# Fess Up!!! What Celebrity Autobiographies have you Read?



## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Inspired by the "British Kindle Reviewer" Thread, I'm wondering which (if any) celebrity biographies/autobiographies people will admit to reading, or wanting to read.    

I own several, most of which were gifts that I haven't actually read and don't plan to.  (If anyone is a fan of Kelsey Grammer or Carrie Fisher, PM me, I have books I don't want...)  The only one I bought (and read most of) was Katharine Hepburn's.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

This is from a different thread that's gone tangential .... and Susan's suggestion that's it's becoming a separate thread ....


So, two things.  What's worse:  admitting to reading celebrity autobiographies or admitting to reading Porn?  And ... what autobios have you read?


For me, admitting to reading porn is the lesser of many evils .... and I've read auto-biographies by:

Kathy Griffin
Chelsea Handler
Fran Dresher .... OK, maybe that one's embarrassing ....


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

heh .... Susan beat me to it.


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## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

I'm actually not too guilty about this one because I love him and wouldn't mind anyone seeing me read it. I never read Celebrity Bio things, but I made an exception cuz I'm such a big fan...


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## Sporadic (May 1, 2009)

Over the past year, I read:

Craig Ferguson
Drew Carey
Steve Martin 
Lewis Black
Smokin' Joe Frazier 
Gordon Ramsay


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

So post again in the other one....

... or maybe someone will just merge them.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Susan's post or Geoffrey's post? Oh the agony of it all, which one to post on?

A friend of mine is a big fan of Gordon Ramsay and his Hell's Kitchen series. So I bought her his autobiography last Christmas, and also bought it on Kindle (it was priced at $3 or so at the time--And I see it is still $3.11) and we are reading it in parallel. I'm a faster reader and have more time for reading, so I read a few chapters in an hour or two, then wait for catch-up. It's actually fairly interesting, even though I am only "ehhh" about Mr. Ramsay myself.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

... I've read both of Chelsea Handler's books and I'm waiting for her third.  I read Kathy Griffin's book last October.  Years ago I picked up books by Drew Carey, Fran Dresher and Ellen Degeneres ... I read all three but immediately got rid of the latter two cuz they were awful.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

heh.  merge-o-rama.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Susan's post or Geoffrey's post? Oh the agony of it all, which one to post on?


Heh, I started posting in Susan's thread, and the all-seeing moderators merged it by the time I'd posted!


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I merged them so no more agony.

One of the last DTB books I read before I bought my Kindle was the biography of Tom Cruise. I ended up re-selling it on the Amazon marketplace. I am still waiting for the one that has all the dirt about him...kinky sex with him wearing a wrestling outfit....all the scoop on what exactly ended his marriage to Nicole Kidman....unfortunately, it hasn't been written yet. I'm waiting.

As for porn, when does it cross the line between erotica and porn? I sort of feel that if you are reading it, it is never porn (you watch porn, you read the other sexy stuff) although probably people disagree with me. 

L


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Now that I think about it, I also read this a month or so ago. I am a big fan of Lucille Ball and of Don Knotts, I think they were hilarious.











Laughs, Luck, and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Television Sitcom of all Time, Jess Oppenheimer

And as a fan of Don Knotts, I read this in DTB form just a couple of weeks ago:









(image only, no link)
Barney Fife and Other Characters I Have Known, Don Knotts

The title on this one is not to be taken literally, it is a straight show business autobiography (once his childhood is over, the only mentions of his personal life consist of "I married (name) about this time" followed a few chapters later by "I divorced (name) about this time".


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

I just finished reading Ed McMahon's autobiography/biography of Johnny Carson. And I started George Carlin's autobiography, but didn't get far.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

scarlet said:


> I just finished reading Ed McMahon's autobiography/biography of Johnny Carson. And I started George Carlin's autobiography, but didn't get far.


I picked up the McMahon book when it was a bargain book awhile back. Is George Carlin's book really that bad? I'd have expected it to at least be funny!


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> I picked up the McMahon book when it was a bargain book awhile back. Is George Carlin's book really that bad? I'd have expected it to at least be funny!


No, it wasn't really funny at all. It tried to be pretty straight forward factual, but it just wasn't working for me.


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## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Only one, believe it or not, and it was extremely well written and entertaining and that was "Bring on the Empty Horses" by David Niven.  EXXXTRREEEMMEELY good.


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## Marguerite (Jan 18, 2009)

I read Goldie Hawn's book and I was sorry.  I liked her before I read it and not after.  She's kind of whiney IMHO.  I also read Sidney Poitier's book.  It was most definitely bad.  It was not his like but a running commentary of how hard it was to be black and other race relation opinions.  Not what I had been led to expect.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Scheherazade said:


> I'm actually not too guilty about this one because I love him and wouldn't mind anyone seeing me read it. I never read Celebrity Bio things, but I made an exception cuz I'm such a big fan...


That's the only one I can think of that I've read, unless you want to count Stephen King's _On Writing_, which has a lot of autobiographical content (some of which I skipped over, however).


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Brendan Carroll said:


> Only one, believe it or not, and it was extremely well written and entertaining and that was "Bring on the Empty Horses" by David Niven. EXXXTRREEEMMEELY good.


