Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them by Frank Langella

May 19, 2012 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: npr, read-in-2012

I generally am not much of a fan of celebrity memoirs. A little too much "Chapter one: I am born" for me. Frank Langella bypasses all of that by writing an episodic memoir composed solely of his interactions with the famous (some of whom he met fleetingly and a few not at all.)

As the subtitle says and as Langella has pointed out in interviews, these are famous people as he experienced them, not necessarily as they actually were. He elected to only feature the deceased and dedicates a chapter to...more I generally am not much of a fan of celebrity memoirs. A little too much "Chapter one: I am born" for me. Frank Langella bypasses all of that by writing an episodic memoir composed solely of his interactions with the famous (some of whom he met fleetingly and a few not at all.)

As the subtitle says and as Langella has pointed out in interviews, these are famous people as he experienced them, not necessarily as they actually were. He elected to only feature the deceased and dedicates a chapter to each one, organized chronologically by their deaths. If there is someone you are particularly interested in, you can flip right to that chapter. I tried to avoid doing that and read straight thru, but I did have to jump ahead and read the Roger Vadim section, being a huge fan of a gloriously terrible movie they did together called And God Created Woman (A remake of sorts which swapped Bridget Bardot for Rebecca DeMornay. See it if you get the chance. It's hilarious, probably not on purpose, although I really can't tell for sure.)

The book is enjoyably dishy, but it's not mean spirited for the most part and some segments, such as the one detailing his close friendship/bromance with Raul Julia, are quite touching. Langella is a perfect memoir candidate as he's led a fascinating life. He was friends with Arthur Miller, frenemies with Laurence Olivier, had an on-set affair with Rita Hayworth, vacationed in the Caribbean with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, had phone sex with Bette Davis and the director John Frankenheimer once called him a "fucking motherfucking cocksucker."

I don't know if he had the assistance of a ghost writer but Langella is quite witty and charming. This was a fun read and Langella is so forthright that through the intimate act of reading (is there anything more intimate than words going straight from the page to your brain?), I felt like I knew him as a friend by the end.

I'm teetering between three and four stars on this and in the end, settled on three. (less)

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May 16, 2012 Susan Eisenberg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frank Langella's new memoir, DROPPED NAMES, is a fast-paced, juicy tell-all about the actor's relationships with many famous colleagues over the past 35 or so years. Though the book is receiving publicity for Langella's critical comments about fellow actors including Laurence Olivier, and his affairs with Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, and possibly Jackie Kennedy just before she married Ari Onassis (their relationship remains unclear on the page), I was moved by Langella's accounts of three ai...more

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May 09, 2012 Luann rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir, 2012-reads

Title is accurate - you don't learn much about Frank except that he has a way of ingratiating himself with people and he likes to screw. The sexual tidbits weren't all that salacious or interesting - I thought the subject of who and when presented rather boorishly. Frank redeems the book when he talks about his deepest friendships and about loss. There he allows himself to become a bit vulnerable and it can be touching, if just momentarily so. Not many people can come across as silmutaneously se...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Nicholas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: interesting-lives

Judging by Frank Langella's addictive collection of reminisces, three constants to be found in the acting world of Broadway and Hollywood are sex, ego, and sadness. No great reveal there, but as penned by Langella the sometimes gossipy, sometimes poignant passages make for a diverting summer read. His prose is just as enrapturing as his voice, making it easy to imagine you are hearing it straight from him. With an appreciation for the delivery, I have to admit I didn't particularly enjoy hearing...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Sande rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a fun book to read. Gossip like you never dreamed about everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Bunny Mellon written with candor and trenchant prose. The first three anecdotes had me in tears and I was hooked. Each famous person has a few pages as remembered by Frank Langella who reveals as much about himself as he does those whose names he drops. Not everyone from in his rich life in the theater and the elite of NYC society is featured, only those that have passed on. The surprises were Anne Bancr...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Mediaman rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Langella's huge ego gets in the way of this guarded book, which tells stories about dead famous people he supposedly knew. He rarely gives enough details in any story to make it interesting and uses much of it to look down upon names much bigger than his. He is downright mean at times. How he thinks he's greater than Paul Newman and Charlton Heston we'll never know, but he says they can't act (despite their Academy Awards).

There are almost no self-revelations here, carefully preserving Langella'...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Mark Trost rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this book this morning and inhaled it in two sittings. It's a fascinating read provided by a good solid writer.

