After many years of protecting the secrets of the Golden era in
Hollywood Barbara Leigh has finally decided to unlock and dust off her well kept protected diary. Reading this book is a true trip back into time, one that truly makes you feel as if you were meeting Elvis for the first time and experience what it was like to be part of the whole "road scene life" with the King. This without a doubt is the best Hollywood love triangle story ever. After reading the book, one truly wonders what fights could still be going on in the "Heavens" over a girl named Barbara. Not only is this one of the best books you will ever read but lets not forget any unlocked diary of Vampirella's lovers is priceless alone......

I have been a Barbara Leigh fan for MANY years now. Her life story has been so fantastic and exciting, that it should not only be a book, but a major motion picture. She has not only seen the world, but has met some of the very people that have shaped history. When I first heard about this book, I thought it was only going to cover the part of her life that took place in the early 70's. But it was so much more. From her childhood to current times. And her life story is just one adventure after another. This book is a must for anyone that is an Elvis, or Steve McQueen fan. It has such insight to what they were like when not in the public's eye. As I mentioned before, Barbara's life has had some very interesting twists in it. But to see how she handles three of the most powerful men that the entertainment industry has ever known, all at once, is just too exciting..... Hope you enjoy this book as much as I have.

As an avid reader of autobiographies & biographies of all things Hollywood, I found this book to be one of the best ever written by a Hollywood actress. Barbara Leigh is not only a physically beautiful woman, but she is also one heck of a classy lady for candidly speaking about her relationships with Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen and Jim Aubrey, without maliciously destroying their reputations as powerful men & in Elvis and Steve's cases Hollywood Icons. Ms. Leigh has a delicious sense of class for "dishing the dirt" in such a "clean" way! How lucky these men have been to have had her in their lives and to see her respect their memories together. She writes with a knack for vivid details and in such an honest, real way. You just can't put the book down. I read this one in about a day and a half turning each page with enthusiasm. The only bad thing about this book is that it came to an end! Give us another one Barbara! Somewhere in the heavens Elvis & McQueen are smiling, pleased that their paths crossed with hers! This book is a keeper and a definite must read! Buy it, sit back & Enjoy!

I was greatly inspired by Aaron Pryor and his story. This book is action packed from cover to cover. If you want to read an exciting book that is a real-life account of a man going from the mountain top to the valley and back, this is the book for you. This is a must read for men and woman of all ages who want to gain perspective of what it's like to work your way to become a champion and then lose it all. Not only does the book keep you on the edge of your seat, but you'll learn about the importance of having the right people by your side and the consequenses of the decisions you make.

Tragedies and the inner power to overcome them are found in the real life story of Aaron is surreal but painfully accurate... The voice of Aaron comes from the book like he were sitting beside you and telling you his life story. His natural humor and "the truth that is stranger than fiction" style hold you to the book. Boxing is the thread in Aaron's book--humanity and friendship are the fabric. Read it for life!

Great read by one the best biographers in the business. I'd even let Terrill write my life story!

Keep up the good work Marshall. I can't wait for the Pete Maravich book!

I had the priviledge to know Rex And Elizabeth Mansfield when my husband was stationed in Germany in the early 90's. They are wonderful people and some of the most down-to- earth people I know. It was exciting to read about a time in their lives that I never really knew about. I knew Elizabeth had dated Elvis but did not realize how close they both were to him. I read every word knowing that it was true because I knew the writers. It gives youa great insight to realize that behind every famous person is just that, a real person, warts and all. I encourage every fan of Elvis to read this book because it is written by people who knew him and loved him.

i had the pleasure of speaking with earnie the other night on the phone. he truly is a class act and a true gentleman. he had fights with many of the classic names of the 70s muhammad ali, larry holmes, jimmy young, ken norton, jimmy ellis, jerry quarry, roy tiger williams and many more.

he tells me he has a very successful marketing company in the states now, and suprisingly said don king was a good guy and not to believe what ' all those guys say'. we spoke about his old peers like candy slim jeff merritt whos in bad shape these days and the fearsome roy tiger williams who is now a mr nice guy and a singer with larry holmes in philly.

its great how many of these old warriors are doing okay for themselves now. best wishes to 'my mate' earnie, i cant wait to get the book of you persoanlly, i have no doubt its another classic like the books by larry holmes, joe frazier, quick tillis and george foreman.

