Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Your Turn

Favorite celebrity biography.

61 comments:

Former CNN Anchor Candy Crowley said...

Accordion to a recent survey, replacing words with the names of musical instruments in a sentence often goes undetected.

Super Comic Fun Time! said...

I haven't read that many, I guess Is That It? by Bob Geldoff which I read many, many years ago.

sandybrook said...

Natalie: A Memoir By Her Sister by Lana Wood

Moose said...

Shelley, Also Known as Shirley" by Shelley Winters. That perfect combination of brutal honesty, great dish on co-workers, and ultimate triumph. I fell in love with her reading her book.

Heather said...

Kareem Abdul Jabaar's. Honestly to see his relationship with Wooden and during Civil Rights, it was interesting LOL.

The Raving Badger said...

The Girls: Sappho Goes to Hollywood.

Moose said...

@Heather - one of my other fave bios is Pam Grier's ("Foxy - My Life In Three Acts). Jabaar comes off quite douchy in her book. Changed my opinion of him big time.

gauloise said...

Zelda Fitzgerald

Mhdz said...

No Here Gets Out Alive

J said...

I think Paul Trynka's biography of Iggy Pop is the only one I've read, at least in the last couple of decades. It was good, but more because it gave me information than any literary merit, IIRC.

Tricia13 said...

Shirley McLaines”Out On A Limb” was a good read. Fascinating life.... and I love her spiritual awareness

Gator said...

Gold Dust Woman about Stevie Nicks, & Respect - An unvarnished eye-opener about Aretha Franklin.

@Moose- I've read two of Winter's autobios, & found them to be a bit sanitized. Other actors' bios (Tony Curtis was one) all mentioned her as an arrogant bitch who thought everyone was beneath her.

Gator said...

@Trica- MacLaine has had several followup books to Out on a Limb, & they're all pretty interesting.

Anonymous said...

Clapton by Eric Clapton. While he whitewashes some of his bad behavior Clapton provides an honest opinion of himself and events in his life. The book was enough to turn me off him and his music. I had been a lifelong fan of both and after reading the book I lost interest. I will never be able to listen to Layla again without thinking about Clapton raping Patti Boyd- repeatedly while they were married. Eric has Mommy issues and I hope (for his sake) his daughters are treated better than Eric ever treated the women in his life.

Moose said...

Thanks, @Gator - I still love her. I imagine the by-product of telling your story your way is that others will tell their story their way. And I can see Winters being labelled an arrogant bitch. But I prefer to think of her as a broad. And I mean that as a huge compliment.

Tricia13 said...

Yep. I love her candor. Story about filming “Being There “with Peter Sellers is super interesting

Do Tell said...

"Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild" by David Stenn.

Extremely compelling reading, very tragic.

After that, anything by Sharon or Ozzy Osbourne, they are very entertaining writers, and "Shout!" by Phillip Norman.

SaintMidian said...

Showgirls.

Count Jerkula said...

Too Fat To Fish

&

Chaplin's autobiograpy

firestarter said...

Carré Otis & Sherry Lansing are my most recent favorites.

Brayson87 said...

Malcolm X

Aquagirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heather said...

@moose definitely will add to the kindle library checkout! Always love an outside view of someone else.

John Gilchrist Lodge said...

Not sure how much of a celebrity he's considered, but Dean Koontz's bio rules.

Freebird said...

I heard the one by Anthony Kedis is amazing. I keep forgetting to get it. *puts it on my To Do list* 📝

Dane said...

Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky

Katrina's Voice said...

@Freebird - Anthony Kiedis's bio was "Scar Tissue", and one of my favorites! Also liked "Walk this Way" which is an autobiography of Aerosmith.

Annie578 said...

MIchael York's autobiography

edasm said...

Chronicles by Bob Dylan. Audiobook read by Bob. "Lead a generation?!?! I was trying to feed my family."

riffer73 said...

All those books by David Niven.

Jenni Westside said...

All of George Burns’ books, Anna Kendrick’s Scrappy Little Nobody, Al Franken’s book Giant of the Senate, and I just listened to This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps and really enjoyed it.

Vince said...

"When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead" by Jerry Weintraub

Roxanne said...

"By Myself" by Lauren Bacall...I can't remember how many times I have read it.

Glue said...

