Give The Gift Of A Great Hollywood Memoir!
This holiday season, why not give the gift of Hollywood? I amsharing a close-up look at some of the best I’ve read, beginning with these revealing stories of navigating Hollywood as a woman – let’s start with one of the industry’s smartest Executives:
Sherry Lansing was one of Hollywood’s most powerful Executives, and she decided to tell some of the wild behind-the-scenes stories from her career!
The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Galloway is releasing “Leading Lady”, his biography of Lansing…and THR printed an excerpt to promote the release and it’s a doozy!
Here’s a great story about her run-in with Actor Mike Myers during the planned filming of “Wayne’s World 2.” After the massive success of the first film, a sequel was a no-brainer.
Here’s an excerpt from the book – when Lansing was in charge of Paramount Studios, and Mike Myers was ready to begin filming the sequel to his massive comedy hit:
“The then-Paramount chairman made an unfortunate discovery weeks before shooting was due to commence: Myers had heavily based the sequel on the 1949 British comedy ‘Passport to Pimlico’ — only nobody had bought the underlying rights.”
“Mike had always wanted to do Passport to Pimlico as the basis of Wayne’s World,” said SNL creator Lorne Michaels, who produced the comedy. “So he went and wrote it. I think he believed the studio understood that, and I think he even believed they had bought the rights to the other movie so that he was free to use it.”
Furious, Lansing summoned Myers to her office and told him exactly that — in much different (and harsher) words. Remembers one participant in the Myers-Lansing meeting: “She said, ‘How dare you? How dare you put us in this position?’ She turned to Mike and said, ‘We’ll sue you. We’ll take your f—ing house. You won’t even own a f—ing home.’”
The story continues:
“The verbal scathing went on, with Lansing adding a special twist, as then-production chief John Goldwyn recalled: “She made up this fabulous story about all of the lawyers sitting with [Paramount Communications executive] Stanley Jaffe. She said, ‘As I’m sitting here with you, there’s a team figuring out how they can take every single thing away from you.’”
Myers believed it, and was so shaken that he curled up in a fetal position on Lansing’s couch!
Said Lansing: “If I were you, Mike, I’d go to Lorne’s office right now and stay there until you come up with a new script. We’ll slide food under the door.”
Wow! She had a reputation for being tough as nails, and this is a great example of the rough and tumble world of Hollywood! Other anecdotes from the book deal with Mel Gibson’s temper and a real boiled bunny from “Fatal Attraction!”
Here is another book that also has a shocking Mel Gibson story – “Heaven And Mel” is Writer Joe Eszterhas’s scathing account of working with Gibson…
This kindle ebook is shocking in so many ways, and a riveting read – if you want to know more, read about it here – along with MY Mel Gibson encounter:
Back to Lansing…she was married to Director William Friedkin, who directed such brilliant films as “The French Connection”, “The Exorcist” and “Sorcerer.”
He wrote his autobiography a few years before he passed away, and doesn’t hold back on all the good, bad, and brutal in his career…it’s a fascinating read AND an honest inside look at the craft of making a film…see more stories here:
The film “In The Cut” had a great cast and was a dark erotic thriller – based on the novel written by Susanna Moore:
Moore is a great writer, and her compelling memoir of working in Hollywood during the golden age of cinema in the 1970’s is fascinating and insightful: see more about the book here:
I love stories of empowered women – and how they navigate the treacherous waters of Hollywood. Here is another great memoir of that era in entertainment:
This is a great story, as we follow 70’s Actress Fiona Lewis through her wildly entertaining film career, working with people like The Who’s Roger Daltry in “Litzomania” – Fiona tells her story of working in film with a candid sense of humor, while also taking us to the south of France, where she bought a house and renovated it – her version of “A Year In Provence!”
Lewis’s memoir about her life – and her misadventures in France is called “Mistakes Were Made (Some In French)”!
Click here to see more about his great book!
Finally, another Iconic Writer of 70’s Hollywood, Eve Babitz, is having an incredible career resurgence – one of the earliest writers of “life in the fast lane!”
Eve was legendary in Hollywood circles: close to Harrison Ford, Jim Morrison, Jack Nicholson and many others of that era, but she was also a great Artist and Writer as well – and is now having a literary renaissance!
A new biography about her life was released, and all of her books were reissued for a new generation. Sadly, she died a few years back.
Click here to see all of her terrific books:
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Thanks so much for reading!
Categories: 70's Cinema, Art, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Hollywood, Memoirs, Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, True Hollywood Mystery
johnrieber 
Always good to read what goes on behind the scenes. I still have the 1959 ‘Hollywood Babylon’ book that I bought in the late 1970s, though much of what it claimed was later debunked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Babylon
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s a classic to be sure…for all that was debunked, there is just as much still untold! Thanks for the comment!
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I love backstories, so all of these sound compelling and would be fun reads
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These women in particular have great stories to tell…”Mistakes Were Made” is particularly terrific as Fiona Lewis was an accomplished Actress and also refurbished a French country chateau…it’s a terrific “back and forth”!
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I may have to add the Friedkin & Eszterhas memoirs to my Christmas lists. I think I would enjoy both of those!
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The Eszterhas book was an ebook – maybe a kindle exclusive…it’s riveting and shocking, except as I recount, Gibson was awful to me and well known to be that way to almost everyone except certain women.
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Yeah, I hated to read that about Mel because I have always loved his movies. Unfortunately, talented people aren’t always the nicest people, and it seems like Mel has some serious anger issues to deal with. I wish everyone could be like Chow Yun-fat. From everything I’ve read about him, it’s possible he’s one of the nicest, most humble guys of all time!
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He’s a great example, and in my years in the business I’ve been able to interact with a lot of stars across film, TV ,music, plays and more…most are professional, a few are genuinely the nicest people you could meet, and a few are horrible….probably the same ratio and real life, right?
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