Like a kleenex, Hollywood more or less tossed Edd Kookie Byrnes aside when no longer wanted. Following two or three teen-idol glory years, he was left to work the fringes, unable to give up the fast life or celebrity, hoping for another break that for even youthful has-beens seldom comes. Still and all, for a brief moment he was a center of worship and celebrity that very few ever experience. 77 Sunset Strip was a glamorous trend-setting series, the first non-western series I believe to be produced by a movie studio and certainly a welcome contrast to the blander boilerplate of the day. Kookie's character made the show. Teenagers loved him. His easy going smile and hipster lingo were infectious, turning the Sunset Strip into a kind of a Mecca for America's young people, even serving as a site for some of the Vietnam era's earliest clashes with police. Now Byrne's icon is known mainly to those of his own generation grown nostalgic about the past.

I wish I could rate the book more highly, but aside from the harrowing early years before Hollywood, Byrnes (surprisingly) doesn't reveal much about the glory years, especially his sudden disappearance from the limelight. Here the real personal story lies not in Byrnes' later bout with alcohol or courageous recovery, which truth be told is standard celebrity fare since the fast track usually drives its commuters to excess. Instead the real story lies in how Byrnes was blackballed from the studios at the height of his tv career because of contract dispute with Warner Bro's. Like James Garner of the Maverick series, Byrnes bucked his tv contract hoping to make the jump into the steadier, more lucrative world of movie making. Garner made it, Kookie didn't. There's the real story of his professional life and I wish he had shared it with us as generously as he does his bout with the bottle. There's also a cautionary tale to be told about the price of celebrity that only someone like Edd Byrnes, experiencing both meteoric rise and fall, can convey. Come on, Mr. Byrnes, you've earned the right to wax philosophical about your life in show business. Kick back and share it. Meanwhile, somewhere on the sunny side of my soul, it will always be 1959 with Kookie's carefree smile ever there to push back the shadows.

The book is a wonderful inspiration for anyone going through a difficult time. Mr. Byrnes has literally gone through hell and has come out with spirit, mind and body together. I have been an admirer of Mr. Byrnes since a little girl of ten and have followed his career through the years. I applaud his honesty and integrity in writing Kookie, No More. Mr.Byrnes' style of writing is clear and crisp. I felt as if we were old friends chatting over coffee. There were times when I smiled, times when I cried, and times when I wanted to put my arms around him and hug him; telling him to keep going -- things would work out. I'm glad they are. Thank you, Edd Byrnes, for sharing your story with us. CarolAnn Zito

Having enjoyed Edd "kookie" Byrnes in "77 Sunset Strip and again as "The Main Brain" Vince Fontaine in Grease as well as the many other parts he did you can imagine my surprise when we met almost 10 years ago. I thought I really got to know Edd until I read his book. Wow, what an eye opener it was. It took amazing courage to write this book and open his life for all to see. This book gives an open and honest look at life in the fast lane for those in the entertainment industry. The ups and downs. The good times and the bad.Edd, my hat is off to you for sharing your life with all of us,and for putting me in the book.A must read for everyone.

Steve McQueen has been a favorite for biographers to tackle over the years. His infamous off-screen adventures and hard-edged demeanor have almost eclipsed his work in the years following his death (and before, for that matter). Women loved him and men wanted to be him.

Marshall Terrill adds a well-researched and entertaining - if somewhat bland - bio to the stack. Most of the interviews are with old McQueen cronies intermixed with quotes lifted from other books on McQueen and autobiographies of stars like ex-wife Ali MacGraw. While 419 pages seems like it would be enough to capture the essense of a man I never got the feeling that I was hearing more than a dry barebones account of his life.

When all's said and done McQueen was a hero to many and a jerk to others. His odd behavior and Joe Six-pack mentalities may have put off some but films like Bullitt, Tom Horn and The Great Escape are proof that he had screen presence and attitude to spare. This book didn't tell me much that I needed or wanted to know, but would serve as a fine introduction to Steve McQueen.

