Mark Bailey (2) (1968–)

Humphrey Bogart got himself arrested for protecting his drinking buddies, who happened to be a pair of stuffed pandas. Ava Gardner would water-ski to the set of Night of the Iguana holding a towline in one hand and a cocktail in the other. Barely legal Natalie Wood would let Dennis Hopper seduce her if he provided a bathtub full of champagne. Bing Crosby’s ill-mannered antics earned him the nickname “Binge Crosby.” And sweet Mary Pickford stashed liquor in hydrogen peroxide bottles show more during Prohibition. From the frontier days of silent film up to the wild auteur period of the 1970s, Mark Bailey has pillaged the vaults of Hollywood history and lore to dig up the true—and often surprising—stories of seventy of our most beloved actors, directors, and screenwriters at their most soused.

Bite-size biographies are followed by ribald anecdotes and memorable quotes. If a star had a favorite cocktail, the recipe is included. Films with the most outrageous booze-soaked stories, like Apocalypse Now, From Here to Eternity, and The Misfits, are featured, along with the legendary watering holes of the day (and the recipes for their signature drinks). Edward Hemingway’s portraits complete this spirited look at America’s most iconic silver-screen legends. show less

"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food." - W.C. Fields

Have you ever seen that quote? I had numerous times without having any idea who W.C. Fields actually was until I read this book. (Turns out he was a relative latecomer to the alcoholic lifestyle who died on Christmas Day 1946, "as his girlfriend sprayed the roof with a hose to approximate Fields's favorite sound, falling rain.") And that is exactly why this book is fantastic -- it enlightened me to a whole generation of show more entertainers I'd heard of before but never actually knew anything about, and the author (Mark Bailey, an apropos last name for this book if I've ever heard one) artfully paints an entire picture of odd (re: drunken) situations in just one simple sentence. The illustrations (by Edward Hemingway, another apropos last name) are also quite nice, and the cocktail recipes useful. (Though, truthfully, does one need a "recipe" for Old Milwaukee, Steve McQueen's poison of choice?: "Drink in four swallows or less. Crumpling can is optional." On second thought, it's amusing. I'll take it.)

Certainly not a teetotaler myself, I'd recommend this book be enjoyed with a cocktail in hand. show less

Of All the Gin Joints: mix two dashes of Hollywood's retching history; equal parts drunken exploits of old-fashioned celebrities with anecdotes of famous night spots from long ago. Squeeze in perverse, outlandish behavior, shake, strain and serve with a grating of tabloid fodder on top. Then pair with 40 cocktail recipes and a brand of charm that is a bit cruel, but somewhat amusing. Sip slowly, as a rather sobering effect will follow.

I found this book to have an odd dichotomy between the physical presentation of the book and it's actual content. The book is cheerful and attractively packaged, with engaging art and clever illustrations promising to make you feel like you are at the best dinner party in the world (so says the blurb on the front cover). And on the inside, the actual content of the book, is full of depressing stories of people destroying themselves with drugs and alcohol. I wasn't expecting a light and show more fluffy book, any time you have a book full of stories of people embarrassing themselves regularly due to drinking, even if you laugh you know there is a tragedy in the background, I just didn't expect there to be so MUCH tragedy, right from the first story.

That aside the anecdotes themselves are very well written and feel researched and as genuine as a collection of stories from Hollywood can be. I truly learned some new history, some of which I kind of wish I hadn't though that is always part of the risk you accept when you read up on favorite entertainers or history.
I really appreciated the format of the book, there is a separate section for each era of Hollywood, the silent era, the studio era, the postwar era and 1960's & new Hollywood, I found it gave some added context to the stories when you can place them in the time they happened rather then randomly or just alphabetically and each story was only a few pages long at most. Enough to get the story across but short enough to keep the stories flowing.

My issues with the dissonance between the presentation and the content aside, this is a well written, informative, engaging and attractively packaged book that often times shows just how dark the lives of those who entertain us can be. show less