Full Frontal Nudity: The Making of an Accidental Actor [Hardcover]

Harry Hamlin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 5, 2010

IN 2008, as he attempted to enter Canada to film a television series, Harry Hamlin—the former star of L.A. Law and once People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive—was detained at the border for unresolved narcotics convictions. And so begins Full Frontal Nudity, a laugh-out-loud-funny memoir in which Harry digs deep into his past to recount the wacky experiences of his childhood, the twisted path that led to his alleged criminal behavior, and the series of fortuitous mishaps that drove him to become an actor.

Harry was reared in suburban California in the late 1950s by a gin-gulping, pill-popping housewife mother and a rocket scientist father with a secret life. On its surface, his childhood was not unlike his peers’, except that he was kicked out of the fourth grade for writing a book report on Mein Kampf and, when he was eleven, his parents gave him a subscription to Playboy for Christmas. Curious by nature, chock-full of boyish charm and good looks, Harry experimented with mystical religion and set off for Woodstock, only to narrowly avoid lighting the whole of Yellowstone National Park on fire. At eighteen, he was ready to matriculate at Berkeley and become the architect he always wanted to be. But fate—this time in the form of a large Hells Angel, a few purple microdots, and an evening in the tree houses of La Honda—got in the way.

Sharp and bawdy, Full Frontal Nudity spans the years from Harry’s childhood through his time at Berkeley (which he was asked to leave after he was accused of running a brothel), to Yale, then on an extended vacation in the Yucatán, and finally to the American Conservatory Theater, where Harry played his first lead role—as the buck-naked star of Equus.

Full Frontal Nudity is an uproarious memoir that captures an era and describes the unlikely origins of a star.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this vibrant memoir, Hamlin, once voted by People magazine the "Sexiest Man Alive," offers almost nothing about his 34-year career as a professional actor. Instead, the 58-year-old actor looks back at his childhood (kicked out of the fourth grade for writing a book report on Mein Kampf), his parents (who gave him a Christmas gift subscription to Playboy when he was 11), and his introduction to drugs on "the psychedelic yellow brick road." Planning an architecture career, he arrived at Berkeley so late his intended classes were filled; to register, he signed up for drama classes and thus became "an accidental actor." After a drug bust in the San Francisco airport, he did time in the Redwood City, Calif., correctional facility, hassled by inmates who thought he was a snitch planted by the warden. With drugged-out friends, street riots, tear gas, naked bodies and sexual encounters interrupting his college days, Hamlin recovered from an "unsurvivable" head-on car collision, which was followed by backpacking adventures, more drug busts, and a raucous road trip through Mexico. Training at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, he found his passion and a new direction. Hamlin's life has been filled with drama in more ways than one, and his skill at colorful, vibrant storytelling makes this a rewarding read
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From Booklist

Hamlin practically defined the word “himbo” with his flesh-baring role in the original 1981 Clash of the Titans film. That beefcake performance led to the actor’s successful stint on the hit television drama L.A. Law. Although he has worked steadily ever since, Hollywood is rarely kind to aging matinee idols. Yet, despite his faded-pretty-boy image, People magazine’s 1987 “Sexiest Man Alive” has penned an amusing, bitterness-free memoir that brings his foolhardy yet privileged formative years to life. A longtime journal keeper, Hamlin vividly recalls growing up in suburban California in the 1950s with an aeronautical-engineer father and housewife mother, with whom he had a frosty relationship. The architect wannabe fumbled his way into adulthood—and professional acting—by sheer dumb luck. He shares detailed memories of awkward sex, guerrilla theater, road trips, a drug bust, and his reluctant immersion in the counterculture movement. Hamlin’s wit isn’t scathing like that of Augusten Burroughs, and there’s zilch as far as showbiz dish goes, but he writes with a self-deprecating style that only time, contentment, and maturity can foster. --Chris Keech

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439169993
• ISBN-13: 978-1439169995
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,461,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SUBTITLE: LIVIN LA LOCA VIDA October 16, 2010

By La Femme Cherie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I know Harry as the original Perseus in the original CLASH OF THE TITANS (hot), as an alpha male lawyer in L A LAW and as the dark character he ended up being in VERONICA MARS. This book which takes you through his college days is the most fun reading I've had in awhile. He's an excellent writer who guides you through these zany escapades that happened in the 70's. As a baby boomer at San Francisco State while he was at Berkeley I could totally validate his experiences. I liked the honesty with which he writes about childhood trauma, parental dysfunction, even his own sexual experiences and instead of drama-drama-drama-he does it with a comedic twist-like this happened to me but no big deal-life goes on. What a refreshing change. But mostly I was pleased to discover he WASN'T the alpha male he usually portrays. He seems charming, sensitive to a point but not afraid to give you his opinion. What do they call that? Grounded. Give yourself a gift and read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Early Life Spoiled By Weak Storytelling August 11, 2011

By Mediaman

Format:Hardcover

The story of Hamlin's somewhat fascinating early life is spoiled by an unordered writing style and his inability to share complete details of events. He will often start a story and then just as you are getting interested he will not finish it.

