Tommy Garrett's book makes ME want to be in pictures!!

books:


	• So, You Want to be in Pictures: The Making Of Hollywood Idols Tommy, Lightfoot Garrett Wasteland Press, 2007 - 392 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Editorial Review

Posted by Roger Hitts on Jul 22, 2007 - 7:19:00 PM

At a time when the attention span of a celebrity-infatuated America lasts about as long as a ride on a bucking bronco, and snarkiness gets passed off as literary enlightenment, it can seem downright amazing that writers even bother crafting a loving, thoroughly researched and sweat-from-the-keyboard tome about the machinations of the Hollywood star system and the secrets behind the people who made our country swoon decades before Brad Pitt ever graced the cover of a tabloid.

Then again, there's not many Tommy Garretts in the world. A self-described chicken farmer who lives in the hinterlands of deep rural Virginia, Garrett has fashioned an incredibly successful career as a Hollywood publicist, radio and TV personality and foremost, an author, all from the relative comfort of the sticks and some 3,000 miles from Tinseltown. Yet he also returns to Los Angeles long enough to pick up new clients, find new writing material and for awards shows. It just shows to remind one that Hollywood is a state of mind - and in my mind, steering a wide berth around the day-to-day meetings at the Creative Artists Agency and hours-long lunches at the Polo Lounge keeps a romanticism toward the magic of movies alive without getting bogged down in the details.

Take Garrett's latest literary offering, So You Want to Be in Pictures - an exhaustingly researched, meticulously crafted book featuring insights and sidenotes, anecdotes and yes, dishy details on the lives of 55 Hollywood haymakers and what made them tick. The cast populating the book range from Golden Era legends such as John Wayne and Bette Davis, to the likes of Darlene Conley, an actress who didn't cross into big screen fame but maintained a rabid following among daytime soap lovers.

In many ways, Garrett may have crafted the perfect book for these times. Garrett is so obviously a student of the bygone era of Hollywood he likely could have fashioned 55 books from the ranks of thespians detailed in So You Want To Be In Pictures. Instead, the readers are given quick hits and peeks into the lives of stars from the inimitable Lena Horne to the 1950s icon and later John Waters pet Tab Hunter. Even those with the shortest attention span won't have to comb back a few pages to figure out what they had just read! But even more than sparing readers from having to learn what Ann Blyth's favorite color was, Garrett offers up something else that gives today's blogging generation something to sink their teeth into - real dish!

For example, in his own straightforward manner, Garrett offers up this about the marriage of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly:

``What many don't know was that Rainier's first choice for a wife was the blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. What man in the 1950s was not lusting after Monroe -- or that other doomed blonde sexpot, Jayne Mansfield? But between discussions with royal advisors and the Vatican, Rainier figured that Grace Kelly was his best choice. He did, however, fall madly in love with Kelly and probably didn't know that she spent many of the years of her marriage being a serial adulterer. For example, she continued an affair with David Niven until the time of her death."

In the hands of another writer, that paragraph would seem to be provocative for its own sake - but with Garrett, the reader gets the feeling he offers up the marital infidelity in the interest of full disclosure, not simply to be the schoolyard gossip. To be sure, Garrett - whose publicity firm specializes in managing the public lives of the more senior members of the Hollywood community like Clint Walker of TV's Cheyenne fame - has heard and seen more in his life than most, and is uniquely shaped to pass along the lessons he learned and the insights provided from his own, storied career.

What's more, neophyte celeb-watchers will be shocked to learn the exposes of the Hollywood scandal didn't start with Paris Hilton dancing on a tabletop in a Manhattan nightclub. By the very nature of the acting profession, Hollywood has always been a repository for some of the most colorful - and sometimes least judicious - people America has to offer. But many of the stories Garrett offers up in So You Want To Be In Pictures may have been lost to history if Garrett hadn't put in the time and effort to chronicle them.

While dish is plentiful in the book, it never seems ham-handed on Garrett's part - indeed, he throws more bouquets than spitballs at his subjects. Obviously, knowing Garrett's background in show business, he's emotionally invested in the people on which he writes, and it's evident in his turn of the phrase.

It's obvious in this day and age, Garrett could have made a killing knocking out a quickie book rehashing the recent misadventures of Lindsay Lohan. That he decided to take on a meatier subject matter - giving readers a real look inside the people who helped build the film and television industry on the backs of their labor, is certainly to Garrett's credit, even with a lower commercial potential.

After my wife read through an advance copy of So You Want To Be In Pictures, she commented to me, ``Why the heck would anyone want to be involved in that industry? Dumb luck supercedes talent, petty jealousies swallow people whole?" Certainly, the carrot of stardom and adulation looms large on the stick. Even Garrett cautions, ``after you read this book and still have yearning for stardom, you'll gain a great respect for me."

Garrett gained my respect for writing it.

Roger Hitts, two-time United Press International columnist of the year, is a veteran celebrity journalist whose by-lines appear in numerous magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and around the world.

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FASCINATING

Tommy Lightfoot Garrett- "So You Want To Be in Pictures". This book is a must for anybody who wants to be in pictures, or is just fascinated by the whole 'celebrity' culture. The knowledge and first hand account that Tommy has of the celebrities is amazing. Tommy gives very objective and honest accounts of the stars, and with such integity. One really feels like they are stepping into the celebities lives just for a moment. Tommy gives the book an even personlised feel, by displayed autographed pictures of the Stars.
This boot is particularly insightful for the 'younger' person who isn't too familiar with the 'greats' of yesteryear. The book is very easy to read, and a must for anyone interseted in Hollywood.

