Customer Reviews

Only Make Believe: My Life in Show Business

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Because I was a doting fan of Howard Keel when I was in high school I jumped on the chance to get a copy of his autobiography. After reading it, let's just say I was a bit disappointed. I'm glad I read it though. If I was "disappointed" it is because when you admire someone so much and they turn out to be rather "typical" in real life, it kind of tarnishes the unrealistic image you have him. For me it was like reading "One Man Tango" (by Anthony Quinn) all over again.

When a man focuses on all of his conquests and drops the names of fancy hotels in which they stayed, makes of cars they bought and then doesn't tie those names in with anything that was happening...well, it becomes a bit superficial. Keel was honest, of course, but didn't elaborate much on the events in his life or give them much depth.

I prefer to go back to remember him as that devastatingly handsome leading man from "Kiss Me Kate" and "Show Boat" and listen to his music. I think had he been interviewed by an experienced biographer, his story might have been told in a more cohesive and sensitive manner.

Autobio or not...Keel was a great performer and will long remain indelible in Hollywood's musical history.

The autobiography of the late Howard Keel (1919-2004), Only Make Believe: My Life In Show Business was written with the assistance of creative writing instructor and former private investigator Joyce Spizer. Keel was a star during the golden age of Hollywood musicals, yet he is perhaps most renowned to younger generations for his decade-long role of Clayton Farlow on the wildly popular television show "Dallas". From his rough beginnings as the sun of a coal miner who committed suicide when Keel was a young boy, to his first "big break" courtesy of Oscar Hammerstein II when he was cast in the role of Billy Bigelow in the Broadway production of Carousel, to his American film debut and unsteady personal life, affairs with Hollywood's leading ladies, and three marriages. The true story, in his own words, of an actor who saw his rising star fall with the decline in popularity of musicals, only to make it rise again.

Howard Keel died on November 7th 2004 aged 85. He died of colon cancer. His book about his life was just finished; with the help of writer Joyce Spizer. It's entitled 'Only Make Believe,' something Howard Keel felt about life itself. The book is gritty, often crude, and tells the story of a man who saw his father commit suicide in front of him when he was only eleven years old. That, combined with the grinding poverty his family experienced in his growing up years in Gillespie, Illinois, set Howard Keel on a course of self preservation and hard-headed determination that made him a great success, and, a pain in the ass to a great many people in show business and in the media. Even today you can't get the Biography TV channel to even reply to you when you ask why they will not do a biography on this great American singer and actor. Howard Keel had a reputation far beyond his musicals, and beyond his eleven year role on TV's 'Dallas,' where even there, on that popular show he was considered an 'outsider.'
In the summer of 1985 I met Howard Keel backstage at the Brighton Theatre in West Sussex (England). We talked about his role as Adam Pontipee in 'Seven Brides' and I asked him if that was his favourite musical of the many he'd done. He agreed that 'Seven Brides' was his best ever musical experience. It took 34 days to make, entirely on the back lot at MGM, and Jane Powell his co-star was a sweetheart. In this book he remarks on the other 'brothers' and their singing and dancing abilities, and the fact that none of them were gay! He was paid just $8,500 for that picture, and today it is still the most watched, most TV played movie musical of all time. There's a great deal more in his book, about his love for America and England, the musicals he did in Britain, and the people he met throughout his life, including a torrid affair with Marylyn Monroe! I'll not reveal all what's in this book, other than it's not your usual autobiography. Howard Keel was not your 'usual' Hollywood star. All he cared about was singing, those he loved, playing golf, and perhaps his own survival. And in the end he knew, like most of us know, life is all, 'Only Make Believe.'

Because of its reviews, I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Most celebrity autobiographies are fairly self-serving but, while Mr. Keel seemed to be comfortable in his own skin, he did allow his reader to see quite a few warts....probably more than he meant to. This book is, by no means, great literature, but it is a interesting glimpse into the life of someone who was a participant in MGM's Golden Age.

As the co-author of Howard's book, Judy Keel and I want to thank all the reviewers--those who loved the book (we went into 3rd printing) and those who didn't. That's what tastes are all about. 1. We'd like to address the issues of correctness. When we received the galleys from the publisher, they had infused major errors on 85 pages. We corrected those and returned them to the publisher. We never saw the book again until it was in print. Don't shoot the authors! 2. If you don't believe we gave you enough information on certain topics, it's simply because Mr. Keel had the last right of refusal on every word written--and I honored that contract with him, even in death. 3. If you feel the book was not totally literary, please remember he had a high school degree, and I tried to write in his voice as he would speak without adding my PhD to it. I'm grateful to those who knew him to say they could hear his voice when reading the book. For me, that's high praise. 4. If he didn't address the topics you wanted to know more about, please remember it was his story. He had the right to share whatever he wanted with his fans. His great respect for many people in the book remained in his heart--not open to tabloid gush. He was a fine man, a wonderful friend, and I'm honored to have been chosen to write his story. Thank you. Joyce Spizer Foy

Yes, it was all only make believe--that is, Howard Keel's recall of his wondrous days as a l00 per cent lady killer.

