Dan Van Neste

I like the way this author does his biographies - the first half of the book is a detailed biography of his subject. The second half takes each film, provides credits, availability (so many of Baxter's early films are lost), plot summary, and trivia. There is also then a list of radio appearances, extensive end notes, bibliography, and index. The author does a good job in researching his subject and provides information of what his co-stars thought of the subject. This is not to say that the book has some errors. Page 25 has some awkward wording with saying : "He was so excited he borrowed a $1 from his landlady to send his mother a cable...." Was it a $1 bill or $1 coin - why is the word "a" in there and why didn't a proofreader catch this? Page 122 says the 1934 film Stand Up and Cheer was Shirley Temple's debut but Temple had appeared in many shorts and in some films (many times not credited) since 1932 so it was hardly her debut but was her first major role. The author misspelled co-star Florence Eldridge's name as "Eldredge" on page 294 and Dorothy Davenport's married name of Mrs. Wallace Reid as "Reed" on page 319 and 320. Eldridge's name was spelled correctly on page 359. Overall it was an excellent biography of an actor who made a major contribution in the early days of film and who is relatively unknown today except to film buffs.… (meer)