Donald Spoto

The BBC/HBO television film The Girl (2012), about Tippi Hedren's experience during the filming of The Birds (1963), was based in part on Spoto's work on Hitchcock. Spoto wrote biographical accounts of the House of Windsor from the Victorian era to Diana, Princess of Wales, and of religious figures such as Jesus, Saint Joan of Arc, and Saint Francis of Assisi; the latter was made into a television program by Faith & Values Media.

• Name — Donald Spoto • Born — 28 June 1941 • Birthplace — New Rochelle, New York, U.S. • Died — 11 February 2023 • Place of death — Køge, Denmark • Education — Iona College (BA, 1963); Fordham University (MA, 1966; PhD, 1970) • Spouse — Ole Flemming Larsen

A native of New Rochelle, New York, Spoto graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1959 and received his BA summa cum laude from Iona College in 1963 and his MA and PhD from Fordham University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. In 2013, the Academy of Art University (San Francisco) bestowed on him an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to literature and education.

In the 1970s Spoto began writing biographies of film directors, actors and playwrights. He has also written accounts of such religious figures as Jesus, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Francis of Assisi. The latter was made into a television program of the same title, Reluctant Saint: Francis of Assisi, produced for Faith & Values Media. Spoto's Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life was adapted into a four-hour drama which aired in 2000 on CBS. He was an executive producer of the project, along with George Stelzner of West Egg Studios. Spoto served as script consultant for The Girl (2012), an HBO/BBC TV movie based on Spoto's books about Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Toby Jones and Sienna Miller, the film offers an account of Hitchcock's treatment of Tippi Hedren during the filming of The Birds (1963).

Spoto was openly gay and lived with his husband, Ole Flemming Larsen, near Copenhagen, Denmark. Spoto died of a brain hemorrhage in Køge on February 11, 2023, at the age of 81.

• (1976; rev. ed. 1999). The Art of Alfred Hitchcock. Doubleday Anchor. • (1978). Stanley Kramer, Film Maker. Putnam. • (1978). Camerado: Hollywood and the American Man. Plume. • (1983). The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock. Little, Brown & Co. • (1985). The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams. Little, Brown & Co. • (1985). Falling in Love Again: Marlene Dietrich. Little, Brown & Co. • (1989). Lenya: A Life. Little, Brown & Co. • (1990). Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges. Little, Brown & Co. • (1992). Laurence Olivier: A Biography. HarperCollins. • (1992). Blue Angel: The Life of Marlene Dietrich. Doubleday. • (1993). Marilyn Monroe: The Biography. Harper Collins. • (1995). A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth Taylor. HarperCollins. • (1995). The Decline and Fall of the House of Windsor. Simon & Schuster. • Also published as Dynasty: The Turbulent Saga of the Royal Family from Victoria to Diana. • (1996). Rebel: The Life and Legend of James Dean. HarperCollins. • (1997). Diana: The Last Year. Random House. • (1997). Notorious: The Life of Ingrid Bergman. HarperCollins. • (1998). The Hidden Jesus: A New Life. St. Martin's Press. • (2000). Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life. St. Martin's Press. • (2002). Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. Viking Press. • (2002). In Silence: Why We Pray. Viking Press. • (2006). Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn. Random House/Harmony. • (2007). Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint. HarperSanFrancisco. • (2007). Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates. Hutchinson • (2008). Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies. Random House/Harmony and Hutchinson. • (2009). High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly. Random House/Harmony. • (2010). Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford. Morrow. • (2012). The Redgraves: A Family Epic. Crown. • (2016). A Girl's Got To Breathe: The Life of Teresa Wright. University Press of Mississippi.