Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood [Paperback]

Arthur Laurents (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Here is the original story of a true original, the celebrated and internationally renowned director, playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, whose creative genius continues to energize American stage and screen today. Say his name, and images of West Side Story, Gypsy, Anastasia, The Turning Point, and The Way We Were appear. Laurents' highly praised memoir is a dazzling portrait of his life - as he recounts the great moments, the trials and the joys of his incredible career. He takes us into his world, peopled with the creative artists, directors, actors and personalities who came of age in the theatre and in Hollywood after WWII. Later, back in New York, he writes about jump-starting Barbra Streisand's career by casting her in I Can Get It for You Wholesale. He writes about the creation of Gypsy with Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim. And he writes about coming together in a complex, fraught collaboration with his three old pals, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Sondheim for West Side Story. Throughout, Laurents is funny, fierce, and frank - a life recounted as richly as it was lived. "This is a historic work. A 'must' for show biz mavens." - LIZ SMITH, Newsday & Syndicated

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Best known as the author of scripts for such hit musicals as West Side Story and Gypsy, Arthur Laurents began his career writing strong, socially conscious plays like Home of the Brave and Time of the Cuckoo; he also has impressive credits as a screenwriter (The Way We Were) and stage director (La Cage aux Folles). Such a varied professional life makes for absorbing reading in this lively autobiography stuffed with famous names, including George Cukor, Katharine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand, and Stephen Sondheim, all of whom emerge vividly in thumbnail portraits ranging from affectionately frank (Stella Adler) to frankly unflattering (Jerome Robbins). Laurents, born in 1917, was a Marxist during his college years at Cornell, and he retains strong political opinions to this day: he has no use for bigots of any kind, and his memoir displays no inclination to forgive people like Elia Kazan, who named names during the 1950s. Yet the author also has a marvelous sense of humor (after critic Frank Rich inadvertently made public reference to Laurents's homosexuality, Laurents introduced him at a charity lunch as "the man who outed me as a liberal") and a zest for life that shines particularly in a loving portrait of his longtime companion, Tom Hatcher. --Wendy Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

No one is going to accuse Laurents, author of such noted plays and films as Home of the Brave, Rope, West Side Story and The Way We Were, of writing a sentimental, evasive or mindlessly feel-good autobiography. In a jaunty, engrossing style, the 82-year-old discusses the highlights of his 60-year career as a writer, director and producer, the ins and outs of his love life, long-term psychoanalysis and friendships with almost everyone in Hollywood and on Broadway. Laurents is brutally honest about his personal life--his difficulty coming to terms with his gayness, his anger at colleagues like Elia Kazan who named names to HUAC and his even greater anger at himself for working with them--and he rarely holds back when he thinks that others deserve criticism. He can be surprisingly harsh--he attacks Hannah Arendt for being a "self-hating Jew" and for defending Eichmann--but his critical asides often reveal a new side of a public person and are never simply catty. For example, he tells of Katharine Hepburn making antigay remarks at a dinner party; Richard Rodgers's severe alcoholism in his later career; and George Cukor's calculated "rise above being an unattractive Jewish queer by becoming an elegant silver-and-china queen and a Republican." But for all his candor, Laurents comes across as a highly intelligent, loving, politically involved, generous and gracious man--as evidenced by his commitment to social justice, his artistic vision and his long-term relationships with Farley Granger and with Tom Hatcher, who has been his life partner since 1955. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557834679
• ISBN-13: 978-1557834676
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to live a charmed life and live to tell about it, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood (Hardcover)

first and only non-fiction account of an openly gay and openly leftest hollywood and broadway personality spaning 80 years of glamour. His credentials and reputation are beyond question; his legacy will live far byond his years. Even the youngest amounst us will know the personalities. The best part about it is the true life love story that enables and keeps the man productive into his 80's. Straight or gay...don't miss this one!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Damned good..Go out and Read it!, September 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood (Hardcover)

The best thing a book can have is the author's voice, and Laurents' autobiography certainly has his: argumentative, discrening, opinionated, political, sexy, candid. He has a bristly side to him and he doesn't hide it. And this makes his book seem genuine and compelling, not the kind of "I loved them all..we had a great time" gush that many older entertainment types write. His take on the blacklist is wonderful. His backstage stories about how his play ("Time of the Cuckoo") was a hit and his movie ("The Way We Were") got chewed up in the editing room are fascinating. And he doesn't hold back: Sydney Pollack comes off a clever swine, Jerome Robbins is shown warts and all. You may find that Laurents is the kind of man you might have trouble liking in real life, but you won't be able to put his book down. That's because he's a real writer with a voice...and it's in these pages. One of the best theatre books in quite a while, certainly the best since Neil Simon's first book. Seems like good playwrites make good memoir writers. Read this!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, April 13, 2000

By 

shelly silver (The Big Apple) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully written book! I loved every page of this book and I heartily commend Laurents for making me feel what it was like to be a gay man in the forties and fifties who just happened to know most of the greats of New York and Hollywood! it's a cliche but my advice is to run out and buy this incredible book! Thank you, Mr. Laurents!