 EMERALDS in Tinseltown is a new book charting the Irish connection with Hollywood - and we've got three copies up for grabs. Jimmy Cagney, John Ford, Maureen O’Hara, Richard Harris, Grace Kelly, Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson - all Hollywood legends of the past and future. These are among the scores of Hollywood film stars and directors with at least one thing in common - Irish roots. People born in Ireland or with Irish family connections have been part of Hollywood's history for 100 years. In the past, it was the likes of Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelly. Today, it is Gabriel Byrne, Cillian Murphy and others. Emeralds in Tinseltown - The Irish in Hollywood the compelling story of Hollywood and features a galaxy of Irish stars both on and behind the big screen. The Irish have made a huge impact on Tinseltown including the design of the Oscar statuette and the Hollywood sign - they even invented the Westerns. Historians agree that if it hadn't been for an Irish immigrant called William Mullholland - the city of Hollywood would not even exist today! In addition to Irish cinematic talent, the book is packed with photographs, many of them unseen for decades. This is definitely a book worth viewing for all fans of film and screen icons. The Irish had a starring role in American cinema even before Hollywood entered the picture. Irish immigrants played major parts in the first silent movies produced in the early 1900s out of crude studios in New York and other East Coast cities. Movie mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, established one of the first Hollywood studios in a rented barn. The studio hired an Irish-American called Hal Roach who went go on to become a legendary producer of classic comedy movies starring Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd and the Our Gang series. The 'talkies' duly arrived and to celebrate Hollywood's new status the industry invented The Academy Awards - for which Dublin-born Cedric Gibbons designed the Oscar. Later, during the era of the great musicals, the Irish were on hand again. Singing, dancing actors Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and George Murphy were giants in their day. Most of today’s Irish stars no longer live in Hollywood as figures such as Brosnan, Byrne, Gleeson, Farrell and Murphy are regularly head-hunted by Hollywood moguls. Indeed, such is the strength of the Irish film scene that Hollywood finance is often used to make movies in Ireland. Emeralds in Tinseltown by Steve Brennan and Bernadette O'Neill is available in hardback now priced £17.99. For your chance to win a copy of the book, simply answer the following question and fill in the form below before midnight on December 2. Q. Which Dublin-born designer created the Oscar? (Please note this competition is syndicated across the icMidlands network of sites)
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