User:Hollywood Scribe/sandbox/Pat H. Broeske

Pat H. Broeske, born in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood, is an American author and journalist who occasionally works as a producer-writer-consultant on reality-based television programs. She is best known for her articles about Hollywood, and for writing—with co-author Peter Harry Brown—biographies of Howard Hughes and Elvis Presley.

Education and early career

Raised in Orange County, California, Broeske attended California State University, Fullerton, earning a B.A. in telecommunications while minoring in journalism.After a stint at a small Los Angeles County newspaper she freelanced for various Orange County outlets, as well as alternative arts publications. She also began to sell articles to the Los Angeles Times, where she would eventually become a staff writer.

After a stint at a small Los Angeles County newspaper she freelanced for various Orange County outlets, as well as alternative arts publications. She also began to sell articles to the Los Angeles Times, where she would eventually become a staff writer.

Career and coverage of Hollywood

It was her genre pieces, such as an examination of the role of women in classic science fiction films, the evolution of horror film villains , and the growing influence of “splatter cinema”—including a then-rare interview with gore pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis —that first garnered Broeske attention in the Los Angeles Times’ Sunday Calendar. Along with other journalist-authors such as Dennis McDougal, William Knoedelseder, and John Morgan Wilson, she was mentored by the late Irv Letofsky, the Sunday Calendar editor known for his hard-edged perspective on reporting on Hollywood. As Broeske noted in a Letofsky obituary, “Stars and filmmaking made a lot of money, and Irv felt they were fair game for serious scrutiny.”

Broeske was a leading correspondent for Sunday Calendar’s popular and irreverent Outtakes column. She also interviewed celebrities and filmmakers, covered film trends and box office, and reported from locations as far away as the Middle East (Rambo: III in 1987 ) and the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland  (1989’s Triumph of the Spirit). Though she wrote enthusiastically about action films and mainstream Hollywood’s burgeoning interest in superhero movies she largely employed a no-nonsense approach; London’s The Times Magazine called her “one of the most tenacious and aggressive reporters in Los Angeles.”

Over the years, Broeske’s articles on the entertainment industry have appeared in such respected outlets as The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times. She has also published reviews and essays on various subjects; writing for the Gale Group’s St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, she examined topics as disparate as teen idols, The Doors and actor John Garfield. In 2013 she turned her attention to the world of celebrity fashion lines, with an examination of Gwen Stefani’s foray into couture.

Books

Broeske is the co-author (with Peter Harry Brown) of two biographies, the national best-seller Howard Hughes: The Untold Story (Dutton, 1996) and Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley (Dutton, 1997). Both books were critically lauded. The Los Angeles Times called Howard Hughes “a compelling read,” praising the authors for their use “of long-hidden dossiers and documents that were not available to previous biographers.”   The Toronto Star labeled Lonely Street “by far the most comprehensive examination of the Presley phenomenon yet written.”

Under her occasional pseudonym “Katharine Cummings,” Broeske examined the life of Elvis’s daughter in the paperback original Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Lisa Marie Presley Story (AMI Books, 2004).

True Crime and Other Expertise

Some of Broeske’s early freelance articles dealt with true crime, especially famous Southern California cases. Crimes that have resonated in popular culture are a personal passion; she has written about Hollywood’s interest in serial killers and the Black Dahlia for multiple outlets, including The New York Times.

Broeske has explored crime in her work as a producer-writer-consultant for reality docu-drama. Her credits include truTV’s Anatomy of Crime and Video Justice for Langley Productions (of COPS fame). A frequent “expert voice” for documentaries about Hughes, Presley and Hollywood, Broeske has contributed to programs for History channel, Turner Classic Movies and other outlets.

Personal Interests

A lifelong mystery buff, Broeske serves on the board of Orange County Sisters in Crime  and is a member of the Southern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She resides in Orange County, California.

References

[1] “Female Film Creatures: Run of the Sci-Fi Mill.” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1979. Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

[2] “The Outrage and the Income.” Los Angeles Times, August 22, 1982. Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

[3] “Herschell Gordon Lewis: Godfather of Gore, Reincarnate.” Los Angeles Times, October 21, 1984. Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

[4] McLellan, Dennis. “Times editor put edge in movie news.” Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2007. Retrieved: 2013-07-29.

[5] McLellan, Dennis. “Times editor put edge in movie news.” Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2007. Retrieved: 2013-07-29.

[6] Letofsky, Irv. “Finding Truth in Tinseltown: Separating the Real Tinsel from the False in Tinseltown.” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1986.

[7] “Blood, Sweat, Dust: In Israel for ‘Rambo III,’ Stallone Takes on the Russians and the Perils of Filmmaking in 120 degree Heat.” Los Angeles Times, October 11, 1987.

[8] “Filmmaking on a Killing Ground: ‘Triumph of the Spirit’ is the first film to be shot almost entirely at the Auschwitz death camp.” Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1989. Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

[9] Robbins, Christopher. “The Woman Behind Tom.” The Times Magazine (of London’s The Times), March 26, 1994. Retrieved: 2013-08-01.

[10] “Gwen Inc.” Orange Coast. March 2013. Retrieved: 2013-08-19

[11] Kirsch, Jonathan. “The Strange Saga of a Bizarre Billionaire.” Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1996. Retrieved: 2013-08-01.

[12] Rubinkowski, Leslie. “Long Live the King.” Toronto Star, August 16, 1997. Retrieved: 2013-08-02.

[13]HYPERLINK "http://www.pathbroeske.com" www.pathbroeske.com

[14] “Bud & Beulah & Death in Orange: How the nation’s longest and most sensational murder trial rocked the Southland.” Los Angeles Magazine, May 1985. Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

[15] “Serial Killers Claim Movies As Their Prey.” New York Times, December 13, 1992; “Dark Moment in the Harsh Hollywood Sun: The Black Dahlia finds her way to the silver screen at last.” New York Times, February 5, 2006.

[16] IMDb.com

[17]  HYPERLINK "http://ocsistersincrime.org" http://ocsistersincrime.org

[18]  HYPERLINK "http://www.socalmwa.com" http://www.socalmwa.com