Customer Reviews

Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Best known, of course, as Norman Bates in the original Psycho, Tony Perkins remains one of those iconic stars who somehow remains a mystery himself. Though this biography (the first in-depth look at his life to be published after his death from AIDS in the early '90s) doesn't offer a lot of insight into what made him tick, it still reveals that Perkins was more than just Norman Bates and that he had the talent to create more characters than just the jittery motel owner. Ultimately, Split Image becomes a listing of the events of Perkins' life. Luckily, Perkins lived a pretty interesting life.

When this book first came out, it got a lot of attention because of its revelations concerning Perkins' secret homosexual life style and his affair, in the 1950s, with fellow matinee idol Tab Hunter. (Though its indicative of the book's rather strangely reserved style that at no point is it directly said that Hunter and Perkins were lovers. Instead, its merely insinuated or left assumed -- much like the tabloids that hounded Hunter and Perkins for most of their secret relationship.) Despite a few generic comments about the difficulty of living a lie, the book doesn't really give any insight on what it was like to be in the Hollywood closet in the '50s and early '60s. While we learn about Perkins attempts to hide his sexuality, we never really learn how he felt about the deception. Nor do we ever really gain any insight into his later marriage to Berry Berenson and whether it was a marriage of convenience or if Perkins and Berenson truly were in love. Even Perkins claims to have outgrown his past homosexuality is merely reported on without any further commentary on the validity of the claim.

However, this book is invaluable for revealing that Tony Perkins actually did have a life when he wasn't Norman Bates. For instance, if not for this book, I would have never have known that, even after his reputation started to decline, Perkins was a respected and distinguished theater director. I wouldn't have known that he was once something of a Broadway musical store. These are all images that run counter to the image of Perkins as a cross-dressing mass murderer and Winecoff is to be commended for showing us that while Norman Bates may have been created from parts of Tony Perkins, Tony Perkins was never Norman Bates. Instead, he was a talented man who created one of the most recognizable, powerful performances in the history of film and as a result of his grand accomplishment, he suffered for the rest of his life. Its a compelling story and even if Winecoff doesn't get under the surface of this split image, it remains a fascinating portrait of a classic enigma.

Too often Hollywood biographies rely on the glossy, fabricated images of their subjects for inspiration. Not SPLIT IMAGE. This remarkable biography meticulously weaves together the very personal story of gay actor Anthony Perkins with the changing social climate of America from the 1950s right up to his death from AIDS in 1992; the book is rich in gossip and scandal (a requirement for any successful star bio) but also full of insights on the effect of the times on Perkins's own troubled psyche. Author Winecoff relentlessly probes the dark side of Perkins's self-made boy-next-door image, which was not only his calling card in surly Method-acting-inundated Hollywood, but also his own private survival mechanism as a young man leading a very severe double life. Nothing here is taken at face value. The author's research, which is vast, covers everything from Perkins's (single) mother's lesbianism and the actor's terrifying experiences at college where he endured a gay witchhunt (along with the older brother of actor George Hamilton) to his love affair with hunky Warner Bros contract player Tab Hunter - violently hushed up by Perkins's studio, Paramount (the two men were given strict orders not to be seen in public together) - to his reliance on homophobic psychoanalysis for confidence, and his eventual marriage (at age 43) to socialite Berry Berenson, with whom he had two sons. It is to Winecoff's credit that the Perkins-Berenson marriage is treated just as fairly as the actor's numerous gay love affairs. Perkins literally brainwashed himself into becoming a heterosexual, so hard was the pressure to conform not only in Hollywood but in America. One of the book's strengths is in subtly showing how one man's story is in fact the story of a nation, the psychiatric community, the gay community. etc. Add to all this fascinating stuff a tearful ending, and you've got what is without a doubt the most intelligent, passionate star biography in years.

Charles Winecoff's Split Image answers successfully the two main questions posed by Anthony Perkins' life: why, despite talent and opportunity, he never became a major, enduring star; and why, despite his homosexuality, he spent the last third of his life married to a woman. For the general reader, Perkins' biography also serves as a moving example of the poisonous effects of gay closeting.

