About
Author, screenwriter, and playwright Samuel Garza Bernstein's latest book is "Starring Joan Crawford: The Films, the Fantasy, and the Modern Relevance of a Silver Screen Icon" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024). He is the winner of a Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association for “Uncommon Heroes,” an exploration of heroes and role models in the LGBTQIA+ community. “Mr. Confidential,” his biography of Robert Harrison, the creator and publisher of Confidential Magazine, was adapted into a stage musical with book and lyrics by Garza Bernstein. Other books include, “Lulu: A Non-Fiction Novel,” about the silent film actress Louise Brooks during the making of “Pandora’s Box” in Berlin in 1928. Upcoming books: "Cesar Romero: The Joker is Wild," and an untitled biography of Roddy McDowall. He and his husband Ronald Shore divide their time between Los Angeles and Porto, Portugal, held hostage by a pack of wild dachshunds.
Featured Work
WWJD What Would Joan Crawford Do?
The book explores the powerful women Joan Crawford vividly brought to life in her films—and the lasting, ever-evolving impact she has had on popular culture. She created a gallery of strong, assertive women who outsmarted men and refused to conform to gender expectations. In movies like "Mildred Pierce," "The Damned Don't Cry," and "Johnny Guitar," among many others. She played to win, becoming a lodestar to the LGBTQIA+ community and an icon of self-determination for women. We still live in a world where women struggle with wildly competing messages from society and pop culture. Spend ten minutes on TikTok and you get the gist: young girls are told they should be sexual but innocent; smart but stupid; ambitious but meek. Joan Crawford thought all of that was bullshit. She was right. And she spent a lifetime defining herself by her own standards—leaving behind a legacy that resonates today, and a history that fascinates and informs.
