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Article: Sandford Dody, ghostwriter for Bette Davis, Helen Hayes
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- July 31, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WASHINGTON - Sandford Dody - a ghostwriter who as alter ego,
confidant, and shadow coaxed best-selling autobiographies out of
Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, and other stars of stage and screen -
died July 4 of pneumonia at Christ Hospital in Jersey City, N.J. He
was 90 and lived in New York.
Mr. Dody got to know the denizens of Hollywood in the 1940s when
he had bit parts in a handful of films. He had dreamed of being a
playwright, but ghostwriting turned out to be a more reliable way of
paying the bills.
A witty, often caustic, and sharply observant writer, he had
mixed feelings about presuming to tell others' life stories, in
their words. "Is there anything, could there be anything madder ...