Donald Spoto (1941-2023) received his PhD from Fordham University in 1971. He is author of twenty-nine books published in more than twenty-six languages.

"Prolific celebrity biographer Spoto (The Redgraves: A Family Epic) paints an engaging and intimate portrait of Oscar-winning actor Teresa Wright. Her notable film roles included Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Pride of the Yankees, in which she improvised her famous line, 'A girl's gotta breathe!', after receiving a lengthy on-screen kiss from costar Gary Cooper. . . . [Spoto] depicts Wright as a unique and hardworking talent who shied away from the spotlight. As he describes her, she embodied the buoyant and determined spirit of mid-twentieth-century America, and her fresh-faced beauty was warmly embraced by contemporary audiences." (Publishers Weekly)"This affectionate tribute to a shamefully neglected talent benefits greatly from the insights of Wright's children and friends. With the performer's views on Marlon Brando, Sterling Hayden, and notable American directors and playwrights, it is recommended for students of American film and theater." - Stephen Rees (Library Journal)"In between the standard celebrity-bio synopsis of every one of Wright's roles, prolific entertainment biographer Spoto (The Redgraves, 2012) creates a respectable study of a woman who may not have realized the happiness she desired in her personal life, but whose professional accomplishments cannot be denied. A worthwhile read for fans of Hollywood's Golden Age." - Carol Haggas (Booklist)"A Girl's Got To Breathe is as much memoir as biography, but the intimacy works. Wright's talent and yearnings come alive on the page." - Scott Eyman (Wall Street Journal)"Anyone at all interested in Wright will likely be delighted by this compactly written volume. But it also tells well the story of the private woman, and that story also turns out to be of considerable interest." - Paul C. Peterson, Coastal Carolina University (The Journal of American Culture, Volume 41, Issue 1)"Teresa Wright's long career is lovingly recreated in this warm and revealing biography that is a tribute to her art and a record of her longtime friendship with the author. A Girl's Got To Breathe is one of Donald Spoto's most insightful and personal biographies and a portrait of an artist who can truly be called a 'working actress.'" - Bernard F. Dick, author of The Screen Is Red: Hollywood, Communism, and the Cold War"Teresa Wright projected a kind of gentle incandescence and, simultaneously, a tacit, unyielding strength. She was a real actor who could conjure both a glowing sympathy and a winning toughness--qualities that are unforgettable in the great Hitchcock classic Shadow of a Doubt, to name but one of her many enduring achievements. Donald Spoto's revelations about the woman's stunning and tragic family history make it all the more apparent that she was an artist with an extraordinary gift for transcendence." - Mart Crowley, playwright, The Boys in the Band"Teresa Wright was one of the great American actresses. She's finally received her due in Donald Spoto's charming and incisive biography." - Stephan Talty, New York Times bestselling author of Agent Garbo

Donald Spoto (1941-2023) received his PhD from Fordham University in 1971. He is author of twenty-nine books published in more than twenty-six languages.

