Michael Seth Starr
Reviews
Shatner
Biographer Starr (Ringo: With a Little Help) offers a lightweight, admiring look at actor William Shatner. As Starr shows, the sheer scope of Shatner’s showbiz career is staggering. After beginning in theater in his native Canada, Shatner made dozens of TV guest appearances in the 1950s and ’60s (including two attention-grabbing stints on The Twilight Zone), had a Broadway hit with The World of Suzie Wong, starred in multiple television series (in addition to Star Trek, he was in T.J Hooker and Boston Legal, for which he won an Emmy), reprised his Trek role as James T. Kirk in blockbuster films, and authored a string of bestselling sci-fi novels and career memoirs. More recently, he reinvented himself as a phenomenally successful Priceline pitchman and as a notably quirky spoken-word artist (and, notoriously, as a Twitter troll). Still active at age 88, Shatner is a test case in celebrity endurance. Starr has less to say, however, about his personal life; Shatner himself didn’t participate, and asked some acquaintances not to grant Starr any interviews. Trek fans will be interested to read about Shatner’s problematic relationships with his Trek costars, but too much time is spent on his numerous affairs. While Starr is thorough in tracing Shatner’s career, readers may wish this biography offered a deeper understanding of Shatner the man.
-Publishers Weekly
Acclaimed biographer Michael Seth Starr offers a fascinating, comprehensive take on the career of Captain Kirk himself in Shatner.
-Entertainment Weekly- EW's literary gift guide: The 30 best holiday books of the year
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Michael Seth Starr (Biography, Applause Books)
In 1966, a Canadian actor named William Shatner was cast as Captain Kirk on a low-budget TV series set to premiere on NBC. And the rest is history: As Shatner approaches his 90th birthday, Starr takes a comprehensive look at the legendary performer.
-NY Post, The best books of the week
Ringo: With a Little Help
In this illuminating and comprehensive biography of Richard ''Ringo Starr'' Starkey, New York Post TV editor Starr delves into every aspect of the life of one of the 20th century's most famous drummers. Beatles fans may come away disappointed at the lack of truly new material regarding Ringo's tenure with the band, much of which is culled from the Beatles Anthology documentary. That said, Starr successfully paints a complete portrait of the legendary drummer, whose contributions to rock 'n' roll, he argues, have largely been overshadowed by his iconic bandmates. With aplomb, Starr creates an intimate picture of Liverpool and Hamburg during the 1950s and '60s that puts the rest of Ringo's life (including his later battles with alcoholism and drug addiction) into fascinating perspective. Starr's prose is straightforward, at times stilted, but frequent eyewitness accounts and quotes from original interviews with Ringo's friends and family help him succeed in revealing the nuanced and passionate man who was the backbone of the Beatles.
-Publishers Weekly
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''Ringo: With a Little Help'' is clearly the definitive biography of one of the most famous musicians - or, heck, people - of the last century (though author Starr could not get subject Starr to participate). And, while he did get help along the way, Richard Starkey richly deserves this solid literary treatment.
-The Houston Chronicle
"The book's best section, though, examines Starr's life and music after the Fab Four's messy dissolution. Starr often was adrift professionally without the musical gifts of his three former bandmates who, as a credit to the drummer's geniality, were all happy to lend a hand on his solo records. He was adrift personally, too. A series of high-profile romances and a nonstop jet-set lifestyle provided ample opportunity to fall into severe alcoholism"
-The Houston Chronicle
Until Ringo pens his memoirs (if he ever does), this biography will serve as the most complete and up-to-date telling of his life story.
-Library Journal Xpress Reviews
Extensive research and an injection of personality make this a definitive biography of the most underrated Beatle.
-Foreword Reviews
It's a solid recounting of Ringo's life and will be of interest to Beatles fans looking for more information on the least-chronicled member of the Fab Four.
-Booklist Online
"Starr brings up a great question that will at least make you think long and hard as it made me ponder: other than Paul McCartney, none of the Beatles were great musicians, yet Lennon's and Harrison's skills as guitarists are never questioned or criticized. Only Ringo's drumming seems to be fair game...why is this? It's interesting and provocative things like this, as well as the overall portrait of Ringo's life painted by Starr, that makes With a Little Help an essential read or any Beatles and/or Ringo fan."
