Mariette Hartley

I ran across this book not too long after reading Jane Pauley's memoir. I haven't heard of Mariette Hartley in some time, so don't really know what she's up to these days, but this is one very interesting book. I had no idea Hartley had had such a lousy disfunctional childhood, with alcoholic and distant parents (her father shot himself, a suicide), a famous pop psychologist/behaviorist grandfather who believed children shouldn't be touched overly much. What a lot of crap on this poor kid's show more plate, ya know? Then she had to survive an ill-advised abusive marriage, before she finally found someone who deserved her. My first memory of Mariette Hartley was her role in the classic Peckinpah western film, Ride the High Country, with Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott in their last big major roles. And she was great in the film - her first movie role, about 45 yrs ago, I think. She talks about this auspicious debut and the awful stuff whe was dealing with at the same time, and also talks about some of the awful clinkers she made too, and all the TV shows, revealing - who'da guessed this? - what a card James Arness was when she did some Gunsmoke episodes. I notice that Hartley has a co-writer for this book, but I have to assume that the sense of humor exhibited throughout the narrative belongs to Hartley alone. And she is a funny woman, in addition to being a survivor. This book should not be out-of-print. This story of personal tragedy, recovery and survival is simply too well told to be lost. If you can find this book, read it! - Tim Bazzett, author of Pinhead: A Love Story show less