"Prolific celebrity biographer Spoto (The Redgraves: A Family Epic) paints an engaging and intimate portrait of Oscar-winning actor Teresa Wright. Her notable film roles included Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Pride of the Yankees, in which she improvised her famous line, 'A girl's gotta breathe!', after receiving a lengthy on-screen kiss from costar Gary Cooper. . . . [Spoto] depicts Wright as a unique and hardworking talent who shied away from the spotlight. As he describes her, she embodied the buoyant and determined spirit of mid-twentieth-century America, and her fresh-faced beauty was warmly embraced by contemporary audiences." (Publishers Weekly)"This affectionate tribute to a shamefully neglected talent benefits greatly from the insights of Wright's children and friends. With the performer's views on Marlon Brando, Sterling Hayden, and notable American directors and playwrights, it is recommended for students of American film and theater." - Stephen Rees (Library Journal)"In between the standard celebrity-bio synopsis of every one of Wright's roles, prolific entertainment biographer Spoto (The Redgraves, 2012) creates a respectable study of a woman who may not have realized the happiness she desired in her personal life, but whose professional accomplishments cannot be denied. A worthwhile read for fans of Hollywood's Golden Age." - Carol Haggas (Booklist)"A Girl's Got To Breathe is as much memoir as biography, but the intimacy works. Wright's talent and yearnings come alive on the page." - Scott Eyman (Wall Street Journal)"Anyone at all interested in Wright will likely be delighted by this compactly written volume. But it also tells well the story of the private woman, and that story also turns out to be of considerable interest." - Paul C. Peterson, Coastal Carolina University (The Journal of American Culture, Volume 41, Issue 1)"Teresa Wright's long career is lovingly recreated in this warm and revealing biography that is a tribute to her art and a record of her longtime friendship with the author. A Girl's Got To Breathe is one of Donald Spoto's most insightful and personal biographies and a portrait of an artist who can truly be called a 'working actress.'" - Bernard F. Dick, author of The Screen Is Red: Hollywood, Communism, and the Cold War"Teresa Wright projected a kind of gentle incandescence and, simultaneously, a tacit, unyielding strength. She was a real actor who could conjure both a glowing sympathy and a winning toughness--qualities that are unforgettable in the great Hitchcock classic Shadow of a Doubt, to name but one of her many enduring achievements. Donald Spoto's revelations about the woman's stunning and tragic family history make it all the more apparent that she was an artist with an extraordinary gift for transcendence." - Mart Crowley, playwright, The Boys in the Band"Teresa Wright was one of the great American actresses. She's finally received her due in Donald Spoto's charming and incisive biography." - Stephan Talty, New York Times bestselling author of Agent Garbo

Donald Spoto (1941-2023) received his PhD from Fordham University in 1971. He is author of twenty-nine books published in more than twenty-six languages.

"Prolific celebrity biographer Spoto (The Redgraves: A Family Epic) paints an engaging and intimate portrait of Oscar-winning actor Teresa Wright. Her notable film roles included Shadow of a Doubt, The Best Years of Our Lives, and The Pride of the Yankees, in which she improvised her famous line, 'A girl's gotta breathe!', after receiving a lengthy on-screen kiss from costar Gary Cooper. . . . [Spoto] depicts Wright as a unique and hardworking talent who shied away from the spotlight. As he describes her, she embodied the buoyant and determined spirit of mid-twentieth-century America, and her fresh-faced beauty was warmly embraced by contemporary audiences." (Publishers Weekly)"This affectionate tribute to a shamefully neglected talent benefits greatly from the insights of Wright's children and friends. With the performer's views on Marlon Brando, Sterling Hayden, and notable American directors and playwrights, it is recommended for students of American film and theater." - Stephen Rees (Library Journal)"In between the standard celebrity-bio synopsis of every one of Wright's roles, prolific entertainment biographer Spoto (The Redgraves, 2012) creates a respectable study of a woman who may not have realized the happiness she desired in her personal life, but whose professional accomplishments cannot be denied. A worthwhile read for fans of Hollywood's Golden Age." - Carol Haggas (Booklist)"A Girl's Got To Breathe is as much memoir as biography, but the intimacy works. Wright's talent and yearnings come alive on the page." - Scott Eyman (Wall Street Journal)"Anyone at all interested in Wright will likely be delighted by this compactly written volume. But it also tells well the story of the private woman, and that story also turns out to be of considerable interest." - Paul C. Peterson, Coastal Carolina University (The Journal of American Culture, Volume 41, Issue 1)"Teresa Wright's long career is lovingly recreated in this warm and revealing biography that is a tribute to her art and a record of her longtime friendship with the author. A Girl's Got To Breathe is one of Donald Spoto's most insightful and personal biographies and a portrait of an artist who can truly be called a 'working actress.'" - Bernard F. Dick, author of The Screen Is Red: Hollywood, Communism, and the Cold War"Teresa Wright projected a kind of gentle incandescence and, simultaneously, a tacit, unyielding strength. She was a real actor who could conjure both a glowing sympathy and a winning toughness--qualities that are unforgettable in the great Hitchcock classic Shadow of a Doubt, to name but one of her many enduring achievements. Donald Spoto's revelations about the woman's stunning and tragic family history make it all the more apparent that she was an artist with an extraordinary gift for transcendence." - Mart Crowley, playwright, The Boys in the Band"Teresa Wright was one of the great American actresses. She's finally received her due in Donald Spoto's charming and incisive biography." - Stephan Talty, New York Times bestselling author of Agent Garbo