and actress Leni Riefenstahl to prominence by making her its own glorifying documentarian, most famously in The Triumph of the Will, the innovative propaganda film starring Hitler and widely considered to be one of the greatest movies ever made. It is no coincidence that Eva Braun, Hitler’s longtime partner and wife for the two days leading up to their joint suicide, was a photographer, and in fact shot most of the surviving photographs and film footage of her lover. This book reveals previously unpublished information about the “Hitler film,” which Goebbels envisaged as “the greatest story ever told,” although it was ultimately trumped by the dictator’s own, real-life Wagnerian finale.

An icon of the silver screen, Gregory Peck is one of those rare actors who can command an audience''s attention by his mere presence. This biography tells the story of that man whose career has endured for over 50 years. Peck came to Hollywood during WWII and began his remarkable career by making no less than sixteen films before his screen debut, Days of Glory, had even been seen by the public. He received four Oscar nominations during his first six years in the movies before finally winning for his outstanding performance in To Kill A Mockingbird. Yet, it is his commercial successes in such films as Moby Dick, Duel in the Sun, The Omen and MacArthur, that made him the powerful acting force for several generations.

Star de grands classiques comme "La Grande Evasion", "Bullitt", "Papillon" et "L''Affaire Thomas Crown", Steve McQueen n''aurait jamais dû faire de cinéma. Fils d''une prostituée occasionnelle et d''un homme de passage, il devient rapidement un jeune délinquant, sauvage et rétif à toute autorité. Une période qui le marquera toute sa vie et affectera aussi bien son attitude "rebelle" vis-à-vis du système hollywoodien que ses relations avec les femmes. Avare en confidences et mutique avec les journalistes, McQueen avait très peu d''amis dans le métier. C''est pourquoi sa relation privilégiée avec Michael Munn permet à ce dernier de tracer la première biographie intime de l''acteur, dévoilant les violences de son beau-père, une adolescence tumultueuse, le séjour dans une maison de jeunes délinquants, de singuliers débuts au théâtre et, enfin, l''entrée dans la "machine Hollywood" grâce à sa première femme. L''ouvrage raconte comment un adolescent sauvage a su se révéler comme second rôle de série B, puis vedette de télévision dans la série "Au nom de la loi", avant de s''imposer face aux ténors du western dans "Les Sept Mercenaires", qui a lancé sa carrière. Il ne cache rien de ses nombreuses aventures féminines (parmi lesquelles Natalie Wood), de son rapport tourmenté et parfois violent avec ses trois compagnes successives, et de ses relations tumultueuses avec le Tout-Hollywood. Il montre comment, malgré un caractère sauvage et parfois paranoïaque, Steve McQueen a réussi à imposer sa marque pour devenir une des figures cinématographiques les plus marquantes de son temps, avant de saboter lui-même sa carrière.

Wherever we are in the quality movement, there is more to discover--to explore. Today, quality serves business as a way of increasing profits. That is one end of a spectrum. Tomorrow, quality takes business into the rest of the spectrum. In this new dimension, business learns to serve, and be served, from a foundation of unconditional love. At the other end of the spectrum is quality''s far-reaching goal--the attainment of harmony between people and the entire cosmos. This goal reveals the gap, and steps, between it and what we do today. This book is intended for explorers and pioneers. It is not for those who are comfortable in today''s paradigms. It is for those who search and yearn for new ways bring heart into the world of business and society. It is not for those who are comfortable living an unexamined and changeless life. It is for those who sense a thrill in the heart with the changes of each new day. Experience, not dry learning, is the heart of this book. For this reason, "Practical Exercises" are included in most of the chapters. They are experiences of things that can be known, but not told or taught. Without the exercises, your knowing will be superficial. With them, you can enter into dimensions unknown to you today. Michael W. Munn, Ph.D., heads the Gaia Center for Quality in Palo Alto, California. He provides keynotes, experiential change seminars, and business quality workshops. Strategic planning, executive development, proposal, and reengineering efforts are among the topics of his workshops.

