Famous Enough: A Hollywood Memoir

by Diane McBain, Michael Gregg Michaud

Diane McBain and I first met on a life-changing USO tour visiting our troops in Vietnam in 1966. We shared the horrors of war meeting our very grateful servicemen in the field and in hospitals. Although our tour of duty would end after two weeks, our friendship would endure for nearly half a century. As well as I know Diane, I was still surprised by the many challenges she faced throughout her life, and her willingness to adapt to life’s adversities. She is a woman with strong beliefs and the ability to survive and thrive. She played the fame game with compassion and a quiet elegance. This is a book about the real Hollywood, the story of an actress who saw it from the top and from the bottom, told with truth, humility and lots of humor. I couldn’t put the book down. — Tippi Hedren

444 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 2, 2014

Reviews

[Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brutally honest, McBain's memoir is often painful to read. She's met some real jerks, and she had to navigate a momentous shift in cultural expression with a sink-or-swim boot from her contract at Warner when she was only 24 years old.
McBain doesn't try to hide the times her vanity, jealousy, sexual appetite or ego got her into trouble, and she doesn't make many excuses beyond outlining her own dualistic impulses. Granted, a lot of the experiences she relays are by-products of the objectification of women that is prevalent today, but was many more times so in the 1960s - 1970s.
I'm glad McBain lived to tell her story, and I would still love to see her find a role in film or TV that was really fulfilling.

[Herb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing tale of the life of a classic movie star at the end of the Golden Age and the trials that followed in the ensuing years. Great read.