Suzanne Finstad (born Suzanne Elaine Finstad September 14, 1955, in Minneapolis, Minnesota)birth reference results from FamilySearch.org, accessed November 30, 2016. is a bestselling American author, biographer, journalist, producer, and lawyer.Who's Who in America 1998; Who's Who in the World 1995; Who's Who in American Law 1994–95
Work pre-1990 Finstad received the Frank Wardlaw Prize in 1984 for literary excellence for her first book, Heir Not Apparent (1984),Ebooks drawn from her experiences as a young law clerk and trial attorney investigating claims to the billion-dollar estate of industrialist, aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes, who appeared to have died without a valid will.Jacket copy, Heir Not Apparent, Texas Monthly Press, 1984 American Cinematographer described Heir Not Apparent as a "spellbinding account of intrigues by lawyers, relatives and fortune hunters for a share in the Hughes estate."George L. George, American Cinematographer, Aug/Sept 1984 Kirkus Reviews praised the book, which was excerpted in Penthouse,Penthouse, May 1984 as "immediate and engrossing".Kirkus Reviews, 5.4.1984 Other critics called it "strikingly literate",Louise Gregg, Wichita Falls Times, 7.8.84 "a detective-story lovers dream . . . the stuff good novels are made of."Jerry Klein, The Charlotte News, 8.24.84
Her second book, Ulterior Motives: The Killing and Dark Legacy of Tycoon Henry Kyle (1987), took her into the genre of the non-fiction true crime novel created by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, centering on a spectacular murder trial which revealed that self-made millionaire Kyle, shot by his older son, had a violent Jekyll-Hyde personality and a lifetime of secrets, including a hidden wife and daughter.Contemporary Authors, Gale Research, Dec. 16, 2007 Ulterior Motives, which began as a Rolling Stone assignment into Kyle's mysterious murder in his rundown Sunset Boulevard mansion, presents a true tale of "money, greed, family discord, drugs and a bigger-than-life cast of characters," according to the Houston Post.Carlton Stowers, Houston Post, 8.16.87 "She handles the story deftly and sensitively", wrote the book critic for the Dallas Morning News, "with touches of irony and humor."Books, Dallas Morning News, 4.24.88
Work since 1990 Finstad wrote the national bestseller Sleeping with the Devil (1991), a non-fiction novel about the murder-for-hire of Barbra Piotrowski, a California beauty queen in a destructive love triangle with a married Texas health club tycoon named Richard Minns, who was alleged to have hired the assassins who shot and paralyzed Piotrowski. The book was excerpted in Cosmopolitan and published in France, Italy, and Germany. One critic called Sleeping With the Devil "a true American tragedy".Paul Pintarich, The Oregonian, 7.7.91 Others described it as "hypnotic," ". . . a disquieting book about adultery, scams, misuse of power and attempted murder . . . a must-read."Gloria Horstman, Pasadena Star-News, 8.11.91; Mark G. Hanna, Houston Post, 7.14.91 The paperback includes details about Minns' arrest for felony passport fraud, assisted by information provided by Finstad,Avon paperback who, reported the Dallas Morning News,"fearlessly dug into the story about the brilliant, complex man who has stayed beyond the reach of the courts and the Houston police."Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News, 8.25.91 Sleeping With the Devil was made into a movie for CBS that aired in 1997. Finstad was an Associate Producer.
In 1988, Finstad wrote a cover story on Queen Noor of Jordan, the American who married King Hussein after graduating from Princeton's first class to admit women ("The Incredible Odyssey of Lisa Halaby").European Travel & Life, October 1988 It led to a contract for Finstad to write a biography of Queen Noor for Villard Books after the Gulf War. Finstad made numerous trips to the Middle East and elsewhere for her research. The manuscript was set aside for political reasons.West Central Tribune, 7.19.01 CBS later optioned the magazine piece.
