Lee Grant (1) (1925–)

Lee Grant was to Warren Beatty in SHAMPOO what Anne Bancroft was to Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE. Or maybe not, but it's what comes to mind in my own limited exposure to movies. Because I remember her character in SHAMPOO as incredibly sexy and erotic, a performance that earned her an Oscar. But I was not aware that her showbiz experience dated way back, or that she was first nominated for an academy award in 1951 for best supporting actress in DETECTIVE STORY (starring Kirk Douglas). And show more then she was blacklisted during the McCarthy era and didn't work in TV or movies for the next twelve years (but did keep working in plays). And I didn't know that she was in an emotionally abusive relationship and marriage for a dozen years with a controlling, much older man, playing mother to his children from his two previous marriages, and giving birth to a daughter, Dinah Manoff (who became a successful actress herself). And I was not aware of her second very distinguished and successful career as a documentary film maker. And it does seem that during her two careers in TV and movies she came to know pretty much everyone who was anyone in the show business world.

What impressed me perhaps the most about this fascinating collection of memories was Grant's disarming and complete honesty in these anecdotal essays, maybe because she was long retired and already in her eighties when she finally began writing it all down and figured, What the hell, most of these people are already dead, and so will I be soon, so what have I got to lose? But here's the thing: I SAID YES TO EVERYTHING (2014) was published ten years ago, and guess what? Lee Grant is still around, at either 97 or 98. Her exact age is a mystery, as she made some changes re her date of birth many, many years ago. Anyway, this old dame is one very good writer, with a treasure trove of stories to tell, both personal and professional. I loved her book. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal in New York City, actress Lee Grant spent her youth accumulating more experiences than most people have in a lifetime: from student at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse to member of the legendary Actors Studio; from celebrated Broadway star to Vogue It Girl. At age twenty-four, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Detective Story, and a year later found herself married and a mother for the first time, her career on the rise. And then she lost it all. Her show more name landed on the Hollywood blacklist, her offers for film and television roles ground to a halt, and her marriage fell apart. Finding reserves of strength she didn t know she had, Grant took action against anti-Communist witch hunts in the arts. She threw herself into work, accepting every theater or teaching job that came her way. She met a man ten years her junior and began a wild, liberating fling that she never expected would last a lifetime. And after twelve years of fighting the blacklist, she was finally exonerated. With courage and style, Grant rebuilt her life on her own terms: first stop, a starring role on Peyton Place, and then leads in Valley of the Dolls, In the Heat of the Night, and Shampoo, for which she won her first Oscar. Set amid the New York theater scene of the fifties and the star-studded parties of Malibu in the seventies, I Said Yes to Everything evokes a world of political passion and movie-star glamour. Grant tells endlessly delightful tales of costars and friends such as Warren Beatty, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, and Sidney Poitier, and writes with the verve and candor befitting such a seductive and beloved star." show less

This was a surprisingly interesting book, in part because Grant was blacklisted from television and radio for 12 years and it totally shaped her career and her identity for better and for worse. It's gets a little laundry-listy at some points, but there is just enough dish, it isn't mean and the Shelly Winters anecdotes are awesome.

For a celebrity memoir, I think that's pretty high praise.