I would suspect that he had no need of a co-author or ghost-writer, either.


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## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

Cool thread Susan:

Ozzy Ozbourne
Tori Spelling

pre Kindle:  many (some unauthorized biographies) Forgot the actual titles:  but the subjects are as follows
Mama's and Papas
Carnie Wilson/Beach Boys
Michael Jackson
Joan Collins
Bobby Darin
Connie Francis
Ball/Arnaz
Carol Burnett/Carrie Hamilton
others that I have probably forgotten about.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I've read Jenny McCarthy & Kojo. I enjoyed those. Kojo's is about his battle with cancer. 

I have one of Christopher Reeves but I can't read past the first chapter. It's heartbreaking.


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## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

I must add:  The Connie Francis one was the saddest...how she survived that rape; I'll never know.  I've seen her in person and she is a teeny tiny woman...what she endured is unfathomable.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

If politicians, presidents, secretaries of state are celebrities, I've read quite a few.  I don't think I can remember them all, but Brandon reminded me that I'd read David Niven book from way back.  These were all pre-Kindle, and I can't think of all of them:

Ellen
Sidney Poitier
Elie Wiesel
Hillary Clinton
President Bill Clinton
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
Queen Noor


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## sheltiemom (Dec 28, 2008)

I have read the Michael J Fox books.  Years ago, I really enjoyed a book about Anne Baxter going to live in Australia.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

That reminds me that I also read Crichton's _Travels_, which isn't exactly a bio but does recount some of his "adventures".


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## pomlover2586 (Feb 14, 2009)

I read A Spice Girls autobiography.....  I was about 13? maybe 14.....so I use that as an excuse........wouldn't touch it now!  http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Girls-Uncensored-Biggest-Phenomenon/dp/0345425596/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266729762&sr=8-8


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Too many to count -- lots mentioned in this thread.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> That reminds me that I also read Crichton's _Travels_, which isn't exactly a bio but does recount some of his "adventures".


I'd forgotten, I read that years ago in DTB. Very interesting read!


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I read the autobiography of Gene Wilder a while ago. The part about his marriage to Gilda Radner and her death was interesting, if sad. It dragged at the end.

When my Kindle was brand new, Amazon "suggested" I might like the autobiography of Julie Andrews. I sampled it (I think it might have been my first sample) and it was dull as dishwater, so I didn't buy it.

L


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think I once read a biography of Benjamin Franklin.   For a book report in Grade School 'cause the teacher required at least one book we read during the year be a biography. 

Also read Harry Truman's memoir for a history paper in High School.  Well, at least the parts that were germane to my topic.

Oh and read about the Baden-Powells for a Girl Scout badge.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think I once read a biography of Benjamin Franklin. For a book report in Grade School


I just did that yesterday!  (a very short one.... I didn't do that in grade school, but all I knew about Franklin was the kite thing and that he invented a bunch of stuff... but now I have to stay one step ahead of the Kiddo! )


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## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

Leslie said:


> When my Kindle was brand new, Amazon "suggested" I might like the autobiography of Julie Andrews. I sampled it (I think it might have been my first sample) and it was dull as dishwater, so I didn't buy it.
> 
> L


I did the same thing. 
A while ago I read Sean Astin's book. Not great.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Are Nobel prize-winning physicists considered to be celebrities? Is so, I have read (and recommend) _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!_ by Richard Feynman.

 (Not yet enKindled™, unfortunately)


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Me, The Stories of My Life  , by Katharin Hepburn. An interesting read. I really liked it. It isn't available on kindle.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Are Nobel prize-winning physicists considered to be celebrities? Is so, I have read (and recommend) _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!_ by Richard Feynman.
> 
> (Not yet enKindled™, unfortunately)


This was a good book. I read it years ago. The second one wasn't quite as good. I didn't enjoy all his tales of womanizing.

I've read tons of books about Elvis Presley. Also the very controversial one about John Belushi, when it first came out (which was quite a while ago). And a very lurid biography of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Nancy had a very sad life, actually.

Come to think of it, I have read lots of biographies....

L


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Leslie said:


> This was a good book. I read it years ago. The second one wasn't quite as good. I didn't enjoy all his tales of womanizing.
> ...


Yeah, it definitely was not as good -- not horrible, but nothing special IMO.


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Are Nobel prize-winning physicists considered to be celebrities? Is so, I have read (and recommend) _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!_ by Richard Feynman.


Ohh, I had forgotten that one too! (Have you listened to his lectures on tape? Great for long drives...)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Susan in VA said:


> Ohh, I had forgotten that one too! (Have you listened to his lectures on tape? Great for long drives...)


I watched a video of a series he gave in NZ, I believe in preparation to those which were the basis of the _QED_ book. You can see them here: http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/8.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Charles Chaplin: My Autobiography, which is an incredible book, really, which proves just once again what an incredibly smart and eloquent person Chaplin was.



Gene Simmons: Kiss and Make-Up, a nice little romp for fans of Kiss as he details a bunch of anecdotes from the band's lengthy career. It is pretty shallow, though, and designed for easy consumption.



Bill Gates: The Road Ahead - a look at Bill Gates' take on the world. Though I am a Microsoft hater, I found a lot of interesting tidbits in here that shed more light on Gates as a man.


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