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Every classic movie buff should own this book!

"So You Want To Be In Pictures", by Tommy Lightfoot Garrett, is a book every classic movie buff should own! I never read a book the second time, but this is one book I will! I have the pleasure of living in the same small town he mentions in the book, and the pleasure of having him as a dear friend. In knowing him, I can tell you, that reading his book is like talking to him, and having him share his experiences with these stars. He writes like he talks, and what you come away with after you read this book, is an understanding of the lives of the stars, and an understanding of how much this author cares about what he writes! From his late night e-mails, I know the hours and hard work he put into this book and his newly released book, "The Making of Hollywood Stars". Tommy loves what he does, and it's apparent in every aspect of his books. He wanted this book to be as "timeless" as the stars themselves. Twenty, thirty years from now, this book will be just as interesting to people who love classic movies and the stars that made them, as it is today, because it's movie history. I listen to Tommy's Australian Radio Show every week. By listening, I have learned so many things about the old stars and their movies, that makes their "larger than life" images on the screen, come to life on a human level. This is a writer who really cares about the stars as people, and who really cares about the things he writes about them! You will treasure this book, as much as I treasure the Author....

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Tommy Garrett's book makes ME want to be in pictures!!

Esteemed Hollywood publicist and historian par excellence Tommy Garrett has crafted a brilliant and wonderfully balanced look at nearly 60 industry performers, past and present -- from the biggest superstars (Bette Davis, Bob Hope and Joan Crawford) to its slightly lesser-known, but no less talented, or accomplished, artists (Ruta Lee, Rex Reason, Simone Simon, et al). With a benevolent and even-handed approach that mirrors his own gracious and straightforward personality, Tommy relates several rare (and sometimes, heretofore unknown) tales about these people in a highly ethical and non-exploitive way that makes you feel you know both them, and him, personally. Fair and balanced journalism abounds in this project, and yet it is at all times a fun, and sometimes even boisterous, read!

The approach Tommy has taken to dispense the book's fascinating material is unique. He begins each chapter in a traditional, linear fashion -- telling these people's stories more or less in a straight-line, from their births to their deaths -- but then he backtracks and delves into earlier aspects of their lives to take an even closer look. It is a particularly incisive technique that is all Tommy's and it really holds your attention (much like the man himself)!

The book is liberally peppered with photos and the selections run the gamut from scene stills and portraits to obscure and hard-to-find candids. All are gorgeously rendered and captioned on high-quality paper stock. Wasteland Press has done a fine job with the superb material (both textual and photographic) that Tommy has given them, and their continued alliance is one that every true classic movie fan should pray for!

Despite his youth, Tommy Garrett has accomplished a great deal in the entertainment industry and will continue to reap a healthy harvest of accolades and respect. Tommy's lighthearted public persona belies a serious knowledge of all aspects of show business and it is to his credit that the formidable writing skills he displays in this book are commensurate with his talents as one of the industry's most beloved agents and publicists.

Well done, Mr. Garrett! A superb work, and here's to looking forward to many more books from a TRUE "Hollywood Insider"!!

John O'Dowd

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Well written but edited by educationally handicapped

Tommy Garrett did an outstanding job when he wrote this book. Unfortunately, his publishing company apparently has no one on their staff who is capable of editing anything that is written in the English language.

There are many redundancies, many misspelled words and paragraphs that seem to be transposed making it difficult to read some chapters. I'm not certain that Mr. Garrett had/has the ability to take issue with the publisher with regard to this egregious practice but I think if I were him, I would look for another publisher.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

So, You Want To Be In Pictures is a new styled celebrity biographical series that will feature some of the greatest movie stars in history, but will also chronicle the lives of some Television stars, stage stars and those enduring figures that we are still fascinated by. This book was a labor of love by the author, Tommy Garrett. Garrett works in the entertainment business and has for decades. He hosts a classic Television show, does entertainment news on Australian radio and among many other duties in the biz, he is an entertainment publicist who has known and met many legendary stars and has even represented them. This book is filled with personal anecdotes, stories in first, second and third person, but also one that tries to explain why people choose to become idols in the entertainment industry and how it rips some of them apart from their families, their friends and sometimes their own souls. But overall, it's an uplifting book that admires and showcases the positive attributes of stars like: Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Jane Wyman, Deanna Durbin, Simone Simon, Phyllis Diller, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, John Wayne, Eartha Kitt, Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant, Don Rickles, Judy Garland, Jane Powell, Bob Hope, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Doris Day, Tab Hunter, Clint Walker, Montgomery Clift, Debbie Reynolds, Loretta Young, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Sheridan, Luise Rainer, Beverly Garland, Rex Reason, Yul Brynner, Glenn Ford, Ann Blythe, Patricia Neal, Eva Marie Saint, Eileen Fulton, Bob Barker, Ronald Reagan, Clarice Taylor, Ruta Lee, Joan Collins, Charles Bronson, Rhonda Fleming, Anna Lee, Darlene Conley, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Lena Horne, Vincent Price, Olivia deHavilland, Boris Karloff and Sidney Poitier. So, You Want To Be In Pictures is the first in four series of books on the subject of Hollywood Icons. It is a good read, filled with entertaining stories of the great actors and actresses of today and yesterday.

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