+1 @ Dane
Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky

NY Doll said...

No One Here Gets Out Alive

Flashy Vic said...

O/T.

I just finished watching Bill Burr's brand new stand up special on Netflix.

Well if the gobshite SJWs at Rotten Tomatoes andcelsewhere were livid with Dave Chapelle after his latest effort then theyre gonna shit their unisex, hemp woven, rainbow coloured panties at Billy boy.

zerooptions said...

Get in the van - Henry Rollins

WickedBee said...

It’s Always Something - Gilda Radner
Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis

Substance D said...

The Dark Side of Genius (Alfred Hitchcock) by Donald Spoto. Read it along with Wilhelm Reich's The Mass Psychology of Fascism to really understand how unacknowledged sexual latency turns men into women hating hostiles. The only difference between Hitchcock and Hitler was Hitch's morbid sense of humor. Also, for a blueprint on how a woman with everything can piss it all away, Barry Paris' bio of Louise Brooks is the standard for self-destruction.

Vita said...

Making a list...thanks, everybody!

I enjoyed Marianne Faithfull's autobiography and a Keith Richards biography by Vic Bokris (? I think)...sure there's more to the story, but both were easy, good reads about The Stones and their circle. Marianne has seen all extremes, and is a good storyteller.

hothotheat said...

Freddie Mercury

mike m said...

Anthony Quinn and Montgomery Cliff, they kinda fucked with my head in my teen years.

Melissa MM said...

The Dirt,Def Leppard: Animal instinct, Dave Mustaine, Frank Sinatra

Lo Key says stop with the censorship already! said...

Any of Bruce Campbell's books.

Studio54 said...

Lauren Bacall's autobiography, about her life with Bogie, and trashing Sinatra.

David Heyman's book on Jackie O.

Up and down with the Rollng Stones, written by one of their paid friends and drug dealers, Tony Sanchez.

Keith Richards by Barbara Charone (not Keef's autobiography)

House of Hilton by Jerry Oppenheimer

In all his Glory, about William S. Paley, who founded CBS.

Studio54 said...
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a beautiful virago named hope said...

I enjoyed Scott Wieland's Not Dead and Not for Sale. And the one by Esther Williams. She spills lots of tea!

Studio54 said...

A few more rarer ones:

Full Moon - a hilarious biography of the late drummer for the Who Keith Moon.

The Day Elvis Died - covering the death of Elvis as a news event, using the what would have been front page of the Memphis paper to mop up spilled coffee, and pandemonium setting in in the news room when the King really died.

The Beatles Forever - written by a fan, full of fun facts.

GentleBreeze said...

I enjoyed Errol Flynn's 'My Wicked, Wicked Ways'.

Nicunta said...

I came here to say Not Dead and Not for Sale. Definitely a great read!

OKay said...

I don't tend to read them, but any Jackie Collins novel back in the day was as good as a biography. :)

Aquagirl said...

Marianne Faithfull by Marianne Faithfull

Jennacheryl said...

I don't remember the book but it was a comparison of Princess Diana and Princess Grace.

Fifi LaRue said...

Both autobiographies by Candace Bergen.

Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham.

I'll Drink to That by I forget who. Very entertaining recollection of being a personal shopper at Bergdoff's.

Tab Hunter's autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential.

Anonymous said...

--I don't read that many biographies, but I did like "Paul McCartney: A Life" (Peter Ames Carlin). Part one, the early years in Liverpool, was incredibly well written and well researched.

--Donny Osmond's autobiography, "Life is Just What You Make It". He's an interesting person and has overcome a lot of setbacks, including severe panic attacks.

Goodau said...

One Life - Dr Christiaan Barnard
I found it so inspirational that it changed my life.

Do Tell said...

Agreed @a beautiful virago, Esther Williams's "Million Dollar Mermaid" memoir was really good gossipy reading!

R. J. Anderson said...

Agassi.. Riveting story and really well written..

James Howlett said...

Damn, I'm going to be reading Pam Grier's book! Thanks dude!

James Howlett said...

There's a better one. Steven Davis did it. Jim loved using butter as lubricant. He also LOVED buttsecks. Interesting read, it goes in depth about his sexual conquests. People are strange, for sure.

Joel Theriot said...

Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams--Nick Tosches,

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