ThoughtGallery.org > An Evening with Ed Sorel: A Discussion on His Graphic Novel, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary

An Evening with Ed Sorel: A Discussion on His Graphic Novel, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary

In a hilarious send-up of sex, scandal, and the Golden Age of Hollywood, legendary cartoonist Edward Sorel brings us a story (literally) ripped from the headlines of a bygone era.

Featuring over sixty original illustrations, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary narrates and illustrates the travails of the Oscar-winning actress alongside Sorel’s own personal story of discovering an unlikely muse. Throughout, we get his wry take on all the juicy details of this particular slice of Hollywood Babylon, including Mary’s life as a child star—her career in silent films began at age fourteen—presided over by her tyrannical father, Otto, who “managed” her full-time and treated his daughter like an ATM machine. Sorel also animates her teenage love affair with probably the biggest star of the silent era, the much older John Barrymore, who seduced her on the set of a movie and convinced her parents to allow her to be alone with him for private “acting lessons.”

Sorel imbues Mary Astor’s life with the kind of wit and eye for character that his art is famous for, but here he also emerges as a writer, creating a compassionate character study of Astor, a woman who ultimately achieved a life of independence after spending so much of it bullied by others.











When: Tue., Nov. 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Society of Illustrators
128 E. 63rd St.
212-838-2560
Price: $15
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In a hilarious send-up of sex, scandal, and the Golden Age of Hollywood, legendary cartoonist Edward Sorel brings us a story (literally) ripped from the headlines of a bygone era.

Featuring over sixty original illustrations, Mary Astor’s Purple Diary narrates and illustrates the travails of the Oscar-winning actress alongside Sorel’s own personal story of discovering an unlikely muse. Throughout, we get his wry take on all the juicy details of this particular slice of Hollywood Babylon, including Mary’s life as a child star—her career in silent films began at age fourteen—presided over by her tyrannical father, Otto, who “managed” her full-time and treated his daughter like an ATM machine. Sorel also animates her teenage love affair with probably the biggest star of the silent era, the much older John Barrymore, who seduced her on the set of a movie and convinced her parents to allow her to be alone with him for private “acting lessons.”

Sorel imbues Mary Astor’s life with the kind of wit and eye for character that his art is famous for, but here he also emerges as a writer, creating a compassionate character study of Astor, a woman who ultimately achieved a life of independence after spending so much of it bullied by others.

Buy tickets/get more info now