Customer Reviews

Hollywood Urban Legends: The Truth Behind All Those Delightfully Persistent Myths of Films, Television, and Music

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The concept of this book (urban legends regarding celebrities) is a good idea, but the "author" (cheesy movie reviewer) did such a horrible job writing and compiling this book that it was a major disappointment. The book is very disorganized, hard to follow, and haphazard in general. Instead of explaining each urban legend logically, the author will leave out important details, or will start in the middle of the story. Then scattered throughout the text are his own attempts at pointing out irony or including stupid puns. This book is more like an editorial, rather than a real source about urban legends.

The other thing that really annoyed me is that the "author" was incorrect about whether some legends are true or not. I have seen the actual footage from a particular game show (it's been played several times on bloopers shows) that proves that the legend is indeed true, and this book will tell you that it's a myth. At least get your facts straight before you publish a ... book.

Don't waste your money or your time. You could easily find all the same info in this book by spending a few hours surfing the web.

My wife and I first heard this book being promoted on television and as avid readers of entertainment publications and books, I figured that I would give Richard Roeper's second book on "Urban Legends" a try.

Once I received the book and started reading a few pages, I was instantly hooked. Next thing you know, I read the book completely. It's that entertaining.

The book covers mostly urban legends relating to movies and television and a few on music.

Without revealing too much what's in the book, here are a few urban legends that some of you may or may not know:

* Was John Wayne a draft-dodger? Can America's movie icon who was portrayed in many movies as a military hero be a draft-dodger in real life? True or False?

* Did Monica Lewinsky actually tell Larry King, "I've learned not to put things in my mouth that are bad for me"? True or False?

* Did Tom Green really attend a Bar Mitzvah dressed as Hitler? True or False?

* The reason why the Little Rascals is no longer on television is because Bill Cosby purchase the rights of "The Little Rascals" and he didn't want it shown anymore because of the shows portrayal of Blacks? True or False?

* Did Mama Cass of the Mamas and Papas die of a ham sandwich? True or False?

* Did Jane Fonda really betray P.O.W.'s during a trip to Hanoi? True or False?

* Is the children's song "Puff the Magic Dragon" by Peter, Paul and Mary about Marijuana? True or False?

* Was Lucille Ball a communist? True or False?

* Is there a curse among the actors who were on any of the "Poltergeist" movies? True or False?

Roeper does a great job setting up the urban legend and gathering and analyzing the facts necessary to prove the urban legend right or wrong.

As a person who never really cared too much for urban legends or followed many of them, I found the book very interesting and informative. I mean, how would I ever know that Chachi of the TV series "Happy Days" was popular in Korea because his name literally translated to "penis".

Of course, for many people who have followed these legends, this book may be of no use to you because it may be a rehash of old legends that you may have known about already.

But nevertheless this is one entertaining book that I wouldn't mind sharing with friends.

Recommended reading!

What a waste of trees. Mr. Roeper merely cobbled together a bunch of stories from internet and print Urban Legend sites and made himself a book, and the whole mess is so pretentious and badly written that it's nothing less than shocking. I've never, ever seen such a poor compilation of urban legends. He debunks true stories, exaggerates false ones, misstates facts, and even writes himself into an urban legend. He couldn't have spent more than a couple hours on the internet researching this mess. Really, really, bad.

Here's the book's premise: "It's the first rule of celebrity life: The moment you become famous is the moment when people start telling lies about you." "If you don't like it, remove yourself from the roster of the famous."

Hollywood Urban Legends is a selection of supposedly well-known rumors about famous entertainment people and the industry. Each section starts out by telling the rumor in the most intrigung way. Then, Mr. Roeper lays out and dissects the evidence and comes to a conclusion.

There are several problems with this book. First, unless these are stories you have heard and sort of wish were true, they don't have much zing. I would describe them as "improbable stories that on the surface are probably not true." So I felt like I was wasting my time. Of these legends, I had only heard of about 8 of them.

Second, nine of ten legends turn out not to be true. The book would have been ever so much more interesting if half of them had been true. Mr. Roeper missed a chance to write a much more entertaining book. Maybe Matt Drudge will write the sequel?

Third, a lot of these are very old chestnuts. Are you excited about what Marilyn Monroe's dress size was? I'm sure most people have noticed by now that their toilets keep working each year during the Super Bowl. Poor Mikey has been gone due to Pop Rocks for a long time. Even my mother knew that Bogart was not the Gerber baby when I was a child.

Mr. Roeper also seems biased in terms of believing whatever the creators say. I was not persuaded by his argument that "Puff the Magic Dragon" has nothing to do with drugs.

There are a few aha's here. I did not know that John Wayne did not serve in the military in World War II. I certainly did not know that Lucille Ball registered to vote as a communist (to please her grandfather who was a socialist). The last story is fun, if you last that long. You actually may like the book better if you start with that one.

