Digging up as many roles offstage as on—hardheaded businessman, softhearted friend, master of rude rejoinders, fanatical sports fan and poetic philosopher—McDougal makes Nicholson’s everyday life just as fascinating as his films, which also get considerable, thoughtful attention; in fact, McDougal’s research is so deep and detailed, his extensive chapter notes could make a fine book of their own. -- Publishers Weekly

Selected Works

Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L. A. Times Dynasty
"Part biography, part dysfunctional family chronicle, and part institutional and urban history, with generous dollops of scandal and gossip." --
The New Yorker

Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times
"McDougal makes Nicholson’s everyday life just as fascinating as his films in Five Easy Decades"
--Publishers Weekly

The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA and the Hidden History of Hollywood
“Engrossing”
--New York Times
“A bombshell!”
--New York Daily News
“Tough and adversarial”
--Los Angeles Times

Blood Cold: Fame, Sex & Murder in Hollywood (co-authored by Mary Murphy)
The true Hollywood nightmare and tragic love story of Robert Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley.