Customer Reviews

Only Make Believe: My Life in Show Business

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Many times when you have a long wait for an autobiography, the result simply doesn't live up to the anticipation. Not so with Only Make Believe, I'm happy to report.
Howard Keel began his life as Harry Clifford Keel, the son of a Gillespie, Ill coal miner, on April 13, 1919. For anyone familiar with Mr. Keel's interviews, you will recognize his distinctive narration as he takes you though ups and downs of his life. And what a life it was. From an auditorium in Pasadena to Broadway and London's West End, the sound stages of MGM, the tent theaters of summer stock and the grassy meadows of Southfork Ranch, Mr. Keel's story will make you laugh, cry and keep you thoroughly entertained from start to finish. There is simply not a dull moment in this book.
There are wonderful stories about the people we've all grown up admiring and enjoying: Frank Sinatra, John Raitt, Mario Lanza, Anthony Quinn, John Wayne, Ben Hogan, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Barbara Bel Geddes, Prince Rainier and many, many others. But some of the best stories are of people you've never heard of, great characters both in and out of the show business world.
There are also stories about the theater itself, where glamour and glitter step aside for hard work and sheer guts. The closeness and camaraderie of an excellent cast and the pain of leaving them; difficult directors and inconsiderate audiences; working hurt, sick and numb from Novocain; mediocre parts taken just to pay the bills. All of this and more is covered, and through it fluently winds the thread of Mr. Keel's personal life as it goes from trouble and pain to, at last, great happiness.

I could spend hours telling you how and why I enjoyed this book. Having read dozens of memoirs in the past few years, I have no doubt that this book is the single best I've read. Simply put, it was a treat.
I highly recommend it to not only fans of Mr. Keel, but to anyone who wants a taste of what real show business is without all the modern day Hollywood glamour and mega-bucks.