Jessica Lange: An Adventurer’s Heart

Film historian Uzarowski (Ava Gardner: A Life in Movies) takes a revealing look at actor Jessica Lange in this laudatory biography. He begins with her years as “a shy, dreamy girl, often withdrawn and lost in her own world” in Cloquet, Minn., before she left college to study mime in Paris, dabbled in modeling, and began acting in New York. She first appeared on the big screen in the 1976 remake of King Kong in a part that was mostly dismissed, except by the New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, who compared her to Carole Lombard. Substantial roles followed, including Oscar-winning turns in Tootsie and Blue Sky, but despite her acclaim, Lange struggled to find worthy roles until she garnered the attention of Ryan Murphy, whose TV series American Horror Story reintroduced her to the public in 2021. Uzarowski depicts Lange as a serious, hardworking actor who infused her performances with a unique carnality and yearning, and also touches on her personal relationships, including with dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and her famously secretive longtime partnership with Sam Shepard. In brisk prose, he paints a thorough, convincing portrait of Lange as a generational talent. Fans will enjoy this loving tribute to a remarkable artist. (June)