I do not read autobiographies. Hell, age has taught me that history is written by gossips. And autobiographies are read through rose-colored glasses and written with hubristically hued pens. But Langella's title intrigued me. He hooked me with his preface. We experience his stories through his eyes but not from his perspective. He is the pupil - not the reader. I don't know mor...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Bill Breedlove rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I came to this book not as die-hard "fan" of Mr. Langella's work--I have liked some of his performances, and others not so much, he was never "the deciding factor" for me in seeing a film or play. He has played Dracula and Nixon, as well as Skeletor and Dog the Bad Pirate. His career has spanned five decades, which is impressive as a stand alone fact. In fact, it provides a good entry point to this book, which is filled with his memories of time spent with other well-known folks in theatre, movi...more I came to this book not as die-hard "fan" of Mr. Langella's work--I have liked some of his performances, and others not so much, he was never "the deciding factor" for me in seeing a film or play. He has played Dracula and Nixon, as well as Skeletor and Dog the Bad Pirate. His career has spanned five decades, which is impressive as a stand alone fact. In fact, it provides a good entry point to this book, which is filled with his memories of time spent with other well-known folks in theatre, movies, literature and "high society." Many of the people Mr. Langella discusses in the book he admits are hugely talented at what they do, yet, for some reason, there was a self-destructive streak that eventually took over.

Throughout the 50 years or so chronicled in this book, we watch Mr. Langella go from a 10-month "unpaid internship" with Elia Kazan to his current position--that of a 74 year old individual looking over his life that has been filled--to put it mildly--with interesting encounters with people who used to be described as "bold face names." This is not so much as a "memoir" per se as it is a series of vignettes of his encounters with those folks. As such, there is not much biography here, tales of youthful struggle, sudden (or not-so-sudden) success, overconsumption of __________ (sex, drugs, booze, shopping, etc.), the resultant crash and subsequent rebirth that typical "celebrity" memoirs seem to follow.

Instead, one gets the sense that Mr. Langella is both an avid and capable observer of others in the strange fishbowl world he exists in, and also determined to not fall victim to any of the demons that have laid so many of his compatriots low. Thus, what you get in this book is very much like (one imagines) stories and anecdotes you would hear from Mr. Langella at a dinner or cocktail party. I mean that in the best possible way--one feels as sort of a confidant into this world and where story after story comes with only the barest of background information, because it is assumed that you know enough background information to appreciate the story.

Some of the stories are funny, many of them (especially the longish section involving a declining Elizabeth Taylor) are very sad, and a few seem unnecessarily cruel (the Oliver Reed bit, for one.). Unless the subject of the anecdote is directly involved in the sexual activities going on, Mr. Langella discreetly lists "my companion at the time," "my girlfriend at the time" or "my wife" without naming those names. And, to be sure, this book is a diary of someone who tasted a lot of sexual fruit during those five decades, and is not the slightest bit sorry or embarrassed (nor should he be).

In short, this book is extremely entertaining for what it is--short tidbits and gossip about folks who are (almost all) dead. The chapters and sections are short, which makes for perfect "stop and start" reading. I don't know that there are any tremendous insights into either Mr. Langella or the people profiled in this book, but then again, that may not be the point. As one reviewer pointed out, one can see why Mr. Langella was invited so many places--he is engaging company and would seem to be a wonderful companion to enjoy passing the time over cocktails or dinner with--with excellent, naughty conversation.

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Aug 12, 2012 Patrice rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Two lines come to mind when thinking of this book. The first my father said to me when I was about 8 years old. "Anyone who belittles others is really belittling themselves". My father never said a bad word about anyone. He was a wonderful person, everyone loved him.

The second line is Alice Roosevelt's. "Anyone who has nothing nice to say about anyone...come sit by me."

Frank Langella is definitely in the Alice Roosevelt camp. He's written a memoir of people he has known. And he tells the truth,...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Cindy Knoke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the kind of book you read when you want your brain to veg a bit with some really useless gossip.
Like when you are in the dentists office or in the waiting room for your colonoscopy.
Except it was a bit better than that.
Mainly because Langella is so honest about himself.
I guess he was kind of a pretty boy actor. He is unflinching about his sexual peccadilloes and those of the great actors of the day.
He says Paul Newman was an asshole.
Really?
With all those charities helping dying kids an...more

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May 29, 2012 T Fool rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-books

Langella's acting is intense and dangerous. He's a guy you'll do your best to be careful around. I didn't know him as a writer until this. The writing comes across as the acting does. It's got the same quiet snap in its smart put-downs, and enough of those to make a reader grateful for the praise that goes out when it goes out.