The entire book is incomplete. It only goes through his early 20s and ignores his much more interesting later celebrity life. There must be someone who will find his drug use, sexual exploitations, prison time and long-haired musings at Berkeley to be worth reading, but he withholds so much detail that the stories are just not that interesting. He even manages to make major life events (getting in a car crash, his frat house fire, etc.) sound dull.

His family background is also incomplete. He talks about his wacko parents (who let him do a book report on Adolph Hitler at age 10 and gave him a five-year subscription to Playboy when he was 11!), doesn't speak fondly of his older brother and his high school time across the country at boarding school (though there are few stories about any of these). There are never enough details to get more than just a surface idea of these people and experiences. His dad was a rocket scientist who worked with a former Nazi to help create the rocket that took man to the moon--and all he gets is a few sentences!

Hamlin tosses in asides to things that could be interesting (showing up ten years later to meet a girl he once promised to see again, becoming a born again Christian and then suddenly dropping it, forgetting to mention that he was banned from leaving California until after spending a number of chapters talking about his time at Yale) but there are never enough details. He devotes quite a few pages to his prison time, but not the interesting parts. Most of it has to do with how he felt wronged for being arrested for transporting drugs, which he admits to doing. Out of nowhere in the middle of the book he mentions having half-brothers--where did they come from? He's a tease who likes to act hip and cool but can't follow through.

Some of the stories are weird to the point of being unbelievable. He has an odd fixation on peeing that he never really explains. He loses his virginity at age 13 while babysitting two little kids who are asleep next to him. And then he claims that after his Playboy subscription ran out at 16 he really never looked at the magazine again (very hard to believe considering his wild sex life). There are way, way, way too many casual references to drugs and almost as many about "exchanging body fluids" with women (who will be horrified by how he writes about them in this book). This guy appears to be amoral and have no emotions. He also comes across as misogynistic, possibly racist and a bit too defensive about not being gay.

Near the end you will get sick of the repetitive stories about his accidents and tragedies. Whenever he starts one of dozens of travel stories in a positive way, you know it's going to go bad. But nothing too serious seems to ever go wrong and the stories are no different than what your self-centered cousin tells you during holiday get togethers. So he was stupid enough to climb a mountain and get stuck overnight? The first time you hear it may be interesting but after so many idiotic "adventures" you become convinced that this guy is one of the dumbest people on the planet for the choices he makes and the people he hangs around with. About three-fourths of the way through you just want it all to end quickly!

Some of it is too much inappropriate information (he will regret writing this when his kids are older and read it). And those who are looking for any insight into his adult film and television career or his marriage to Lisa Rinna will be upset because that's not what this book is about. Most of it is just a bunch of rambling, fascinating half-stories of a guy with a really messed-up life. It provides some insight into the types of wackos that are in Hollywood, but would have been much better if Hamlin would have written his entire life story and done it with some introspection.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars full frontal ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ February 10, 2011

By caught inside

Format:Hardcover

if you want to read all about Harry's dysfunctional mother and father who were nightmare alcoholic terrible parents, and his youthful adventures, endless use of the term "sharing bodily fluids" with certain females, and life before he became rather famous, knock yourself out.
This is apparently the teaser ?pre-book? he somehow got published before he really spills the interesting beans that came after he became Really famous and his life in the spotlight. Although he was married to Nicolette Sheridan during part of this book....his mother refereed to her as "Take A Left"..... he obviously regretted this marriage... and her choice of wardrobe to his mother's funeral.....
It was honest...... to a fault: I really could have done without his story of a little girl he knew who used chocolate syrup to get her dog interested in....well, you figure that one out..... it was just a disappointing read. As I said, kind of mind numbing foreplay paving the way for his probably SECOND book about his more famous times...... glad I got it from the library.
Finished it in one day and night and after most of it just skipped over all the boring stuff..... his second book will probably be more interesting....this one, pretty much anyone could have written this story, really......