Unless you really love trivia, and want to differentiate the true from the false, I'd suggest you would have more fun watching a movie instead.

The book does have a good challenge in it. What things do people believe about you that are not true? How would you convince anyone differently?

Be open to new ideas, but keep your eyes open for proof!

I have been reading Urban Legends since "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" in the '80's. This is a great take on the subject, Hollywood and those "Famous" stories. I appreciate Roeper's debunking, and he does and especially nice job with Marylin's dress size.

Unlike one person in the book, I don't consider Roeper to be "Mr. Urban Legend", that title is reserved for Jan Harold Brunvand. Brunvand's books are what you want to read for a general understading of Urban Legends. This book, however, is alot of fun to read.

I have to admit I'm a Roeper fan from watching him with Roger Ebert. I was a Gene Siskel fan, too, but I think Richard is, in his own right, a wonderful foil to Ebert. Having admitted my prejudice, I have to say that I enjoyed this book even more than Urban Legends, his previous book. While that covered everything, this really concentrates on movies and TV (and, to a lesser extent, music). And it's fascinating! The very last legend is the absolute best. I'm not going to ruin it for you, except to say that it concerns Matt Groening (creator of the Simpsons) and is the best, best, best! It's at the end of the book so maybe you want to buy it and turn right to the end! It's not a mystery so you won't miss anything. You can still go back and read about Bogart, Ronald Reagen, the Duke, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Eminem and all the stars who have supposedly died! '

I saw Richard Roeper on The Tonight Show the other night with this book. He was really funny so I decided to buy it and the book does not disappoint. Some of the stories about the stars I had heard for years and thought were true. I can't believe they're not! It was really interesting to read about some of the other hollywood gossip. My favorite one was the "Joanie Loves Chachi" urban legend. The book is hilarious, just like Richard Roeper was on the show.

Believe the bad reviews--this book is annoyingly written by a guy who did a little online research into subjects he knows nothing about, then claims to refute "urban legends," although he just plain gets much of his information wrong.

The author devotes only a couple pages to each "urban legend" about entertainment but many of them are things you will have never heard of. Maybe being a Chicago newspaper writer makes him privy to gossip, but much of what is written here is silly stuff that most people would never believe.

Some of it, however, not only is "legend" but true. He didn't do his homework and "refutes" things that have some truth to them. Or in some cases the author "suspects" they are not true due to logic, not being able to disprove them.

For example, he discusses "Myths of the Super Bowl" and immediately says his own falsehood. He claims "half the country's population observes" Super Bowl as a holiday. Not true--about 40% tune in for any part of it, and that includes those that just catch the halftime show. The Super Bowl has never it its history attracted half the population. He deals with "urban legends" about the game like the toilet flushing problem but he give no evidence to disprove the rumors and hasn't done research to show what water levels are like during the game. Then the one about being able to predict the stock market based on the outcome of the Super Bowl ends up to be true 82% of the time! His response: "So what?" Okay, buddy, why are you writing the book then?

That's like the chapter on Lucille Ball, which he claims that she was never a Communist. Yet he quotes from the Congressional transcripts in which they asked, "You did register to vote as a Communist?" and she responds, "Yes." Hey, Mr. newspaper man, she admits she was a registered Communist and no matter how much you want to say she wasn't a "card-carrying member," she confirms the legend that you deny! There are many examples in this book where the legends are valid or have some truth to them, while the author tries to claim he is proving them false.

In another case he tries to tackle the Newlywed Game rumor and claims it isn't true. But in his own "proof" he confesses that the tape is bleeped so there is no way of knowing if it's true or not. This guy is a journalist? He doesn't have evidence to match his conclusions.

Throughout the book he inserts his constant commentary, which usually demeans anything pop culture. He slams Gilligan's Island, Green Acres, and John Wayne, while defending Martha Stewart, standoffish Fred Grandy (Love Boat), Tom Green (?) and Pulp Fiction. If that's the kind of guy you like, you might enjoy this book. But for the most part it's smug and frustrating to read.

Once again, Richard Roeper has given the reading public something to savor. In Hollywood Urban Legends, Roeper has compiled some of the most interesting legends about Hollywood and its stars, from Lucille Ball and John Wayne to Eminem and Tom Green, and has debunked them all. There is something for everyone here, all in one place. What makes this book great is Roeper's writing expertise and his wit. His humor and natural storytelling ability make this book a fantastic read, over and over again. Roeper is a true master. Readers and lore-lovers alike will return to this book time and time again, not only to enjoy reading the truth behind these myths, but to continue the discussion about them and keep them alive. Great job, Rich! Can't wait till the next installment.

This was a truly great book to read! I'm 13, and I was even interested in most of the stories. There are so many, that if you skip a few it won't even matter! I let my Dad and one of my sisters read it, and they really enjoyed it. I loved it, and if you are one of those "gossipy" or "nosey-about-the-stars" people, I believe that you should read this....