The Lady from the Black Lagoon
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts
3.8
(55)
Mallory O'Meara
This acclaimed biography shines a light on a trailblazing woman who created a classic movie monster—and the author’s quest to rescue her from obscurity.As a teenager, Mallory O’Meara was thrilled to discover that one of her favorite movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick. But while Patrick should have been hailed as a pioneer in the genre, there was little information available about her. As O’Meara discovered, Patrick’s contribution had been claimed by a jealous male colleague and her career had been cut short. No one even knew if she was still alive.As a young woman working in the horror film industry, O’Meara set out to right the wrong, and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time. Patrick’s contribution to special effects proved to be just the latest chapter in a remarkable, unconventional life, from her youth growing up in the shadow of Hearst Castle, to her career as one of Disney’s first female animators. And at last, O’Meara discovered what really had happened to Patrick after The Creature’s success, and where she went.A true-life detective story and a celebration of a forgotten feminist trailblazer, Mallory O’Meara’s The Lady from the Black Lagoon establishes Patrick in her rightful place in film history while calling out a Hollywood culture where little has changed since.A Hugo and Locus Award FinalistA Thrillist Best Book of the YearOne of Booklist’s 10 Best Art Books of the Year
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More Details:
Author
Mallory O'Meara
Pages
269
Publisher
Harlequin
Published Date
2019-03-05
ISBN
1488098743 9781488098741
Community ReviewsSee all
"Written with love and the utmost care, Lady from the Black Lagoon is a must read. I learned so much about amazing women behind the scenes, blazing a trail for those that follow. As a fellow woman in the arts, I felt a connection to both O'Meara and Patrick. Please read!"
Haley Reads
"Historical look at animation, cinema, and working women through one woman's story. Did not know a lot. The mystery of this one individual could inspire a beautiful mini series. It's fabulous and dramatic all the way through."
Lae Allen
"Every day I learned something new that I just had to share. Ran the gamut of emotion, and had some really good contemporary feminist talking points. Took off a star for about a third of the footnotes being the author's jokes or wink-wink, nudge-nudge moments to the reader."
tinyhouse bigreads
"Admittedly, I wasn't expecting what read as memoir of O'Meara navigating her research of Millicent Patrick, and it was not all that enjoyable to read. It's clear O'Meara's research was not as fruitful as she had hoped when starting this project as so much of the author's insertions of her life or current Hollywood matters were used to fill out Patrick's life. I don't feel like you will learn anything all that monumental of Millicent Patrick that you haven't already learned. <br/>As a librarian, O'Meara's research attempts hurt. It took her way too long to visit a library, and why oh why didn't she access genealogical records earlier. All of these "issues" of name changes would have been much simpler. <br/>Wouldn't recommend, but I wouldn't discourage."
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Grace
"Wow. Honestly, I picked this up because I’ve been a long time fan of the Horror Movie Make-up show at Universal Studios and I was shocked to find out that a woman designed the Creature From the Black Lagoon, which has haunted my nightmares for years. After reading all this, I’m tempted to send a strongly worded letter to someone regarding her lack of mention. She truly was a woman far ahead of her times, and she was a hell of a role model. She worked for both Disney and Universal and was part of some kick-ass teams that designed iconic movie characters in Fantasia and This Island Earth. How could I never have known about her? I’m certainly grateful to the author for bringing Milicent Patrick to the forefront where she belongs, and I hope more people read this story and realize the contributions that have been made all along by women in Hollywood, even if that credit has not been given."
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Allie Peduto
"millicent patrick rights"
c w
claire w.
"Amazing writing and story telling techniques"
Kiki Kraken
"I thoroughly enjoyed this combination tale of Mallory's journey to find information about Milicent, Milicent herself and those around her. I fully understand the viewpoint of those that may not enjoy this book because it is a mix of those things with (what I feel is important) social commentary intertwined. Not your jam, ok, cool. I personally found that the inclusion of much of her father's history would have been important to Milicent herself considering her own attempts later and in life to bring light to his accomplishments. I didn't mind the swaps between memoir of the author and memoir of Milicent at all myself.<br/><br/>If you have any love or interest for the era of Universal Monsters, give it a whirl. I found out about this book and Milicent herself even existing because Mallory guested on an episode of the podcast Bizarre States (Andrew Bowser & Jessica Chobot's Nerdist hosted podcast, no longer active) around the time she was either finishing the book or getting ready for it's release. Glad I did."
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