Art Carney: A Biography
Capering into fame as Jackie Gleason's sidekick in The Honeymooners, Art Carney proved later that he was no mere television personality but a real actor. He originated the part of neurotic Felix in Neil Simon's 1965 Broadway smash The Odd Couple, and his dual role in Brian Friel's Lovers garnered a 1968 Tony nomination; he won an Academy Award in 1974 for his poignant performance in Harry and Tonto. Michael Seth Starr traces this varied career with perception and empathy, revealing a hard-drinking, introverted, extremely private man totally unlike the blithely goofy Ed Norton.
-Amazon
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The story of Carney's career as a funnyman overlaps the story of his battle against alcoholism. Starr's workmanlike account of Carney's dual life adopts a friendly tone that jibes with Carney's comfy-old-shoe acting persona, which so well fit his role as a great second banana to Jackie Gleason that people were surprised when he became a star in his own right. Starr dismisses rumors that Gleason plotted to deny Carney recognition--indeed, dismisses them so often that you start to wonder. Carney's battle with the bottle furnishes a better clue to why proper recognition eluded him. Then again, even with the alcoholism, he won six Emmies fairly early in his career and later an Oscar and a Tony nomination. Because he created three classic comic characters--Ed Norton while with Gleason, The Odd Couple's Felix Unger, and Harry Combes in Harry and Tonto Carney demands a good biography. Starr's fills the bill very adequately, though not flashily. Mike Tribby
-Booklist
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TV's beloved ``Ed Norton'' finally gets his due in a breezy, often incisive biography. Considering the fact that Art Carney's creation in The Honeymooners shows no signs of diminishing popularity more than 40 years after his debut, and that his work outside the series has shown extraordinary range from low comedy to darkest tragedy, peaking in his Oscar-winning performance in Harry and Tonto, it's startling to realize that no book on his life has been published until now. Perhaps it was the actor's own shy and reclusive nature that prevented other attempts. But Carney is fortunate to have found his biographer in Starr, TV columnist for the New York Post. This is a brief book by current standards but so densely packed with information that it's hard to imagine what might have been missed. Starr traces Carney's professional career from his days as an impressionist and radio actor, to stardom on The Jackie Gleason Show, and on to his emergence from Gleason's shadow into a remarkable solo career. Starr also turns a sensitive eye to Carney's rockier personal life: Public triumphs were constantly undermined by alcoholism and bouts of deep depression. Starr appears to have talked to virtually everyone who ever knew or worked with Carney (though not Carney himself), and he wisely lets these friends and acquaintances tell their own stories. He keeps his own voice clear but refreshingly impartial. Art Carney emerges from these pages as a kind, gentle man who, tragically, has seldom found the love for himself that his millions of fans give him without qualification. Starr's perceptive biography presents its subject as a man who became legendary, not through hype or self-promotion, but through the sheer force of his talent. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
-Kirkus Reviews
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... a clear and well-written portrait of a superb performer and a wonderful human being, with emphasis on the word "human." -- The New York Times Book Review, Sonja Meyer
-The New York Times
Black and Blue :
The Redd Foxx Story
*Starred Review* The thing about a biography of a celebrity who's slipped under the radar (comedian and TV star Foxx died in 1991) is that, if you do it right, you can, in effect, bring back to life a fascinating character. Starr, who's also written bios of Art Carney and Raymond Burr, does it right. This biography of the Sanford and Son star is full of things you probably don't know, like the fact that Foxx's character, Fred G. Sanford, was named after his older brother (Foxx was born Jon Elroy Sanford); that Foxx used to hang out with Malcolm Little, before he became Malcolm X; that, in the 1950s and '60s, Foxx was a wildly popular stand-up comedian (and a huge star in the comedy-album business). His postSanford and Son career never had the same impact, mostly involving failed business ventures, personal problems, and a string of canceled TV shows. Still, Starr refuses to paint Foxx as a pathetic has-been, the way some observers were doing at the time, preferring to show him as a supremely talented man whose own failings (gambling and drugs, primarily) drove him to make a series of unfortunate choices. For Starr, Foxx's 1991 death of a heart attack, on the set of yet another television series, was the tragic culmination of a life and career that had peaked two decades earlier. An excellent biography, respectful and compassionate about its subject and revealing and perceptive about American popular culture.