With a single exception all the celebrities he accounts for have died, the contents set up in order of decease. He's met some you'd expect and some you wouldn't. JFK in ye...more

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May 23, 2012 Ian W. Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A quick, enjoyable read, but not as much fun as I expected from the Times review. I've seen this called "Places My Penis Has Been," and there are indeed many wonderful stories of the women Langella has known, but the overall sense of the book is of great melancholy -- not for nothing are the chapters placed in the order in which their subjects died. He tells more than a few stories of great S.O.B.s he has known, but even the people he liked and loved come off as hugely flawed and deeply unhappy,...more A quick, enjoyable read, but not as much fun as I expected from the Times review. I've seen this called "Places My Penis Has Been," and there are indeed many wonderful stories of the women Langella has known, but the overall sense of the book is of great melancholy -- not for nothing are the chapters placed in the order in which their subjects died. He tells more than a few stories of great S.O.B.s he has known, but even the people he liked and loved come off as hugely flawed and deeply unhappy, even cruel people. He doesn't exclude himself from his own harsh criticism either -- a running theme through the book is his obsession with Arthur Miller's autobiographical play AFTER THE FALL, and the role of Quentin (Miller's standin) which he has played twice, fascinated with the question of the character's "guilt." On working on the play with Miller, however, he discovered that Miller did not consider the character "guilty" at all, and refused to write a new speech for Quentin (as Langella requested) in which the character would confront his own selfishness and cruelty. This book sometimes feels like Langella's own version of the speech he wanted Miller to write.

Which means it is in an odd zone -- not quite the "breezy" memoir that Langella seems to want to present, but neither is it deep enough to be a more satisfying account of a life. I suppose that means it's "unsuccessful," but at the same time it is a fabulous collection of funny and/or revealing anecdotes about interesting people -- every other page I would find myself laughing hard and having to reread aloud to my wife what I had just read. In doing so, I found one of the other odd problems with the book -- while his prose is fine, and at times even inspired, Langella seems unable to capture in his stories the actual VOICES of the people he is quoting, with one, maybe two exceptions (definitely Raul Julia, whose every word sounds JUST LIKE HIM, and maybe George C. Scott). It's a strange feeling to be so frustrated by such an ENJOYABLE book.(less)

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May 18, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you like gossip, especially about movie and theatre people, this is the book for you. Though it isn’t for young people. Most of the people who Langella talks about are dead from from Bette Davis to Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Many of the names I didn’t recognize so I skipped those parts. Langella is a theater and film veteran — whose many celebrated roles include Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and Richard Nixon. We get to observe Laurence Olivier “stinko” on booze, watch Anne Bancroft throw a hi...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Bridget Petrella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rita Hayworth dancing by candlelight in a small Mexican village; Elizabeth Taylor devouring homemade pasta and tenderly wrapping him in her pashmina scarf; streaking for Sir Laurence Olivier in a drafty English castle; terrifying a dozing Jackie Onassis; carrying an unconscious Montgomery Clift to safety on a dark New York City street. Captured forever in a unique memoir, Frank Langella's myriad encounters with some of the past century's most famous human beings are profoundly affecting, funny,...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Mary Lois Timbes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Langella is a bit of a sly fox, opening the curtain to reveal the truth about so many actors and theatrical luminaries he has known, all of them dead. He does have some dishy stories and many names I like to see dropped, and he frankly does skewer some sacred cows like Lee Strasberg, Roddy McDowell, Cary Grant, and Anne Bancroft. He has his favorites, too, like Raul Julia with whom he shared a long bromance, Jo Van Fleet, whom he admired and felt sorry for, and Maureen Stapleton, about whom I've...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Barry Hammond rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I hope this memoir of famous people was a prelude to an autobiography by Frank Langella. While this book focuses on other people, you do find out a little about him in relation to these famous names and the parts I learned left me being even more curious about him. Still, his opinions and observations of the celebrities here are sometimes surprising, usually revealing, and always shrewdly insightful. As an actor, you expect him to understand motivation and behavior but he's also very articulate...more

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Apr 17, 2012 KOMET rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biographies-diaries-and-memoirs

It was AN UTTER DELIGHT to read this book. It lived fully up to its billing as advertised recently in USA Today. With clarity, insight, and an unflinching truthfulness and candor, Langella provides the reader with penetrating and well-crafted vignettes throughout his 50-year acting career of the many notable people of the last half of the 20th century (e.g. President Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Rita Hayworth, James Mason, George C. Scott, Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, the Queen Mother, R...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Hermgirl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

Frank Langella as an actor is one of those guys who doesn't go in for a lot of rigmarole; he just does the job. I happen to think he does it quite well--check out the 1979 version of Dracula, or The Ninth Gate, where he stood out well against Johnny Depp's scenery chewing performance if you don't know what I'm talking about.

On to the book review, though (one gets the impression Mr. L. wouldn't stand for too much ass kissing about his accomplishments, "Get it done." he might say.)

As a memoir, thi...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-plus-narration, a-plus-writing, audible-version, genre-bio-memoir, genre-humor, theme-social, a-plus-story, genre-nonfiction

I thought this book would be a little like listening to a grocery store tabloid but it wasn’t. Langella gives a well written, insightful and sensitive voice to some great stories he shared with other famous people. That is not to say he takes the warts off,,, not even for himself. Not only are his memories told in almost elegant prose but his narration is splendid

I must admit that I’ve been in love with Mr. Langella since I saw The Twelve Chairs and again when I saw the Sphinx (he says it was a...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Anmiryam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A perfect summer book -- fun, low intellectual investment, and full of juicy gossip. Pick it up, take a few minutes to read a single chapter devoted to Langella's encounter with a given notable -- a tasty reading snack. Then put it down for several days and come back to it again when you are looking for something to help you pass a few lazy minutes with no worries about having to remember where you were.

