Anne Helen Petersen
Anne Helen Petersen is a staff writer at BuzzFeed. Her first book, Scandals of Classic Hollywood, was published by Plume/Penguin in September 2014.
All Writing
Roundtable
Live Fast, Die Young, Leave a Hit
Everyone thinks they know the tragic story of James Dean: he died young and violently, he embodied the ennui and angst of the postwar generation, and his image lives on as a hollow signifier of youthful rebellion. But most don’t understand how the timing of his death, and the very specific timing of his films, turned a tragic death into a cultural crater—one that would be widened and exploited by the Hollywood publishing industry. More
Roundtable
Hollywood’s Bathing Beauties
Mack Sennett anticipates Hollywood’s taste for window dressing. More
Roundtable
The Hollywood Canteen
The Canteen was Hollywood's forgotten contribution to the war effort, a place where the stars did the dishes while the soldiers, for one, fleeting night, lived the life of the stars. More