Most intermediate-level machine learning books focus on how to optimize models by increasing accuracy or decreasing prediction error. But this approach often overlooks the importance of understanding why and how your ML model makes the predictions that it does. Explainability methods provide an essential toolkit for better understanding model behavior, and this practical guide brings together best-in-class techniques for model explainability. Experienced machine learning engineers and data scientists will learn hands-on how these techniques work so that you''ll be able to apply these tools more easily in your daily workflow. This essential book provides: A detailed look at some of the most useful and commonly used explainability techniques, highlighting pros and cons to help you choose the best tool for your needs Tips and best practices for implementing these techniques A guide to interacting with explainability and how to avoid common pitfalls The knowledge you need to incorporate explainability in your ML workflow to help build more robust ML systems Advice about explainable AI techniques, including how to apply techniques to models that consume tabular, image, or text data Example implementation code in Python using well-known explainability libraries for models built in Keras and TensorFlow 2.0, PyTorch, and HuggingFace

A portrait of Burt Lancaster, which looks at his rise to fame, the setting up of his own production company, the films in which he performed most of his own stunts, his turbulent private life and the reputation he acquired of being a tempestuous character.

This is not just the story of what was perhaps the most daring raid undertaken by the commandos during the war, but it is also the true and remarkable account of a desperate escape by Marine Sparks and Major ''Blondie'' Hasler across German-occupied France. For nearly three months, while they desperately sought assistance from the suspicious French Resistance and dodged German soldiers at every turn, Sparks and Hasler found themselves avoiding capture and certain death.

Born into a poor Hungarian family living in the Bronx, all Tony Curtis ever wanted to be was a movie star. As a young boy he lived in fear of anti-semitic beatings and abuse, but the child who began life as Bernard Schwartz went on to conquer Hollywood and live his dream. By the time he died, he was a legend with more than a hundred and twenty movies and TV dramas to his name. Here is the full story of a man plucked from obscurity to become the ultimate movie star; someone who skyrocketed to success via the Studio System. Nobody’s perfect covers his inauspicious start - struggling during the Depression then serving on a wartime submarine and witnessing the Japanese surrender at Tokyo Bay. The book goes on to describe Curtis’s days as one of the top movie stars of the 1950s and 60s, his five marriages and life-or-death struggle with drugs and alcohol. With his thick black hair, long eyelashes and trademark good looks, Tony was the heart throb who became a Hollywood survivor. At the height of Curtis’ fame, the star of Some Like It Hot and Spartacus ran with the Rat Pack, and counted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin amongst his close friends. Extremely popular with the starlets of the day, he was pursued by Marilyn Monroe day, who, pregnant with his child until she tragically miscarried, was obsessed with marrying him. His elopement with Janet Leigh, meanwhile, made Curtis half of one of Hollywood’s earliest power couples. But while his professional life was at its peak, his private life was beginning to fall apart. By the mid-1950s he was seeing a psychiatrist three times a week and soon succumbed to the lure of drugs. When his father was dying, agonisingly of lung cancer, Curtis supplied him with marijuana to ease his suffering. This biography by Michael Munn, who met Curtis several times and interviewed him at length, tells the definitive story of the one of the last matinée idols from the Golden Age of Hollywood, a heart-throb who, when asked what he wanted on his epitaph, replied, fittingly, ‘Nobody''s perfect.’

In the first half of the 20th century, the movie business was considered the richest prize in America. Little wonder, then, that the industry attracted the attentions of some of the most notorious names in criminal history. For Mafia boss Lucky Luciano and Chicago syndicate boss Al Capone, the fight for control of Hollywood was the culminating conflict between two men who had hated each other since their early days on the streets of New York. Yet, at the moment of their triumph, each was caught, leaving the ensuing war to be fought out on the streets of Los Angeles by Willie Bioff and George Browne for Capone and "Bugsy" Siegel for Luciano. Complete with first-hand accounts from Hollywood luminaries, this is the first comprehensive examination of that power struggle.--From publisher description.

Sharon Stone came from nowhere to become an ''overnight star'' in the steamy thriller Basic Instinct. Now one of Hollywood''s biggest female stars, she recently received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for her role In Casino. The Sharon Stone Story traces her life, from her childhood as a plain country girl and self-confessed ''nerdy ugly duckling'' with an exceptionally high IQ, through her years as a teenage beauty queen and then as an international fashion model before making her screen debut in 1981. Then, with determined doggedness, Sharon Stone set out to become a star, trying to shake off the blonde bimbo image she had been saddled with and finally establishing herself as one of America''s foremost actresses and a producer in her own right. Michael Munn portrays a woman who has fought against the conventions and chauvinistic attitudes of the men who run Hollywood and has not been afraid to speak out In the process. He relates her on-set battles with leading man William Baldwin during the filming of Silver and the scandalous affair with producer Bill MacDonald that led to the press branding her as a homewrecker. He examines the tragedies she overcame in her youth, the crippling injury she sustained that helped change her life, the secret work she does for charity and her relationships with her leading men, including Michael Douglas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rock Hudson and Robert De Niro. Michael Munn has interviewed Sharon Stone and many people who have worked with her, including Michael Douglas, Martin Scorsese and Richard Chamberlain, to build an insightful portrait of this remarkable and courageous woman.

