Jeffrey Vance, Author: Film historian Jeffrey Vance is the author of several acclaimed books on film, including Douglas Fairbanks (2008), Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (2003), Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian (2002), and Buster Keaton Remembered (2001). He is also the author of A Star Is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away (2018) co-written with Lorna Luft. An archivist, producer, and lecturer, Vance has served as consultant to every major motion picture studio, has appeared at numerous festivals, contributed audio commentary to several DVDs, and produced and directed the short subject Rediscovering John Gilbert (2010).

Nancy Olson Livingston, Preface: Signed to Paramount Pictures in 1948, Nancy Olson Livingston starred in several pictures, most notably as Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard. Her career spanned nearly forty years, appearing with Sunset co-star William Holden in several films, and in a string of successful Disney films, including The Absent-minded Professor. She also appeared in several plays on Broadway, and in 2022 published her memoir, A Front Row Seat: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood, and the Age of Glamour.