Frank Langella

A fun memoir to read. Langella is a laser-sharp observer, an enthusiastic gossip and an excellent and unsparing writer. We are the beneficiaries of his long acting career and active social life, since the people he encounters and writes about are mostly household names. While he sketches only the bare details of his own life, enough of his prickly personality comes through to give a sense of perspective.

The book is presented as short portraits of people Langella has met or worked with, from show more Rita Hayworth to Jack and Jackie Kennedy, making it great fun to pick up and leaf through. An excellent format.

One senses, through his own candid admissions and hints, that he would be a terrible husband or client, but a fun friend or dinner guest. Similarly this book is fun to read, but it doesn't leave you delighted with the author. A brave feat, really. show less

If you want to hold onto any of your illusions about famous movie stars, don't read this book.

From Rita Hayworth to Rex Harrison, from Elizabeth Taylor to Laurence Olivier -- Frank Langella paints them all as self-absorbed, ego-driven, insecure humans who really only live to be on stage or the center of attention. It's actually quite sad how dysfunctional so many icons appear. The book also includes a lot of talk about random sexual escapades among stars, lots of drinking, and driving show more competitiveness.

What did I learn? I learned that Langella certainly has encountered a lot of famous actors, writers, and directors over the years. 66 short chapters that include Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Elia Kazan, and the Queen Mother. He isn't a bad writer. But I felt throughout that he thinks of himself as apart, even above, all the others, possessing deeper insight. My sense from reading is that he is just the same as all the others -- not a particularly admirable person. And I also felt the book was really his opportunity to brag about all the famous people he's known.

If you enjoy Hollywood and theater gossip, you'll certainly enjoy this. But I can't think of any other reason to read it. show less

If you want to hold onto any of your illusions about famous movie stars, don't read this book.

From Rita Hayworth to Rex Harrison, from Elizabeth Taylor to Laurence Olivier -- Frank Langella paints them all as self-absorbed, ego-driven, insecure humans who really only live to be on stage or the center of attention. It's actually quite sad how dysfunctional so many icons appear. The book also includes a lot of talk about random sexual escapades among stars, lots of drinking, and driving show more competitiveness.

What did I learn? I learned that Langella certainly has encountered a lot of famous actors, writers, and directors over the years. 66 short chapters that include Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Elia Kazan, and the Queen Mother. He isn't a bad writer. But I felt throughout that he thinks of himself as apart, even above, all the others, possessing deeper insight. My sense from reading is that he is just the same as all the others -- not a particularly admirable person. And I also felt the book was really his opportunity to brag about all the famous people he's known.

If you enjoy Hollywood and theater gossip, you'll certainly enjoy this. But I can't think of any other reason to read it. show less

A pretty long book: often it seemed to be endlessly dishing the dirt on actors I haven't particularly liked, but then just as often finding the humanity lurking beneath the pancake. And sometimes, in a believe-it-or-not passage, showing Langella as a nice guy.

I chose to read the book because of Langella's entry on JFK--my goal being to read at least one book, biography or memoir, of each of our Presidents.