Its an overused word that is often devoid of any real meaning, but Steve McQueen was just cool. Even though he was usually described as being a "limited" actor, Steve McQueen was still a great star -- a talented man who perfectly understood his limitations and therefore was able to craft each of his films to perfectly showcase his strengths. As Marshall Terrill's biography shows, McQueen was an actor who always gave the perfect performance for the films he starred in. Therefore, if McQueen wasn't a "great" actor in the style of Paul Newman, he was a far more dependable actor and, in a true rarity nowadays, his was a name that you could trust when saw it on a theater marquee. Terrill's biography also shows that McQueen, as an actor, never succumbed to the elitism that seems to possess so many other film stars. He never forgot his humble roots and, as a result, he never committed the cardinal sin of seeing himself as being somehow above his audience. McQueen was loyal to the idea of providing entertainment yet, within those confines set for himself, managed to help craft such classic films as Bullitt, the Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, and the Magnificent Seven. As Terrill shows, even when McQueen went through a "classics" period, he still made a film that fit in with his own personal view of what his audience would enjoy -- an unlikely, unjustly obscure version of Ibsen's Enemy of the People. Terrill's recounting of the making of Enemy is one of the book's highlights and, to the best of my knowledge, contains anecdotes and information that can't be found anywhere else.

Also, a great deal of fun comes from the book's final section -- a listing of films that McQueen decided not to make. This listing of films famous and obscure is a trivia browser's delight and also invites one to imagine what might have been. While sometimes that mind boggles, others -- such as Steve McQueen playing Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (imagine the military madman personified by a cool killer like McQueen as opposed to a massively bloated, rambling Marlon Brando) leave one mourning the unrealizing possibilities.

Of course, since this is Steve McQueen, a great deal of the book is taken up with details of rampaging drug abuse and chronic womanizing. Terrill presents these facts in a very unsensationalistic, straight forward way. Surely, Steve McQueen would have appreciated the no-BS style to Terrill's recounting. One thing becomes perfectly clear -- even if McQueen did, quite often, the wrong thing, he did it with enough style to make the "correct" alternatives look all the more dull. Luckily for filmgoers, Steve McQueen was never dull and luckily for readers, neither is Terrill's biography.

First consider how fine an actor Steve McQueen was:

From the 50s through the 70's, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, and Paul Newman were in close competition for the best "blue-eyed-blonde" parts in Hollywood. Newman and Redford are intelligent, versatile actors. Steve had a little less brainpower and range.

But from a physical standpoint, Steve wiped the floor with Newman and Redford (who are no sissies), or anybody else for that matter.

From playing golf and polo (Thomas Crown Affair) to marshal arts (Great Escape, Sand Pebbles) to auto racing (Le Mans) to motorcycling (Great Escape, On Any Sunday) to handling firearms (many), to handling tools (Sand Pebbles), every move Steve made was quick, balanced, controlled, and deadly. Steve's athleticism was inherited - his father was a "dashing flyer." It was psychological - Jim Coburn said Steve was "the most competitive person I've ever met." And it was nurtured - he was a decorated Marine, a bona-fide auto and motorcycle racer, and a serious student of marshal arts. He studied for years with the great Pat Johnson, and with the greatest, Bruce Lee. And Steve loved working on motorcycles and cars. No other actor in history had Steve's physical credits.

In all his roles, Steve understood that films are much more visual than verbal, and exploited his phyical qualities to the limit. That's acting intelligence.

Perhaps most importantly, Steve was INTENSE. Would you hesitate to make Newman or Redford angry? I wouldn't. Would you hesitate to make McQueen angry? I would. Read the book and see why.

And for what it's worth: Newman and Redford are pretty. Steve was swarthy. How many blue-eyed-blondes are swarthy?

Next consider the book:

Mr. Terrill's account of Steve's personal life is clear, comprehensive, balanced, and filled with great photos. Terrill's direct access to many people who personally knew or worked with Steve is evident on every page.

Terrill builds up the story with a thorough account of Steve's extremely tough, fascinating early years. You get to know the forces behind Steve's failures and successes as an adult. Although you know all along that Steve eventually "makes it," Terrill makes you feel intensely how unlikely a candidate Steve was for acting stardom.