While I heartily agree with my fellow reviewers' favorable assessment of Split Image, the book does have its flaws. The documentation is wanting: Winecoff's bibliography cites only books, not articles. He provides no footnotes or endnotes, and no appendix with Perkins' filmography and other work. Furthermore, Winecoff dwells too often on supposed parallels between Perkins' movies and events in his real life, particularly homosexual "double meanings" that the filmmakers obviously never intended. At times Winecoff also tells us more than we need to know about the specifics of Perkins' sexual habits.

These defects, however, do little to detract from the biography's main achievement: its compelling portrait of an elusive, contradictory personality, particularly during his early years. (Perkins' private life after marriage emerges less clearly, as some of those closest to him at that time -- most notably, his widow and children -- apparently declined to be interviewed.) Unlike the typical celebrity biographer, Winecoff pays due attention to the professional aspect of his subject's life and offers thoughtful assessments of Perkins' work, both good and bad. The narrative is well paced and filled with surprising anecdotes. Winecoff's prose, though no threat to the reputation of Virginia Woolf, is still superior to the pedestrian phrasings of most Hollywood journalists.

I recommend Split Image not only to fans of "TP," who surely have read it by now, but also to anyone who wishes to learn more about film history or gay issues - or who simply enjoys a well-written biography.

It would be easy to do a posthumous hatchet job on Anthony Perkins, whose portrayal of psycho Norman Bates would unjustly eclipse four decades of other roles. Instead Charles Winecoff has chosen to tell Perkins' often lurid, always compelling story with taste and restraint -- but without pulling punches. The result: a rounded, respectful, meticulously researched account of a serious talent and tormented soul. Excellent work.

If you are interested in the complex life of Anthony Perkins, then this book is for you. It has his career and personal life down to the most exact detail including interviews with people he roomed with and was intimate with. I strongly suggest this book to Tony Perkins' fans.

If you think you know Anthony Perkins just by the "Psycho" movies (as I did) think again. Perkins was a complex and tormented man; he was in the shadow of his famous father, his mother was overbearing, and most of all, he fought typecasting after "Psycho" and his own homosexuality. Despite his urges, he married in 1973 (believing that therapy had "cured" him) and became the proud father of two boys. He also returned for three more "Psycho" sequels after over twenty years, telling friends, "Face it gang, I am Norman Bates". Sad to see how the intense and intriguing Perkins never quite got out from underneath his most famous character. A compelling read, and hard to put down. Sadly, widow Berry Berenson was aboard the first plane that crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Friends told me this book was excellent, though I had my doubts and am NOT a big fan of Perkins. Well, I have to confess that once I began reading it, I could not put it down! It has to rank among the BEST Hollywood biographies ever written. Not only is it well-considerd and well-written, but it manages to convey complex ideas and interpretation with an undeniable compassion. DON'T MISS IT!!!!

I was shocked by parts of this detailed, sometimes graphic biography, disturbed by other parts of it, and very moved by other parts of it. I was fascinated by all of it, however, and ended up feeling as if I had lived it right along with poor Mr. Perkins! - who was clearly an intelligent, conflicted, loving, cruel, insecure, proud, scared, brave man - full of contradictions! A character greater tha any he ever played! No whitewash, this. Neither is it a hatchet job though. If honesty is your guide in life, then here is one very balanced, brutally frank book. I found it deeply compassionate. How happy I am that I found it at all! Happy reading all!

In a review of the new trade paperback of SPLIT IMAGE, Publishers Weekly calls the book a "first-rate biography."

"Split Image" was very well written and focused equally on Tony's private life and career. The book should also be seen as an important doucment in the booming, emerging area of gay history works that are leading the movement to piece together gay history - which, despite what many Americans think - did not begin with Stonewall. Having read other information and books on Perkin's life, I found few inaccuracies and I think the author did a good job of refraining from sensationalism, but did paint a picture of a tortured gay existence that many of us can relate to. I would recommend the book to anyone interested in Perkin's life and career and anyone currently caught up in the gay history literary movement. If you're into the later, you may also want to read "Subterranean Kerouac," about the hidden life of America's most important author, Jack Kerouac. If you'd like to discuss, email me.