-Booklist (September 2011)
Biographical information on John Sanford (1922 91) better known as Redd Foxx is scarce, and this book returns life to a well-deserving comedic legend. Journalist and biographer Starr (Hiding in Plain Sight: The Secret Life of Raymond Burr) covers Foxx's early days in St. Louis and Chicago, his struggles after his mother abandoned him, his jazz band, and his time in New York's Harlem, where he took the nickname Foxy and became best buddies with the future Malcolm X. Foxx perfected his natural comedic skills when he joined the Chitlin' Circuit along the East Coast. According to Starr, Foxx's dependence on cocaine, alcohol, and women kept him from continued success. Generous to a fault, he also trusted the wrong people and spent money as quickly as he made it. Still, Foxx became a Vegas superstar and after the creation of the TV show Sanford and Son, a household name. Verdict Starr reconstructs Foxx's life in a raw, honest manner, interspersing fascinating historical facts along the way. This well-presented biography will be especially valuable to those who were not around when Foxx was at the top of his game. Recommended for anyone interested in TV and African American history.
-Library Journal Xpress Reviews (August 2011)
Bobby Darin: A Life
In this straightforward biography, New YorkPost entertainment columnist Starr (Mouse in the Rat Pack) relates the abbreviated life of singer and mid-century youth icon Darin (1936–1973). Born Walden Robert Cassotto, Bobby was a sickly child eventually diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease. As Starr explains, Darin was propelled to stardom by the knowledge that his life would be short: by 22, he had worked his way out of the South Bronx and recorded his first hits, "Splish, Splash" and "Dream Lovers"; the following year he transformed his teeny-bopper image with the swinging, finger-snapping tune written by Kurt Weill and first popularized by Louis Armstrong, "Mack the Knife." He topped the song charts, appeared in movies (the first of which, Come September, starred his soon-to-be wife, Sandra Dee) and hosted his own variety show. He could be charming, arrogant and sometimes cruel: as a nightclub entertainer, he "shattered [the Copa's] old attendance record held by Frank Sinatra"; as an embittered son he died leaving nothing to his immediate family. Though it lags in spots, Starr's solid biography offers colorful quotes from Darin's friends, family and music business associates.
-Publishers Weekly
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A quick and fluid read, Starr's book succeeds at bringing Darin the human being to life.
-James E. Perone Library Journal
Starr's solid biography offers colorful quotes from Darin's friends, family and music business associates.
This book will serve as a tribute...excellent
-books-on-line.com
Starr succinctly tells the story, warts and all, of the meteoric career of this highly talented entertainer.
-Tampa Tribune
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Reader Comments:
I must admit, I did not become interested in the life of Joey Bishop until after his recent death. I was not yet born when the Rat Pack was at their peak, nor was I old enough to know what a great comedian Mr. Bishop was.
I found this book to be an excellent read. It was not very lenghty and repetitive and it was extremenly informative. I had to admire Mr. Bishop's charitable contributions. I did not however, admire the way he treated his staff. Unlike his fellow Rat Packers, Mr. Bishop remained married to the same woman for 58 years and raised a son, Larry with her.
The author included some really cool photos of Mr. Bishop as a very young man along with some archival photos of the Rat Pack. I would recommend this book for any Joey Bishop fan.
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Mr. Starr should be complemented for taking the time to write a book about a comedian that has been long forgotten. I would have preferred a longer book but perhaps Mr. Starr was afraid of being redundant. One reason that the book is not longer, I assume, is that Joey's career does not really lend itself to a study of a body of work.
Joey--when he was at his best--had the ability to snap a very witty one-liner. However, while not stated in Mr. Starr's book--I believe that Joey's real downfall was the laziness he exhibited on his late-night talk show. He never really took the time to do a monologue or prepare any post-monologue comedy bit. Instead, he let Regis share the opening spot with him and then he went right to his guests. That would never sell today and it didn't sell in the sixties.
Mr. Starr takes the time to indicate how Joey was unbearable to much of his staff, somewhat reminiscent of various accounts of how Eddie Cantor treated his radio staff. But Joey and Eddie do share one extremely admirable trait--a dedication to charitable causes (as set forth by Mr. Starr) and for that alone, Joey deserves our respect.
Incidentally, Mr. Starr's recounting of one Joey Bishop joke about the Texan who goes to Israel is one that I'll be telling people for a while.
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If you're a big fan of Joey Bishop you will devour this book. Michael Seth Starr does an outstanding job chronicling the life and career of this legendary entertainer. You will join Joey as he climbs the show biz ladder from small clubs in Philadelphia, to the Copacabana and the Sands, to movie sets, tv studios, and to Broadway. Frank Sinatra dubed him as the "hub of the wheel" performing with the Rat Pack. You will not be able to put this book down. "Mouse in the Rat Pack:The Joey Bishop Story" is a great read and a must have for his fans.
Mouse In The Ratpack:
The Joey Bishop Story