The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage

Eli Wallach grew up in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn several decades before my birth. Too bad...I wish I had known him...I wish I'm able to make his acquaintance, now. (I guess in a remote sense I have, by reading his book.) He's a kind of guy I always felt comfortable palling around with..and, a great raconteur, as well. The book's genre is kinda like sitting in a candy store booth over an egg cream or a lime rickey listening to the events of a lifetime spun by an old friend who's "been there". Eli's narrative is chock full of wonderful moments, colorful people, and insightful observations of a long and memorable life..and career. The book leaves you hankering for more...but, alas, it's getting dark and your mother is calling you home for supper. His long and loving marriage to the talented Ms.Jackson is not only indicative of the kind of person he is...but what you can expect in his book (it ain't Hollywood Babylon). It's a "feelgood" book in all respects. I couldn't put down--and neither will you. I wish Mr. Wallach and his family many more years of Mazel and thank him for sharing.

How did a Brooklyn-born Jew who grew up in an Italian-American neighborhood wind up getting famous for playing Mexican outlaws in some of the greatest westerns ever made? What was it like working with Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe (both in their last pictures before death) and John Houston? How does a "method"-trained theater actor deal with the commercialism and quicker pace of filmmaking--especially down-and-dirty spaghetti western filmmaking? You'll learn the answers to these and more questions in this wonderfully entertaining, insightful, and charming memoir by one of America's finest actors--still alive, well, and working in his nineties! The story is a love story, too--both of Wallach's love of the craft of acting and his love of his wife, Anne Jackson, and family. In a life that takes twists, turns, and zig-zags all over the creative and cartographic map of the world of stage and screen, you travel effortlessly through the pages with your "host" and get to know him well. Whether you're a fan of Mr. Wallach's great performances or merely a movie buff who wants to know "the way it was" in the golden age or a theater fan looking for Broadway anecdotage, you'll be satisfied with this perfect autobiography--and if you're an actor or know one seeking to "break in" to the business, this book should provide lots of inspiration and hope, too. There are many showbiz memoirs in print--I've never read one with as much content for BOTH "fans" and professionals as this one. Buy it, enjoy it, and buy it for a friend or two, too.

This is one of those books I put on my wish list after running across it in a bookstore shortly after its release. I then sat back and waited for the theoretical eccentric millionaire who reads wish lists and randomly buys things for people... and sure enough, the book was mine within a few weeks. I have to admit up front that I simply was not around when most of the stories in this book took place, especially those relating to Wallach's life on the stage in the 1940s through 1960s. In fact, I'd never even heard of most of those plays, except perhaps in passing; I know him best from "The Godfather Part III", and (randomly) from the audiobook of Stephen King's "Insomnia". As the book's anecdotes essentially end in 1967, Wallach does not cover this ground. I put the book on my wish list simply because I wanted to know more about the guy, and to learn more about an era I missed out on. The book's tone is set by the prologue, in which Wallach sets out to research the role of gangster Albert Anastasia for a guest appearance in a TV series, and learns that he has a much closer connection with the crime boss's family than he suspected. Several chapters then detail Wallach's Jewish upbringing in sepia-toned Brooklyn (just six miles from where two of my grandparents were doing the same thing in East New York). I found myself equally captivated by Wallach's stories of growing up, and his tales of working on an impressive body of theatrical and film work. Entire chapters are given over to "The Misfits" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". Wallach spends lots of time discussing his (often better-known) co-stars, ranging from Clark Gable to Marlon Brando to Sir John Gielgud to a very young Alan Arkin. No-one is insulted; particularly warm, extended looks at Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood are featured. The tone is very pleasant and inviting. Written in a very simple, direct writing style, with no credited co-author, this autobiography will not require much of your time, but will leave you with lots of anecdotes to re-tell. Based on the time frame presented, a sequel is theoretically in the offing. I will update my wish list accordingly.

Like many men his age, Eli Wallach has become anecdotal, as he freely acknowledges in his subtitle. This autobiography, therefore, isn't one of those arrogant books that bully you with pushy claims that "you can't put it down," books that demand grueling hours of sustained reading when you might prefer to take a break now and then to watch the news or have a sandwich. The high anecdote content of Wallach's book means that you can clap it shut just about anytime you like, because anecdotes are meant to be followed by a pause of a few moments' duration, like a tacit bar in a musical score, allowing readers time to chuckle or reflect or take a sip of restorative. Under no circumstances would anyone want to interrupt the author in mid-anecdote. He's a richly gifted raconteur who could draw a crowd just by telling about the last time he had his teeth cleaned. And of course, after an anecdote ends, it isn't long before another one begins. (Brilliant!) Was it Wallach who said, "I got a million of 'em!"? Despite his long and successful career, Wallach is possessed of sufficient humility to accept the fact that in some of his stories he plays only a minor role. When he talks about working with Charles Laughton, for example, he recognizes that it's Wallach telling about working with Laughton, not the other way around. Likewise, some of the most entertaining bits are his recollections of Tennessee Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Yul Brenner, Elia Kazan, and many others. But he also knows when to focus on himself, as he does in a story about Eva Le Gallienne's Broadway production of Alice in Wonderland. She had chosen the young Wallach to play the role of a duck --- not a part that he had coveted, though he was following in the webbed-footsteps of Burgess Meredith. Nor was he reconciled on opening night as he watched fellow actors who were more comfortably costumed and had speaking parts, while he could only quack. As often happens in such situations, things took a turn for the worse. The caterpillar around whose mushroom Alice would dance and sing in an upcoming scene had failed to report for duty, and Miss Le Gallienne elected to sacrifice the duck in the interest of a creature with lines. Though he was unhappy as a duck, Wallach balked at the change, so she ordered the stage manager to wrestle him out of the duck costume, stuff him into the caterpillar suit, and push him back onto the stage. From the wings she commanded: "Go out and play that caterpillar!" Wallach remarks a bit anticlimactically and perhaps unnecessarily that Miss Le Gallienne never thanked him for his "courageous" performance. Arthur Miller called Wallach "the happiest good actor" he'd ever known. He was, after all, a kid from Brooklyn who wound up with the girl of his dreams, the actress Anne Jackson, and the only job he'd ever wanted. His book is so thoroughly permeated by his good-natured outlook on life that it might be a '30s musical. --- Reviewed by H.V. Cordry

I was so entertained by this upbeat memoir that I couldn't put it down -- but I did put it down. I made myself stop reading before the final 35 pages, because I didn't want to wake up the next day with none of it left to enjoy. There are certain performances that are indelible. Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson's performances in THE TYPISTS remain so vivid and welcome in my memory that to this day I can laugh over their big "dream of romance" scene and cry over the final moments of the play. I just knew this memoir would be wonderful -- and I was right. Wallach is one of those people who savors every moment of life --and for that reason he does a great job of relating what he has experienced. His appreciation of his beautiful, talented and witty wife, Anne Jackson, makes this a triply delightful read. How great it must be to not only get the last word, but to have your husband treasure it and then share it with the world like a rare pearl! I still don't want this to end. Perhaps the publishers could get a memoir from Anne Jackson and another book of acting wisdom by the two of them. Put me down for first editions!