Hello Darlin'!
Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life
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4.4 • 18 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
On November 21, 1980, over 350 million people worldwide tuned in to find out: Who shot J.R.? In portraying the scheming, ruthless J.R. in Dallas during its run from 1978 to 1991, Larry Hagman reached a level of fame and recognition that is rare, if not unique. Now the man behind J.R. tells his own story in an autobiography that is at once rowdy and moving, self-searching and scandalous, juicy and a "recovery story" — and often outrageously funny.
Though Larry Hagman is best known for his starring roles in two hugely successful television series, I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas, his life has been a star act from birth. Born into the theatrical purple as the son of the legendary Mary Martin, Larry Hagman received his first exposure to the heady world of show business through Broadway's most beloved leading lady. Following a stint in a soap opera, he got his big break with I Dream of Jeannie, and from that came instant fame and celebrity, from which he never looked back.
It was as J.R., however, in the phenomenally successful series Dallas (the second longest-running TV drama in history), that Hagman earned his greatest fame. Taking the reader behind the scenes, he shares many stories of ego clashes, off-screen relationships, and flamboyant behavior during his work on that series—and the pain he experienced as drugs and alcohol began to take their toll. The greatest drama in Larry Hagman's life came when he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and entered into a race against time to find a liver donor.
Dishy, witty, frank, and unsparing of Larry Hagman himself and of others, Hello Darlin'! is, like its author, destined for international fame—a rare memoir by a show-business celebrity that not only makes us laugh, applaud, and cry, but also leaves us with respect and admiration for a man who can not only tell a good story about others, but reveal something of himself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This funny, easygoing autobiography by the man who embodied ruthless mendacity on the 1970s 1980s runaway 13-season hit Dallas is a treat not only for its author's inside scoop on the show, but for its ironic yet compassionate portrayal of the struggling actor. Born in Texas in 1931 to 17-year-old Mary Martin and a father not much older, Hagman was raised by his grandmother after his parents separated and his mother went on to become an international musical comedy star. After living at boarding schools or with alternating parents, Hagman returned to Martin, garnering small parts in her shows. After a stint in the armed forces and getting married, Hagman began the actor's life of scraping by between gigs, from TV series like The West Point Story to small roles in Broadway shows. He found a TV hit in 1965's I Dream of Jeannie, but his career was soon up and down again he directed Beware! The Blob in 1971 between second-rate films until Dallas. The narrative moves best when Hagman describes and makes readers experience the boredom and the thrill of a life that is always on the edge of work and the elusiveness of success. He is also refreshingly direct about his alcoholism, his liver transplant, his troubled relationship with his mother and his enjoyable and rewarding experiments with marijuana and LSD. There is nothing scandalous, earth-shattering or philosophically deep here, but by the end readers have an honest sense of an actor who has worked hard to find himself in his life and his work.
