AmosL
05-16-2008, 04:19 PM
Granger, Farley with Robert Calhoun. “Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway”, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008.
Remembering Granger
Amos Lassen
I remember several years ago in Boston when I was checking into the Eliot Hotel there was a very good looking man with gray hair sitting across from the reception desk and I had no idea who it was. That very night I went to the theater to see the pre-Broadway tryout of a play whose name I do not remember but there on the stage was that same good looking man. Of course it was Farley Granger and he and his costars, Rex Harrison and Florence Henderson were staying at my hotel, and my gaydar picked nothing up at that time.
Recently I saw a copy of “Include Me Out” and I picked it and began to read a very boring showbiz memoir. It is the memoirs of a man who was professional to the letter and a man who was serious about his career and the art of acting. He gives us a positive look in a life that must have been frustrating to live as being openly gay in his heyday may have meant career suicide. However the man can’t write.
The book does have its problems—there is a lot of repetition and although he never really identifies himself as a gay man, the book’s title certainly does as do some parts of the book but he never really talks about his homosexuality. In fact the only things that he really talks about in detail are what he had to eat and what he had to drink. Expecting an exciting expose of Granger, I was a bit disappointed at the way he skirted the issue.
Aside from that, he has several factual mistakes and seems to be not only confused about his sexual identity but his show business one as well.
It was interesting to read about some his star friends but all in the entire book is never more than mediocre. Yes he was professional and loved the glamour that comes with movie and theatre contracts but he just does not come across as much of anymore than that. So I remember him in passing and he had a couple of good parts but who was he anyway?
Remembering Granger
Amos Lassen
I remember several years ago in Boston when I was checking into the Eliot Hotel there was a very good looking man with gray hair sitting across from the reception desk and I had no idea who it was. That very night I went to the theater to see the pre-Broadway tryout of a play whose name I do not remember but there on the stage was that same good looking man. Of course it was Farley Granger and he and his costars, Rex Harrison and Florence Henderson were staying at my hotel, and my gaydar picked nothing up at that time.
Recently I saw a copy of “Include Me Out” and I picked it and began to read a very boring showbiz memoir. It is the memoirs of a man who was professional to the letter and a man who was serious about his career and the art of acting. He gives us a positive look in a life that must have been frustrating to live as being openly gay in his heyday may have meant career suicide. However the man can’t write.
The book does have its problems—there is a lot of repetition and although he never really identifies himself as a gay man, the book’s title certainly does as do some parts of the book but he never really talks about his homosexuality. In fact the only things that he really talks about in detail are what he had to eat and what he had to drink. Expecting an exciting expose of Granger, I was a bit disappointed at the way he skirted the issue.
Aside from that, he has several factual mistakes and seems to be not only confused about his sexual identity but his show business one as well.
It was interesting to read about some his star friends but all in the entire book is never more than mediocre. Yes he was professional and loved the glamour that comes with movie and theatre contracts but he just does not come across as much of anymore than that. So I remember him in passing and he had a couple of good parts but who was he anyway?