Mel, Woody, and You: My Life in the Slow Lane - Inspirational Story for Relaxation & Self-Discovery
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Product Description
Bruce Kimmel has managed to eke out a career in one form of show business or another for over forty years. A successful Grammy-nominated record producer, Kimmel began his show business journey as an actor, in a time when being a young up-and-coming thespian was fun, thrilling, and when anything seemed possible. It was a different world for a young actor in the 1970s, and Kimmel's journey is paved with laughs, tears, success, and an amazing cast of players. At twenty-seven, he wrote, co-directed, and starred in a film that would become a major cult success, The First Nudie Musical. He did TV pilots, guest shots, series, plays. He met and worked with incredible people. It was the kind of time we will never see again. And then things changed. The nature of the business changed. And the path to dealing with those changes-getting older, trying to survive in an ever increasingly negative and cutthroat world-becomes a story of reinvention and rebirth. Through it all, Kimmel tells his tale with wit, candor, affection, and self-effacing honesty. Enjoy being the fly on the wall as Kimmel hangs out with Elsa Lanchester, Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy; goes to Groucho's house and plays the piano for him; works with Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey on The Partridge Family. We observe his long friendship with Cindy Williams, watch as he works with screen legends Patricia Neal, Jean Simmons, Leslie Nielsen, Patrick Macnee, Bud Cort, and Geraldine Fitzgerald, and as he hangs out with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion., Bruce Kimmel's showbiz tales are loaded with laughs, wide-eyed wonder, and heart.
Customer Reviews
This was a great peak into the life of a Hollywood presence who was prominent in the 1970s. I vividly remember Mr. Kimmel's appearances on TV from when I was a kid, and I'm a huge fan of "The First Nudie Musical," which I saw on cable when I was a teenager. That movie shaped who I am as a person, really (which is probably not something I should be so open about admitting, I suppose). I know people who are friends with, or work with, Mr. Kimmel and I've met him and seen some of the great shows he's directed, though I don't actually know him personally. I jumped at the chance to read more about his life and the making of his film(s) when I recently found out about this book. The book describes life in Hollywood for a (successful) working performer in the 70s and 80s (with some hints of what happened when things changed in the 90s), a time when the biz seemed particularly fascinating. It's a dense book, packed with information, a quality I appreciated. The author is, or at least seems to be, unflinching in his confessions, which include a brief dalliance with a noteworthy celebrity, desire for many other women, troubled personal relationships with marriage, family life and dating, and some starkly unpleasant career crises. I cannot honestly imagine what it takes to be an actor, or what drives these performers, and so it makes for riveting reading. There's a clear trajectory that I've seen in the experiences of people I know who dwell in Hollywood, a story I've heard time and again--the first "hit" really is free, and is often followed by trials that test one's interest in remaining in the business, or even in the town, literally. One needs an ego of steel, a lot of luck, and maybe a dash of naivete, to persevere. This book proves what I've long believed, personally (cliche though it may be); for some people there simply is no other way of life imaginable than show business, for whatever rewards it offers, and for someone creative, who feels compelled to create, it's a fairly obvious place to settle, for all its ups and downs. I appreciated going on a compelling ride with someone who has done so many interesting things and had such experiences as are worthy of writing a book about, and look forward to checking out his other work. Highly recommended to fans of the 70s, the "Nudie Musical" movie, showbiz memoirs, and actors in particular.
