There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You: My Life in the Slow Lane

by Bruce Kimmel

Bruce Kimmel has managed to eke out a career in one form of show business or another for over forty years. A successful Grammy-nominated record producer, Kimmel began his show business journey as an actor, in a time when being a young up-and-coming thespian was fun, thrilling, and when anything seemed possible. It was a different world for a young actor in the 1970s, and Kimmel's journey is paved with laughs, tears, success, and an amazing cast of players. At twenty-seven, he wrote, co-directed, and starred in a film that would become a major cult success, The First Nudie Musical. He did TV pilots, guest shots, series, plays. He met and worked with incredible people. It was the kind of time we will never see again. And then things changed. The nature of the business changed. And the path to dealing with those changes-getting older, trying to survive in an ever increasingly negative and cutthroat world-becomes a story of reinvention and rebirth. Through it all, Kimmel tells his tale with wit, candor, affection, and self-effacing honesty. Enjoy being the fly on the wall as Kimmel hangs out with Elsa Lanchester, Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy; goes to Groucho's house and plays the piano for him; works with Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey on The Partridge Family. We observe his long friendship with Cindy Williams, watch as he works with screen legends Patricia Neal, Jean Simmons, Leslie Nielsen, Patrick Macnee, Bud Cort, and Geraldine Fitzgerald, and as he hangs out with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion., Bruce Kimmel's showbiz tales are loaded with laughs, wide-eyed wonder, and heart.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2002

About the author

Bruce Kimmel wrote, directed and starred in the cult movie hit, The First Nudie Musical (available on a Special Edition Blu-ray). He also co-created (with David Wechter) the story for the hit film, The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. As an actor, Mr. Kimmel guest-starred on most of the long-running television shows of the 1970s.

Since 1993, Mr. Kimmel has been one of the leading producers of theatre music on CD, having produced over 180 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy for producing the revival cast album of Hello, Dolly! and his album with jazz pianist Fred Hersch, I Never Told You, was also nominated for a Grammy. He has produced solo albums for Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, Jason Graae, Liz Callaway, Christiane Noll, Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Sally Mayes, and many others. He has a successful record label, Kritzerland.

His musical, The Brain From Planet X (written with David Wechter) has been seen in Los Angeles, New York, the UK, Canada (in both French and English), Australia and other fun places. Most recently, he is the creator/writer/director of the new short form comedy series Sami, now showing on Amazon Prime Video and garnering rave reviews and several festival wins around the country for Best Web Series.

Mr. Kimmel is the author of twenty-seven books – his acclaimed Benjamin Kritzer trilogy (Benjamin Kritzer, Kritzerland, and Kritzer Time), the mysteries Writer’s Block and Rewind, his seven Adriana Hofstetter mysteries (Murder At Hollywood High, Murder At The Grove, Murder At The Hollywood Historical Society, and Murder At The Masquers, Murder at the School Musical, Murder at the Hollywood Division, and Murder at the Magic Castle), Patrick Bronstein Presents, Thrill Ride, his collection of short fiction, How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories, Red Gold, his two memoirs (There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You - My Life In The Slow Lane and the follow up, Album Produced By... More of my Rollercoaster Life). GEE, Simply: A Lifetime of Lyrics, Some Days Are Murder, and its sequel, Tis the Season to Be Murdered, Preview Harvey, the new Benjamin Kritzer novel, Kritzer World, Directed by, Vegas Can Be Murder, and Richard and Me.

Reviews

[AH · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I won this book in the Goodreads giveaway.

So, I had never heard of Bruce Kimmel, but his face looked familiar. As I read his book, I saw that he appeared in shows such as Happy Days and The Partridge Family. He even played Mr. Whipple's son in the Charmin commercials. That's why he looked familiar....

"There's Mel, There's Woody, and There's You": My Life in the Slow Lane is the story of Bruce Kimmel's experience in the entertainment industry. Bruce tells very entertaining stories about his life as an actor, writer, director, singer, songwriter, and comedian. There are interesting insights into the film industry and the entertainment world as a whole. The book is a little too detailed, and at times, I felt it could have used a touch more editing. I did enjoy the photo album; there are some funny pictures. A special note -- Mr. Kimmel really loves his daughter Jenny. It was touching to read about his relationship with her.