Finstad spent the next three years researching and writing Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley (1997), the first biography of Priscilla Presley. Finstad offered a detailed account of Priscilla Beaulieu's childhood, including Priscilla's discovery of her true father at eleven, her courtship by Elvis Presley when she was 14 years old, their marriage, and her management of Elvis Presley Enterprises after their divorce and his death. Child Bride was alleged based on extensive interviews with Priscilla Presley, her family, her close friends, her classmates, her co-stars and numerous members of Presley's circle in Memphis and Germany, including Currie Grant, a former Army buddy of Elvis, who introduced Priscilla to Elvis. Harmony/Crown published Child Bride in 1997; Century London published the book in the U.K. However, the book's credibility is questionable, with some even noting how Finstad's support of Grant's account of events was controversial. While Child Bride was on several cities' bestseller lists, Priscilla filed a lawsuit against Currie Grant, denying his claim that she had sex with him in exchange for introducing her to Elvis Presley. Entertainment Weekly alleged in a 1997 review that the book's claims were "backed by interviews with scores of sources.""Priscilla's secrets come rolling out," Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 1997 However, this view about great use of various sources for the book's content was later disputed, with Grant's account later determined to have been, as The Chicago Tribune noted in August 1998, "used as the source for the book “Child Bride: The Untold Story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley” by Suzanne Finstad." In the book, Finstad included excerpts from her taped joint interview with Grant and Priscilla Presley, who disagreed with certain points that Finstad had independently documented. Priscilla's suit resulted in a default judgment against Grant, whom Priscilla had sued for at least $10 million, on August 19, 1998. He was ordered to pay $75,000. In addition, the ruling, which was made by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Curry, also found that Grant had not only made false statements which were repeated, but that these statements had also been used as "the source" for Child Bride. However, neither Finstad nor her publisher was a party to the lawsuit, and Finstad and her publisher say they stand by their account of the affair in the book."We stand by the book completely," Hilary Bass, a spokeswoman for Harmony Books, said... "It went through an extensive legal vetting." See "Is It Getting Easier to Win Libel Suits?" Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1997. For further details, see also Daily Telegraph, Sept. 19, 1997, Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), Aug. 26, 1998 and Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), Sept. 25, 1998.
Crown re-released Child Bride in 2005. "Finstad's research and her analysis of Priscilla's complex character make for a riveting read," Liz Smith wrote in the New York Post.".Liz Smith, New York Post, 9.15.97
At least one reviewer for The StoryGraph referred to Child Bride as "idiotic" and "pure rag gossip trash," further claiming it "felt like" Finstad "could have co-written alongside Perez Hilton and posted to a blog."
Work since 2000 In 2001, Finstad wrote the New York Times bestseller Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood, published by Harmony/Crown and released in the UK by Century London.NY Times Book Review, 7.8.01 Natasha was named the Best Film Book of 2001 by the San Francisco Chronicle and it was also named one of the Top 10 Books of 2001 by the Economist.Three Rivers Press paperback, Natasha, 2001 Natasha, excerpted in People, was hailed as "the definitive Natalie Wood" by Premiere Magazine.People, 6.11.01; Deirdre Dolan, Premiere July 2001 The Chicago Tribune called it "an insightful, haunting page-turner of a book;",Tara Burghart, Chicago Tribune, 9.17.01 "remarkably researched," stated the Baltimore Sun, ". . . certain things stay with you."Paul Moore, Baltimore Sun, 8.8.01 "The information Finstad has discovered about Wood's horrific childhood, her anxiety-ridden stardom, and her mysterious death is deeply disturbing," noted Variety.Digby Diehl, Variety, 8.6-12.01 "Heartstopping," proclaimed the Toronto National Post. "...a life entangled in mystical oddities, described with academic flair...the climax -- death by drowning -- is reached with a Chekhovian inevitability."Toronto National Post, Aug. 2001
The film rights to Natasha were purchased by ABC in 2001 before the galleys were released.Michael Fleming, Variety, 2.24.00 Peter Bogdanovich directed the adaptation, which aired on ABC as a three-hour movie and was shown as a four-hour miniseries in Australia. Finstad was Co-Executive Producer. The New York Times review of Finstad's book called Natasha "a sad, penetrating portrait that juxtaposes the storybook myth . . . and the real story of what happened once the cameras stopped rolling.".Tripp Whetsell, New York Times Book Review, 8.5.01 In his review for the Washington Post Book World, Jonathan Yardley observed, "Finstad has a keen sense of how that city's dream factory simultaneously turns women into stars and leaves them bereft."Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World, 7.1-7.01
Finstad's editor at Harmony/Crown suggested that she follow Natasha with a biography of actor-producer-writer-director Warren Beatty.Author's Note, A Private Man The result was Warren Beatty: A Private Man, published in the US in 2005 by Harmony/Crown and published by Aurum in London. It was chosen as one of the Top Five Entertainment Books of 2005 by The Sunday Times (London), which described it as a "seductive study of a perfectionist and overachiever," "well-researched and absorbing . . . undoubtedly the best star biography of the year.".Christopher Silvester, The Sunday Times (London), 11.6.05 USA Today called it "[a] compelling biography;"Deirdre Donahue, USA Today, 9.27.05 another reviewer described it as "an engrossing account of a complex individual ... periodically referring to the parallel lives of the brother-sister duo of Beatty and Shirley MacLaine. The impact made on their astonishing lives by a Baptist Virginia background along with their upbringing by an emotionless father (who blamed marriage for his lack of success) and a Canadian drama-teacher mother is ... fascinating."Nicholas Spillios, Edmonton Journal, 10.23.05 "Award-winning biographer Suzanne Finstad doesn't shy away from Beatty's womanizing ways," wrote the critic Allan Hunter. "She does, however, realize that they are only part of a much bigger picture ... Finstad builds a very substantial portrait of what makes Beatty tick."Allan Hunter, Glasgow Herald, 11.12.05
Film adaptations Sleeping With the Devil and Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood were adapted for television.
References
External links Random house - picture