The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage [Hardcover]

Eli Wallach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2005

The sparkling memoir of a movie icon's life in the footlights and on camera, The Good, the Bad, and Me tells the extraordinary story of Eli Wallach's many years dedicated to his craft. Beginning with his early days in Brooklyn and his college years in Texas, where he dreamed of becoming an actor, this book follows his career as one of the earliest members of the famed Actors Studio and as a Tony Award winner for his work on Broadway. Wallach has worked with such stars as Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, and Henry Fonda, and his many movies include The Magnificent Seven, How the West Was Won, the iconic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and, most recently, Mystic River. For more than fifty years Eli Wallach has held a special place in film and theater, and in a tale rich with anecdotes, wit, and remarkable insight he recounts his magical life in a world unlike any other.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wallach has the right and the title to discourse at length on method acting and the Actor's Studio, where he was a charter member, but instead hews tightly to his book's subtitle. A string of often funny and charming memories of his interactions with fellow actors and eclectic directors (in particular, spaghetti Western director Sergio Leone), his book is engagingly frank and personable. Because Wallach, known for his work in Tennessee Williams's Broadway productions as well as for his roles as memorably suspicious rascals, was taught by such cultural icons as Martha Graham and Lee Strasberg, his memoir is also a valuable source on 20th-century American culture. The author, however, is a cultural treasure in his own right: born Jewish in 1915 in an Italian section of Brooklyn, he headed off for the University of Texas at Austin during the Great Depression on a ship and became a medic overseas in WWII. From early struggles with auditions and bouts of hubris onstage, Wallach emerged to become one of America's most prolific, restlessly inventive and enduring actors (at 88, he took an uncredited role in 2003's Mystic River as Mr. Loonie, the liquor store owner). His insights and recollections of the acting life outweigh the book's pat and perfunctory conclusion. 8-page b&w photo insert not seen by PW. Agent, Marly Rusoff & Associates. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This memoir by one of Hollywood's quieter stars adopts the tone of a what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation paper--except that Wallach's summer encompasses his nearly 90-year life. In a straightforward and witty style, he tells his story, from a Brooklyn childhood as the only Jew in an Italian neighborhood, through Actors Studio days with Brando and others, and on to his long and illustrious career on both stage and screen. The anecdotes come one after the other, about actors and roles but also about his personal life, including his more than 50-year marriage to fellow actor Anne Jackson. Most fascinating is the story of how Wallach was forced to choose between taking a role in the Tennessee Williams play Camino Real on Broadway, directed by the legendary Elia Kazan, or playing Maggio (the Frank Sinatra role) in From Here to Eternity). Wallach's love of theater drove him to Kazan, despite the director's having recently named names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. While many readers will associate Wallach with his roles in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and The Magnificent Seven, this compelling memoir shows the full range of a remarkable actor's life. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (May 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151011893
• ISBN-13: 978-0151011896
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm-hearted, Wise and Wonderful, May 31, 2005

By 

Doris Bucher "dorisbucher" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage (Hardcover)

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!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Class Act Tells A Fascinating Story--His Own, August 1, 2005

By 

Dan Fendel (Hollywood, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage (Hardcover)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great grab-bag of anecdotes, July 16, 2005

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage (Hardcover)

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.