In this brutally candid memoir, Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eric Roberts pulls no punches about the ups and downs of his career and his sometimes stormy relationship with his famous sister, Julia.
Eric Roberts grew up in Georgia, spending most of his teens away from his mother and sisters, Lisa and Julia. Instead, he stayed with his controlling father, a grifter jealous of his early success. At age 17, Eric moved to New York to pursue acting, where he worked and partied with future legends like Christopher Walken, Mickey Rourke, John Malkovich, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams.
His big break came when he was cast in King of the Gypsies. Eric became one of the hottest stars of the era, starting an affair with actress Sandy Dennis, working with Bob Fosse on the critically acclaimed Star 80, and earning an Oscar nomination for Runaway Train. But for Eric, Hollywood came with a dark side—an ocean of cocaine that nearly swept him away, culminating in a car accident that almost cost him his life.
Eric is open about the seriousness of his addictions and their devastating effect on his career. He reveals the reasons behind his complicated relationship with his sister, Julia, and his daughter, Emma, a successful actress in her own right. Now, happily married to actress and casting director Eliza Roberts, who helped him confront his demons, he is revered among his peers as the ultimate actor's actor.
Written with New York Times bestselling author, for years a Vanity Fair contributing editor, and current Air Mail writer-at-large Sam Kashner, this is a powerful memoir of a Hollywood legend.
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 17, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781250275332
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781250275332
- File size: 22526 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 1, 2024
Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee Roberts (brother of Julia, father of Emma) writes about his Hollywood career, his upbringing in Georgia, his grifter of a father, and his big break. He also writes about addiction and his relationships with his family. Written with Sam Kashner; expect a 100K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2024 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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October 1, 2024
The character actor recounts five bumpy decades in Hollywood. Best known as the brother of toothy megastar Julia (n�e Julie), the elder Roberts has racked up quite a reputation in the business, as much for bad behavior as for his actor's craft. First he logged time in New York, working, unhappily, as a waiter while auditioning for roles, finally landing a bit part in a soap opera, Another World--and losing it over a longtime addiction to cocaine. "I don't know everything that I did wrong, but to do a soap opera, you really have to have your shit together," he writes. He didn't, but being fired opened up other roles, and soon he made star turns in films such asThe Pope of Greenwich Village andRunaway Train. In them, Roberts allows, he interpreted his characters in ways that clashed with the director's vision: instead of playing Paulie as a tough mobster inPope, he played him as a dimwit with big dreams; then, inRunaway Train, he insistently played another dimwit, this one doing time for statutory rape, leaving Jon Voight to run with his character as a ruthless murderer. Roberts' longtime drug use took its toll; as he writes, "I'm probably the only actor in Los Angeles who's appeared on bothCelebrity Ghost Stories andCelebrity Rehab, which is funny because it's been a long time since I felt like a celebrity." Sure to make family holiday get-togethers tense are frequent swipes at Julia: she's a movie star, he writes dismissively, while he's an actor. Of interest to budding thespians is his account of how, given sweeping changes in the movie business, he's been making 100 films (mostly of the Lifetime variety) a year but is barely scraping by financially, about which he remarks, "I'm doing penance for how difficult I was to work with and to be around." A refreshingly honest apologia.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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