In the end though, it's outlook is nostalgic and sad. So many tales of his are of wounded and...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Lee Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-not-bought

O. M. G. This book was even more amazing than I could have wished. Truly, truly a delight all the way through. I was expecting a traditional memoir, and before I read it, I complained loudly about the lack of a photo insert--what kind of a useless celebrity memoir doesn't have a photo insert? Then I started reading, and discovered that this is literally what the title says: each chapter is about a famous dead person who once was a part of Frank Langella's life, for either a brief or extended tim...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Tom Holehan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just love books about backstage theatre life and Frank Langella's candid memoir is a great way to visit the rich and famous through his eyes. Not a memoir in the classic sense, Langella chooses to instead talk about the famous people he met throughout his amazing five decade career in film and theatre. I wished there was some more personal information about the actor himself, but hopefully that will be the subject of another book. In the meantime, we have this witty, very funny, moving, juicy,...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the better celebrity memoirs that I have read. Langella is witty,articulate and quite a good writer. He was a young Italian boy who had grown up in New Jersey and was working at the Cape Playhouse when he became friends with Bunny Melon's daughter. Through his warm relationship with her family, he met people like John and Jackie Kennedy. As an actor on the stage in both the U.S. and London, he has known fascinating people from the entertainment business. As he tells about his impr...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Graeme Aitken rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Anyone with an interest in Hollywood, Broadway, and the rich and famous will revel in this witty, candid insider’s guide to this world. The book is a series of short profiles of various famous people Langella knew or encountered, many of them actors. Refreshingly, he is an accomplished writer with a sharp wit. Particularly amusing are his anecdotes about various actors exercising their egos (Charlton Heston)! Nor does he shy from speaking bluntly about those people he didn’t particularly like (R...more

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May 17, 2012 Virginia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I ended up with mixed feeling about Mr. Langella. He does not seem to really like many of the names he drops. Often he paints them as pompous has-beens with very little dignity left. Which really gives the impression he wishes to avoid many of the traps of fame he observes in others but slightly at their expense, he's more pitying than mean. But when he speaks of people he liked or admired a great respect for the human spirit comes out. I liked the book but I think I would have loved it if he ha...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Howard Fishman added it · review of another edition

Frank Langella reviews his life based on his interactions with famous people. Each story has some fascination to it, as these are truly fascinating celebrities from theater, film and politics. It's a quick and enjoyable read. My own problem is that he "outs" a lot of people in the book and no one is included who is not already dead, so I think it is rather cowardly to "out" people who can't fight back or dispute this rendition of their lives. In one case he does despite the fact that it could hu...more

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May 01, 2013 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Frank Langella's interesting take on a memoir - reflecting on the rich and famous he's encountered and known over the past 50 years or so - Dropped Names is a delightful read, dishy, a little scandalous here and there, and entirely engaging. The anecdotes are each very well written - one learns as much about Langella as the particular celebrity he's writing about. The stories range from LOL (Colleen Dewhurst, Charlton Heston, Elsa Lanchester) to poignant (Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Rita Hayworth) t...more

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May 13, 2012 Trish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked it, it was fun, you can read it fast and enjoy the ride of hearing all the famous names and what he thought of them. He's not snarky or underhanded, but very straightforward about hanging out with the Kennedys and whatnot, and who doesn't like hearing some backstage stories. It's fun, nothing life-changing, nothing particularly literary, but a nice little romp. If you want a little more theatricality and wit I'd recommend Alec Guinness' autobiography, which is the same but much nicer in...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Carole rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved Dropped Names! A memoir of encounters, a few fleeting, others of decades-long relationships with some of the most famous names of the 20th-21st centuries....Presidents, movie stars, royalty, literary greats, socialites..... Langella, like John Lithgow, can write as well as he can act, & has produced personal essays that pull no punches, evoke great poignancy, laugh-out-loud humor, and a behind-the-scenes window into the lives of these luminaries, all of whom no longer are of this wor...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Don Schecter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a very personal collection of vignettes that paint a story of the author more than of the sixty-six famous names he drops. But damn, he knew a lot of famous people and it's hard not to enjoy most of the tales he has to tell of some of the most famous names of our times. Since he is retelling personal experiences, however short or long his intersection with their lives, the information carries interest. In short, I learned a lot about a lot of folk whose personalities had been opaque befo...more

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Opinion about book.	7	15	Apr 06, 2013 06:38am
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