When Barry Diller first stepped onto the Hollywood playing field more than three decades ago, few could have imagined the tremendous impact and power he would one day hold in the entertainment industry. Smart, brash, and a bold risk taker, Diller is considered by many to be the best the business has ever seen. Now, in an eye-opening, vastly entertaining biography, Mair offers a riveting, behind-the-scenes look at the life and work of Barry Diller. Chronicling the brilliant successes—as well as the bitter struggles—of this legendary media mogul, Mair reveals Diller as Hollywood's most visionary executive.

Perhaps more than any other studio executive in recent history, Barry Diller has influenced the viewing habits of both big and small screen audiences. With creativity and insight, he drastically altered the landscape of television programming with groundbreaking, critically acclaimed concepts such as the movie-of-the-week and the miniseries—the first of which was the landmark premiere of Alex Haley's Roots. Always on the cutting edge, Diller also introduced such offbeat—and controversial—shows as The Simpsons and Married . . . With Children. He has also exerted enormous influence over the motion picture industry, revolutionizing the process by which studios acquire scripts, and greenlighting a string of megahits, including Raiders of the Lost Ark, 48 Hours, and Terms of Endearment.

The Barry Diller Story reveals how this media giant climbed from the mailroom of the William Morris Agency to top positions at Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and QVC. With exacting detail, Mair deftly weaves tales of Diller's impressive accomplishments, from his rescue of Paramount Pictures to his historic launching of a fourth network, Fox TV. Here, too, are sobering descriptions of hard-fought failures, among them Diller's abortive attempt at a leveraged buyout of Paramount, and his bid for a CBS-QVC merger.

Today, running Silver King Communications and Savoy Pictures, Barry Diller has embarked on yet another bold media adventure: creating his own television network. A man who has made invaluable contributions to the entertainment industry in the past, he figures to make even more in the future.

The Barry Diller Story boasts a colorful supporting cast of Tinseltown heavy hitters. Among the A-list names you'll find Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, Marvin Davis, and Michael Eisner. Brimming with fabulous stories of multi-million dollar deals and volatile business alliances, The Barry Diller Story is a revealing look at not only one of today's most powerful media moguls, but the fast-paced and competitive industry in which he has been a star player for more than thirty years.