Terrill covers Steve's great romance and marriage with Neile Adams, the immensely painful breakup, the scandalous romance and marriage with Ali McGraw, and the twilight-marriage with model Barbara Minty.

Not least of all, Terrill makes you appreciate McQueen's extremely underestimated acting talent. Steve was not a "yes-sir" actor. He molded all his parts strongly. He was particularly good at understanding how to stay just on the "reality" side of things, even though he was primarily an action star. So he deserves a great deal of credit for his own success.

By the end, Terrill has taken you through the many lives of Steve McQueen.

Plus, Terrill includes a filmography and a great treat: a list of movies Steve ALMOST made. The list is long and often surprising.

Finally consider the combination, and buy this book.

I've read it three times and will end up reading it many more times.

PS: I understand that there are plans in Hollywood to make a movie about McQueen's life based on Terrill's book. If it captures one-tenth of the romance, adventure, and excitement in the book, it will be a wonderful movie!

Being a boxing fan since 1971, I lived through the era of great heavyweights of the seventies: Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Foreman, and Norton. Ken Norton was a terrific competitor of that era, and I expected his book to be an exciting retelling of his experiences of that era. Unfortunately, the book left me disappointed. Norton spends too much time explaining blow by blow, round by round, his greatest fights. Although this may appeal to some, I found it repetitive and somewhat boring. One can get the round by round analysis by watching the fight videos. I found myself skimming over these sections to get to his feelings and thoughts about the fights. This was THE major drawback of the book.

Norton's three fights with Ali are covered in great detail, as these fights brought him into the public's consciousness. But once again the emphasis was on the blow by blow coverage instead of anecdotes and recollections about the fights. He expresses his bitter feelings about his third fight with Ali in which he feels he should have been given the decision. Having trained so tremendously hard for this fight and then having the decision go against him, Norton relates how this heart went out of boxing at this point. Although he becomes the Heavyweight Championship of the World title two years later when Ali retires, Norton is unable to retain te title in his first defense against Larry Holmes. He blames his failure to defend the title on his lack of dedication to boxing after the last Ali match. His heart was just not in it. I can't help but think Norton would have received the professional recognition and justification he so craved had he defeated Holmes. Their match was an exciting battle that culminated in perhaps one of the greatest rounds of boxing ever. Had Norton pulled out the decision, he would have probably been rematched with Ali one final time and had his best chance to defeat his nemesis decisively. However, history and fate turned a different direction, one that did not include a prominant role for Ken Norton.

Norton's private and then public feud with his son, Ken Norton Jr., make up a complete chapter in the book but this held little interest to me, a boxing fan.

Ken Norton is a decent man who had an interesting career, being both a boxer and a fighter. His experience acting as the characters "Mandingo" and "Drum" are only briefly mentioned. Again, there are few interesting stories or revelations about this time of his life. I would have liked to hear more.

Norton's book is a quick and easy read, as there are no major character controveries, conflicts, or issues to digest. I did not find it compelling in any regard. It was an easy book to put down. I had hoped for much more. As far as boxing books go, I have to rate it sub-par.

Jim Koenig

the problem with some boxers autobiographies is that they skim over big fights with a line or two. in ken nortons book he goes into FAR, FAR too much detail on his big fights, sometimes four to five pages of a round by round breakdown. it's all, quite frankly, too much.

kens a funny guy to listen to, but his humour doesn't really come across well in this book. overall it's a relatively interesting read, but does not draw you in the way the books of george foreman, joe frazier, larry holmes, and quick tillis do.

unless you really love kenny, i'd give this one a miss.

"Going the Distance: The Ken Norton Story" makes a compelling read. It is one unassuming autobiography.
Ken was a remarkable fighter: a great one whose hulky hew was intimidating. His era was the one which notable names like Ali, Foreman and Frazier dominated; yet, he still fought his way to the top: becoming a champion in 1978. He is remembered as one of the few boxers who scored a victory over Muhammad Ali. He broke The Greatest's jaw in the process. Ken's (championship) fight against Larry Holmes was a gut-wrenching one: regardless of his losing it via majority decision.
This book rides one across his humble up-bringing; and then into the 1970s. I liked the way it refreshed my memory. It recounted Ken's life story in a candid manner. Reading it was a pleasure!