About

Matthew Kennedy is a writer, film historian, and anthropologist living in Oakland, California. He is the author of three biographies of classic Hollywood: Marie Dressler: A Biography (McFarland, 1999, paperback 2006), Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory: Hollywood's Genius Bad Boy (University of Wisconsin Press, 2004), and Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes (University Press of Mississippi, 2007), and the genre study Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s (Oxford University Press, 2014). His latest book is On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024). He has contributed to four anthologies: Strategies in Teaching Anthropology (Pearson Prentice Hall, first and fourth editions, 2000 and 2006) and The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance & Musical Theater and of Film and Television (Cleis Press, 2004 and 2005). He is film and book critic for the respected Bright Lights Film Journal, a member of the Writers Group of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, and his articles have appeared in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Performing Arts, San Francisco Chronicle, and the TCM Classic Film Festival program book. Kennedy is a former modern dancer, arts administrator, concert producer, and contracted writer for George Lucas Books, and has taught anthropology and film history at the City College of San Francisco and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has been a guest speaker at a number of venues, including the Museum of Modern Art, Pacific Film Archive, and UCLA Film Archive, and is presently curator and host of the CinemaLit film series at the Mechanics' Institute Library. His book Roadshow! was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. He is the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship and a San Francisco Cable Car Media/Journalism Award. He holds a BA in theater arts from UCLA and an MA in anthropology from UC Davis, is a member of The Authors Guild, and is represented by Stuart Bernstein Representation for Artists.

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