Howard Keel has always been one of my all-time faves in movies. HIs musicals will live on forever. He had a wonderfully clean-cut sex appeal that never bored or was offensive. I picked up this book, hoping to read and discover true nuggets of movie lore that only one of our musical legends could bring us.

Alas, all of this memoir is mostly about how wonderful Keel found his movie friends. There's not a woman he meets who wasn't "wonderful! What a woman!" He tells us in turgid detail about his brief fling with co-star Katherine Grayson, another brilliant singer. But most of his memoirs is like reading someone whose just drifting along, from bar to bedroom, where all his female conquests were "what a woman!...wonderful!..what a beautiful woman!"

Unlike his musical co-hort Esther Williams, Keel didn't use a ghostwriter and this is what makes this book so tedious to read. It's very much in the Tony Curtis memoir, "American Prince", where Curtis also spends most of his time patting his own back and boring everyone with his memoirs of bedroom hijenks.

Keel deserves a really good biography. His unforgettable performances in "Annie Get Your Gun," "Seven Brides," "Showboat" are movies that we'll be watching one hundred years from now. This memoir is an embarassment to all of his fans.

Dr. Richard Lert, not "Dr. Hans Lert," was the long-time conductor of the Pasadena Symphony. He conducted Keel in a Handel oratorio (not "aritorio," as is stated twice). When Keel was performing in London in the mid-1940s, "Robert Donat dined with a lovely actress named Catherine Deneuve." Ms. Deneuve was born in 1943. The first (U.S.) 3-D movie was not "Kiss Me Kate," as stated, but was "Bwana Devil."

I gave up halfway through when I realized that I could no longer trust what I was reading.

I was somewhat disappointed in this biography. It read more like a diary of his appearances over the years. That got very repetitive. I would have preferred to hear more about his experiences with other stars of his era and his years on "Dallas".

Howard Keel is one of my favourite film actors. At his peak he was a handsome, virile leading man with a strong bass baritone voice. His great years were undoubtedly those spent at MGM with a number of his films from that period becoming film classics. The best of these include "Annie Get You Gun", "Showboat", "Kiss Me Kate", "Calamity Jane" and "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers." In addition to this he was a fine stage and television actor. He even directed a number of musicals for the stage.

His autobiography paints a warts and all picture of a complex, egotistic man with an insatiable appetite for extra marital pleasures with many of his leading ladies. He also portrays himself as a man with many career frustrations and disappointments. Despite his obvious abundant talent, he never quite reached the pinnacle in his career in any of the fields he tackled which must have been difficult for him to understand. While this book is not a great work of writing it does make for interesting reading and gives the reader a more complete idea of who Howard Keel was, someone quite different from the hero he so often portrayed on screen.

I enjoyed reading the book though I can see why some of the reviewers of it weren't that satisfied with it. The biggest problem that I found with it was that it is very episodic and jumps from one event to another not always completing the story before moving on. For example, when discussing one of his marriages he ends a chapter by saying he knew that this relationship was ending as he returned from an engagement in London. However, he remained married to the wife in question for another decade with no explanation as to why it continued for so long when he had already decided it was over! It's things like that which don't always add up. However, as this is the only book on Keel that is currently available then this will have to do in telling us who he was or at least who he saw himself as being.

"Betty Burk's" review is nothing more than a dig at Doris Day. "Calamity Jane" happens to be the BEST musical western in the history of film. The insane jealousy over Miss Day's unequaled success as a movie box office star, drove many close to residence in asylums.

Despite the success Miss Day enjoyed in the 50s and 60s as the top female box office star, she was hated by many. In contrast, her co-stars had nothing but praise for her, including the wonderful, Howard Keel, who felt that Day would have been a better choice for "Annie Get Your Gun."

Howard Keel had one of the BEST baritones in the history of film. The very SOUND of his voice was as unique as Doris Day's fabulous voice. Her's was commercial, however, garnering her many top ten popular hits. Like Julie Andrews, Mario Lanza, Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson, Howard's voice was operatic and not cogent with the popular music sound.

I have read this book, mainly to see what he said about working with Doris and another favorite of mine, Jane Powell.