I enjoyed this book and I may even look up some of his other books.

[Anthony Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's F. Scott Fitzgerald. There's Nathaniel West. Now there's Bruce Kimmel, whose non-fictional Hollywood biography I rank right up there with the best of the fictional Hollywood novels. While THE DAY OF THE LOCUST and THE LAST TYCOON offer up dramatic, ans sometimes frightening, portraits of the powers that were in Hollywood just after the dawn of sound pictures, Kimmel offers up a charming journey through the Hollywood of the 1970s before the dawn of the summer blockbuster.
Bruce Kimmel grew up, as told in his wistful BENJAMIN KRITZER novels, in the shadow of movie-making, in the Los Angeles of the 1950s. This new biography, a breezy read, follows Bruce through the family-oriented world of television in the 1970s and just past the opening of STAR WARS, which would forever change the way movies were made and marketed. Sadly, it was the STAR WARS effect which took Kimmel's film, THE CREATURE WASN'T NICE, away from his artistic control, leading to a compromised film, far from his original intent. Prior to that, Bruce deftly details everything anyone could want to know about his signature film, THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL, from its inception on a napkin to the film achieving cult status. (Personally, I've stated in print – Scarlet Street Magazine; and on the web – dvdlaunch.com – my love for THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL, an opinion only strengthened by what Kimmel has to say about, and he has a lot to say in these pages, its cast, its songs, its previews and its cult status.
In between, we get to know Bruce Kimmel, as an in-demand television character actor, a loving father and a friend of Hugh Hefner, and know that Bruce's acting career was definitely cut short by the changing times. Anyone seeing any of Kimmel's guest shots on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY, M*A*S*H, LAVERNE & SHIRLEY, et al can see that Kimmel is a gifted actor, with a rubbery, reactive face, reminiscent of the great clowns of The Jazz Age era.
Kimmel writes honestly and conversationally about experiences “in the slow lane,” while subtly presenting a history lesson of a Hollywood on the cusp of a new era. Never didactic nor self-pitying, his book is certain to make one smile, make one laugh and to make one appreciate the arts of acting and movie-making. The book's brilliance lies in Kimmel's ability to present himself, warts and all, as someone who isn't perfect, someone who isn't bitter, but as someone not afraid to take the bull by the horns and live his life. My face was glowing with pleasure with each turn of the page. Like THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL, “THERE'S MEL, THERE'S WOODY, AND THERE'S YOU”: MY LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE will find its audience and become another celebrated portion of Bruce Kimmel's already laudatory career.

[Terry Lander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads First Read - Being in the publishing industry I am well aware of the changes that have occurred over the past few decades. What I was not aware of was that similar changes have occured in the theatre and TV industry and this book really opened my eyes to the effect these changes have had on actors and producers alike.

A very honest story from the start, it is clear that Bruce Kimmel has not held back in his story telling. Ever the gentleman, he describes people in a flattering way whether they were kind to him or not while still telling the story like it was. He owns up to this own misgivings and seems to omit nothing from the text.

Bruce's story is an incredible mix of family life and his passion for being an actor, giving elements of both throughout and allowing us a look into his world. With so many celebrity hardbacks thrust upon us it was refreshing to read of a modest, hard working actor with genuinely funny anecdotes.

The writing itself exposes Kimmel's apparent lack of experience as an author despite having released books before, but this does not distract the reader from the story once they are used to it. However, I have reduced my rating for this reason. If you've had enough of the false identity of the modern celebrity then this book is for you.

[Debra Slonek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free through first reads from Goodreads. Mr. Kimmel's memoirs gave an inside look at the goings on in the entertainment industry. His writing was like a streaming conversation with a friend, very readable and very enlightening. I grew up during the 70's, so I really enjoyed hearing about many of the shows that I had watched and the entertainers that he had worked with along the way. Mr. Kimmel's life was filled with many ups and downs, and I found myself rooting for him along the way. I was impressed that he never let bitterness get a hold during the down times. He seems to have a real for life. I wish him well in the rest of his career. Thanks for an enjoyable read.