Sneha Girap (Editor)

Bob Thomas (reporter)

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Occupation
  
Biographer, reporter

Movies
  
A Century of Cinema

Role
  
Biographer

Name
  
Bob Thomas

Children
  
Three


Bob Thomas (reporter) wwwlatimescomincludesprojectshollywoodportra

Full Name
  
Robert Joseph Thomas

Born
  
January 26, 1922 (
1922-01-26
)
San Diego, California, U.S.

Died
  
March 14, 2014, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States

Spouse
  
Patricia Thomas (m. 1947–2014)

Education
  
University of California, Los Angeles

Books
  
BUILDING A COMPANY, Ben Hogan's Secret, King Cohn, Disney's Art of Animatio, Thalberg

Robert Joseph "Bob" Thomas (January 26, 1922 – March 14, 2014) was an American Hollywood film industry biographer and reporter who worked for the Associated Press from 1944.

Contents

Bob Thomas (reporter) cdn4thrcomsitesdefaultfiles201403bobthoma

Personal life

Born in San Diego in 1922, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.

Writing career

Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistlines after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas has been writing about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack L. Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn, and Louis B. Mayer.

During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies.

His biographies on Howard Hughes and Abbott & Costello have been made into television movies.

Awards

For contributions to the motion picture industry, Bob Thomas received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that was paid for by his friends in advance and placed at 6879 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2009, in recognition of over 60 years of covering the entertainment business for the Associated Press, the Publicists Guild awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award.

References

Bob Thomas (reporter) Wikipedia