" ... In Nazi Germany, the cult of celebrity was the embodiment of [Adolf] Hitler''s style of cultural governance. The country''s greatest6 celebrities, whether they were actors, writers or musicians, could be one of two things: if they were compliant they were lauded, buit if they resisted - or were simply Jewish - they were traitors to be interned and murdered. ... [This] book is [an] ... account of Hitler''s fantasy of power and stardom."--Back cover.

This exciting new biography of Laurence Olivier reveals the life, work and personality of arguably one of the greatest actors of all time as well as a fascinating secret. Michael Munn''s candid analysis is based on his association with Olivier through formal and informal conversations, in which the great actor spoke candidly to Munn about life, sex, secrets and Shakespeare. Michael Munn first met Olivier in 1971 and from then, the two became great friends. At the peak of their friendship, Olivier revealed a secret to him which he had told very few, mainly because of his lifelong fear of alienating the American public, but most curious of all, he kept it to himself out of an impulse not to be thought as a hero, which greatly contradicted his famously incredible ego. This secret has been disclosed by Munn for the first time and reveals that Laurence Olivier was recruited by SOE and MI-5, through film producer Alexander Korda, to promote the cause of Britain''s war against Germany while in the USA at a time when many Americans were isolationists. This book reveals some highly personal and rarely expressed thoughts from Olivier and from the people who knew him best.

Stars at War is the one saga of World War II that has never before been told. From the Jewish ghettos of Poland to the North African campaign, from the Normandy landings to the Baffle of the Bulge, from the day war broke out to the final victories over x Germany and Japan, this is the story of the actors and directors, the writers and camera-men from the film world who went to war.

Bewährte Praxislösungen für komplexe Machine-Learning-Aufgaben Behandelt alle Phasen der ML-Produktpipeline Klar strukturierter Aufbau: Konzepte und Zusammenhänge erschließen sich dadurch schnell Fokus auf TensorFlow, aber auch übertragbar auf PyTorch-Projekte Die Design Patterns in diesem Buch zeigen praxiserprobte Methoden und Lösungen für wiederkehrende Aufgaben beim Machine Learning. Die Autoren, drei Machine-Learning-Experten bei Google, beschreiben bewährte Herangehensweisen, um Data Scientists und Data Engineers bei der Lösung gängiger Probleme im gesamten ML-Prozess zu unterstützen. Die Patterns bündeln die Erfahrungen von Hunderten von Experten und bieten einfache, zugängliche Best Practices. In diesem Buch finden Sie detaillierte Erläuterungen zu 30 Patterns für diese Themen: Daten- und Problemdarstellung, Operationalisierung, Wiederholbarkeit, Reproduzierbarkeit, Flexibilität, Erklärbarkeit und Fairness. Jedes Pattern enthält eine Beschreibung des Problems, eine Vielzahl möglicher Lösungen und Empfehlungen für die Auswahl der besten Technik für Ihre Situation.

A look at the illegal and shocking antics of some of Hollywood''s most popular young actors discusses Sean Penn''s volatility, Rob Lowe''s sex addiction, and Errol Flynn''s drug use. Reprint.

The astonishing account of Carolyn Lee Mitchell''s obsession with the Beatles, and in particular with Paul McCartney.

The controversial new biography of the ultimate movie star reveals the never-before-told secrets of a towering Hollywood icon. "An affectionate and enjoyable biography . . . "--"London Sunday Telegraph."

The son of impoverished immigrants, Kirk Douglas fought his way to the top and stayed there, becoming the last of the great Hollywood legends and patriarch of a talented acting family. Here is the complete story of a man who has won the respect and admiration of millions worldwide. Martin''s.

In this highly entertaining investigation of the paranormal experiences of many of the world''s best-loved film stars are tales of ghosts as seen by the likes of Telly Sevalas, Roger Moore, Anna Neagle and Elke Sommer, and of the film star ghosts themselves, including Boris Karloff, Clifton Webb and Rudolph Valentino. Here also are Sophia Loren, Vincent Price, Gloria Swanson, Basil Rathbone, Sylvester Stallone and many others who have experienced premonotions that have saved them from death, visions which revealed startling news or predictions of future events which may not have shaped the history of the world but certainly helped to shape some of the movie businesses most illustrious characters.

Traces the life and career of the successful American actor, explains how he got his start, and discusses his most memorable roles