Customer Reviews

The Private Diary of My Life With Lana

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As a fan of Lana Turner's, I bought the book used. The book is well written and keeps you entertained. However, the inconsentecies, make a person realize that there is no documentation to support Mr. Root's story. For example, Lana Turner died on June 29th, 1995. Mr. Root's writes Lana died on June 27th 1995. Also, Mr. Root's writes Lucille Ball hasn't spoke to Ginger Rogers since RKO days. However, anyone can buy a dvd of Here's Lucy and see Ginger Rogers as a guest star on Lucille Ball's program. I think the real story is unfortunately at rest with Lana. In the book, Mr. Root seems to have portrayed Cheryl Crane as Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest. The line of Cheryl beating her mother is unforgivable. All we have is his word, no proof in his book, except Lana's testimony who is deceased at this time. The rare photos make this book but I would never buy this book alone for it. If Mr. Root was a best friend of Lana Turner's, I think he betrayed this friendship by writing this book. In the book, the flimsy explanation of a son telling lies to Lana on him is ridiculous, which ended their friendship, in my opinion. Also, the story that Cheryl and Josh claimed that Lana near dying stated she was a lesbian is ridiculous too. All Cheryl ever does is tell how much Lana loved men. Shame on you for writing this book. Your story is more of a reflection of one of Lana's great movies "The Bad and the Beautiful." In my opinion, this is a great story but belongs in the fictional section. If you are a true Lana fan, don't buy this book.

My name is Taylor Pero, author of "ALWAYS, LANA" 1982, Bantam Books paperback. As Miss Turner's personal manager and confidante, Eric Root was introducted to Lana Turner my myself alone. I met him through a gay personals ad shortly after beginning my job for Miss Turner. I have kept all of the love letters and half-naked Poloroid photo he sent in his own hand-writing and would be happy to make them public in order to put an end to what Lana Turner often described as "his flapping lips". I can't describe the misinformation contained here and can only say that he used me to get to her and her to climb the ladder. He is a very talented hairdresser, but the kind who gives others of his profession a bad name.

It is my opinion that anytime an author publishes a "private" personal memoir of some unfortunate celebrity, the reader should expect a tabloid style tell-all work with an occassionally insightful comment. With this belief I excitedly delved into Mr. Root's book on Miss Turner, fully aware of what I was getting into. To my surprise, this read doesn't even qualify as a sinfully guilty pleasure. It seems to be Mr. Root's impression that he is solely responsible for keeping Miss Turner going in her later years, restored her beauty with his expert makeup skills, counseled her on her drinking habits, objected to her swearing, tried to bring her to God, and was ultimately cut out of her will. Anyone who is aware of the Turner legend is aware that Lana lead a particularly colorful life, so none of Mr. Root's supposed revelations is of any surprise. What does come across to the reader is that Mr. Root's greedy little pen was writing these bitter pages while trying to mask his intent beneath a mask of loving but concerned friendship. What it boils down to is this - he got cut out of the will folks, that is, if he was ever in it, so he is now attempting to cash in on a deceased movie queen. Stay away from this one, if for no other reason than to deprive Mr. Root of any proceeds. Deplorable.

I sat behind this idiot Eric Root at a memorial tribute to the late June Allyson in L.A. on Nov. 2, 2006. At this event numerous stars like Jane Russell, Gloria DeHaven, Tippi Hedren, Debbie Reynolds, Melanie Griffith, Jane Withers, Larry Gelbart & his wife Pat Mitchell, Rich Little, Margaret O'Brien, & others had gathered to honor and remember & pay tribute to the late June Allyson. From the moment Eric Root sat down in front of me he could not resist calling attention on himself throughout the entire program which was in honor of a deceased woman. He would yell out "Absolutely!" at the drop of a hat in response to anything any of the stars on stage said & then would loudly talk to the people next to him (he was with "a Bloomingdale of Bloomingdale's dept. store," I heard him LOUDLY announce). It was incredibly distracting & rude. Frankly I've never seen an adult behave that way in my entire life. He even turned to other people and LOUDLY talked during June's film clips which were played. Also he LOUDLY announced to anyone within earshot that "they're making a movie of my life with Lana Turner!" Yeah, right. This guy's picture has gotta be next to the word sycophant in the dictionary. Absolutely pathetic. What a fool.

Yeah right. I'm sooo sure Lana Turner secretley confided into her "friend" and asked him to "tell it... tell it all" AFTER her death. Only so she couldn't SUE him. This book isn't even a guilty pleasure, it's just plain stupid and a waste of time. I believe it to be a bunch of lies because he wants to be a big part of the scandal. No one cares. He's a joke.

Lana Turner had a weakness for getting involved with chislers, louses, and other assorted lowlifes. With Root she hit rock bottom. I picked up a book version of this thing in a book store and almost immediately wanted to get some strong disinfectant for my hands. Cheryl Crane, Turner's daughter, considered suing. Mr. Root's "revelations" about Ms. Turner include the assertion that she confessed to him that she had murdered Johnny Stompanato and allowed her daughter to take the blame. He also claims that the bedroom where Stompanato died was an incredibly gory scene which resembled a hog butchering. Read the testimony of the police, medical examiners, and other assorted witnesses which appeared in contemporary newspaper accounts of the tragedy. Root's charges are garbage. When Lana Turner became ill, her daughter apparently cut off Root's access to her mother. Smart girl!

I found Mr. Root's book fascinating. I could just hear Lana's high heels clicking along that marble hallway on her way out the door to meet her public! Mr. Root's style is perfect to tell the tale of Hollywood's greatest glamour queen. My only suggestion is that he keep up the good work!

I am currently producing a documentary on the life of Eric Root and I can tell you after interviewing dozens of Hollywood's biggest stars that those who Know Eric will vouch for his Honesty and integrity including Elizabeth Taylor. As far as Cheryl Crane wanting to sue Eric, she tried but couldn't why because her lawyers could not find any reason to. Apparently Cheryl was jealous because for a good portion her life Eric was closer to her mother than she was, but we won't go into that here. As for "Mr. Roots greedy little pen" Eric is very well off and donated most of the proceeds from this book to several charities. Eric's work with those in need is well known. What a previous reviewer detects as "bitter pages" was more frustration with Lana than anything to be bitter about. Lana wasn't the easiest person to get along with sometimes, but she definitely loved Eric. So far our research has concluded that the book is the truth. There are a few things in there that we'll never be able to prove one way or another but based upon our research and interviews it is as it was. Currently there are a number of producers that want to make a movie about the life of Eric Root of which Lana was only a part. Eric Root is one of the only living icon hairdressers left. Some of his credits include style director for I Magnum and Saks Fifth Avenue. Clients J. F. Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, and on and on. Eric has had a remarkable life and I think it will make a great movie!