Hack, Richard 1958(?)-

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Hack, Richard 1958(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born March 20, 1958 (some sources say 1951), in Drexel Hill, PA. Education: Attended Columbia University and Pennsylvania State University; earned an M.S.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Maui, HI, and FL.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as an actor in commercials and on the soap opera The Guiding Light; TV Guide, Los Angeles, CA, West Coast national programming director; Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles, columnist until 1990; Dove Audio and Entertainment, vice president of creative affairs, 1990.

WRITINGS:

(With Richard Maheu) Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes by His Closest Advisor, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.

Richard Hack's Complete Home Video Guide for Parents: Over 300 Reviews of the Best Videos for Children, Dove Books (Beverly Hills, CA), 1995.

(With Margaret Maldonado Jackson) Jackson Family Values: Memories of Madness, Dove Books (Beverly Hills, CA), 1995.

(With Jana St. James) Memories of Madison County, Dove Books (Beverly Hills, CA), 1995.

When Money Is King: How Revlon's Ron Perelman Mastered the Art of Finance to Create One of America's Greatest Business Empires, and Found Glamour, Beauty, and the High Life in the Bargain, Dove Books (Beverly Hills, CA), 1996.

Madness in the Morning: Life and Death in TV's Early Morning Ratings War, New Millennium Press (Beverly Hills, CA), 1999.

Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters: The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire, New Millennium Press (Beverly Hills, CA), 2001.

Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires That Control What We Read and Watch, New Millennium Press (Beverly Hills, CA), 2003.

Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, New Millennium Press (Beverly Hills, CA), 2004.

Contributor to publications, including the Hollywood Reporter.

SIDELIGHTS:

Richard Hack started his career as an actor in New York City, performing in television commercials for UltraBrite Toothpaste, Jockey Life underwear, Gillette Dry Look hairspray, Merona Sportswear, Bloomingdale's, and Calvin Klein. He also appeared for a time on the soap opera The Guiding Light. When he moved to Los Angeles, he took a job with TV Guide as their West Coast national programming editor. He went on to become a columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, and helped the publication to overtake their Hollywood trade rival, Variety. Hack also became a frequent guest on talk shows, such as Oprah Winfrey, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Charlie Rose, Today, The Tonight Show, and Entertainment Tonight, where he would speak about the entertainment industry and discuss Hollywood news.

In 1990, Hack became vice president of creative affairs at Dove Audio and Entertainment, where he oversaw adaptations of a number of books for television. He wrote his first book, Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes by His Closest Advisor, with Richard Maheu. In it, Hack describes how Maheu, as Howard Hughes's business aide, was responsible for much of the man's financial empire and also became rich himself, yet never met Hughes once over the course of their dealings. Hack went on to write Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters: The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire, a sort of companion volume that examines Hughes's life through his own papers, addressing not only his eccentricities, but his genius for business and risk-taking. Michael R. Farkash, writing for the Hollywood Reporter, remarked that Hack's book "proves a fascinating, compellingly written account of a man with enough money, nerve and charm to acquire nearly anything he wanted. There have been books about Hughes before, but this is an excruciatingly detailed biography." A contributor for Publishers Weekly opined that Hughes's life has never been recounted "with the overview, insight and, most important, extraordinarily diligent research applied by Hack in this riveting biography."

With Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, Hack tackles another larger-than-life individual. The book examines the way Federal Bureau of Investigation director Hoover manipulated the people around him to maintain control of the FBI through the terms of eight presidents. A contributor for Publishers Weekly called Hack's effort "a live-wire biography of a determined, energetic, lonely and insecure man who comes off here as much a puppet as master."

Hack has also written books about the media and how it has changed over the past few decades. Madness in the Morning: Life and Death in TV's Early Morning Ratings War looks at early morning programs, and their struggles to garner and maintain the lion's share of the viewing audience. In a review for Publishers Weekly, a contributor remarked: "Hack's gossipy account reveals the flaws in the glitz and glamour of the TV morning news biz." In Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires That Control What We Read and Watch, Hack turns his attention to the giants behind some of the world's largest media outlets. A contributor for Publishers Weekly called the book "a sparkling, immensely enjoyable portrait of extraordinary men."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2002, Karen Harris, review of Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters: The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire, p. 249.

Economist, November 24, 2001, "Tissue of Truth: Strange Tycoons."

Hollywood Reporter, November 8, 2001, Michael R. Farkash, review of Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters, p. 23.

Kliatt, November, 2003, Susan Offner, review of Clash of the Titans: How the Unbridled Ambition of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch Has Created Global Empires That Control What We Read and Watch, p. 54; January, 2005, Edna Boardman, review of Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, p. 53.

Library Journal, October 1, 2001, Dale Farris, review of Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters, p. 112; March 15, 2002, Nann Blaine Hilyard, review of Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters, p. 125; May 15, 2003, Nann Blaine Hilyard, review of Clash of the Titans, p. 144; January 1, 2005, Nann Blaine Hilyard, review of Puppetmaster, p. 170.

Publishers Weekly, March 2, 1992, review of Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes by His Closest Advisor, p. 57; November 1, 1999, review of Madness in the Morning: Life and Death in TV's Early Morning Ratings War, p. 62; September 10, 2001, review of Hughes, the Private Diaries, Memos, and Letters, p. 80; January 20, 2003, review of Clash of the Titans, p. 74; April 12, 2004, review of Puppet-master, p. 57.