Laughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside

by Judy Carne, Bob Merrill

Book by Carne, Judy, Merrill, Bob

Genres: Biography

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the subject and writer of this memoir died some months ago on September 3, 2015 at age 76 of pneumonia, I remembered watching her on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In as a child. I didn't really remember her being married to Burt Reynolds, whose most recent book I recently read too. So I started looking for her biography to learn more about her, and of course most I found online were jacked up in price to crazy levels. So I waited for the prices to come back down to more reasonable levels and just recently read it. Born Joyce Botteril in Northampton, England on April 27, 1939. She was taught dance at a theatrical boarding school. She started her career in theater quite young at 16 in London and eventually came to the US to work and stayed. Later she met and married the young Burt Reynolds (1963 to 1965) and later Robert Bergman (1970 to 1971) who later caused a car wreck in which she broke her neck and had to wear a halo contraption for 5 months. The book tells of some bisexual relationships she had after her marriage to Reynolds, but she doesn't name names. She suffered problems with addiction and had some splashy arrests before moving back to the UK to recover from her broken neck and eventually did more theater there.

This was published in 1986 and was an interesting read for a 30 year old memoir. It brought back lots of memories from that era.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this, of course, having a love for Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Naturally I really enjoyed the chapters on her experiences there, even though it contained a lot of unhappiness. Namely with the director and Judy feeling constricted by having to be the "Sock it to me" girl and little else. Apparently, people would "sock it to her" in real life, while Judy was on the street or at restaurants. Honestly, people - why would you think that'd be appropriate?!
But all the Laugh-In cast members got along excellently, so I loved reading little stories about them. (Since Henry Gibson is my favourite male member of the cast, I was pleased to learn Judy, Henry, and his wife, Lois, were all close friends! Henry even wrote a poem as the forward to this book, awww!)

Though it didn't start out as such (as she had a relativiely happy childhood &c.) this eventually turned into a memoir where you shake your head and think, "Whoa. Some higher power really had it in for her." But she lived to tell the tale, and isn't that wonderful?

[Gail O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute amazing memoir by Judy Carne. I had always wanted to read this book which was published in 1985. If any reader enjoyed her work and laughed at that incredible weekly show Laugh-In, you must read this book.

You'll experience every imaginable emotion and feel like you are actually experiencing everything she did.

Wonderful read

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sad life of bad choices and bad luck. Entertaining read.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad account of a woman who made bad choices but couldn't see the problems until it was too late.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The autobiography of Rowan and Martin's "sock-it-to-me" girl.

[Manodeldios · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's my dad's cousin, taught me some family stuff. From the heart.