My Side

by Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin (Introduction)

Miss Gordon records, with candor, all aspects of her life as a woman of the theatre, wife, and mother since her first stage entrance in a 1915 revival of Peter Pan

Genres: Memoir, Biography, Nonfiction

520 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

As well as writing plays, film scripts, and books, Ruth Gordon was an actress of stage and screen. She is perhaps best known for her return to acting later in her career with memorable roles in films such as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Harold and Maude (1971).

She was married to Garson Kanin, with whom she wrote several screenplays.

Reviews

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth Gordon's second memoir. This one's more of an autobiography, starting with her first real job as an actress in a road company doing one night stands and travelling by train, trying to learn how to act. Marriage to a fellow actor who helped her, finally roles where she knew what she was doing and proved she could act. Lots of abortions, train rides, love affairs, funny stories, other actors. Loving this.

[Trav S.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich in anecdote, written in that unmistakable voice, her account is marred by a tendency to jump around in time that rivals Willy Loman's and many large gaps. Definitely needs to be read in conjunction with more objective research. Most valuable for the account of her early years of barnstorming and struggle...the life of a trouper in the nineteen-teens

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous! I feared I was in for a rough ride when I started this, because it is very much in Gordon's shall-we-say idiosyncratic speaking style. It jumps around a lot, and there are many asides such as "Ever sleep under goose feathers in Wisconsin? In the morning, did they offer you a glass of milk, warm from the cow, then drive you to the depot? Did they charge forty cents?" Once I got used to this all-over-the-place style, and the narrative jumps, I was in all the way, and I loved it.

I was equally excited to learn she wrote two other memoirs, too, because this spends the first 14 of 18 chapters just covering from birth to the 1930s, with the occasional time jumps forward and back. I ordered the other two books immediately, although it will be a while before I read them, I still look forward.

Another fun thing I did with this book, thanks to her specificity with addresses, was Google all the houses, apartments, rooming houses and theaters she mentions. I loved seeing them today, and especially the few I found real estate listings for (the house overlooking the East River which Garson Kanin rented for a summer in the 40s has been for sale for two years; it's now $7.795 million, marked down from $19 million. Maybe I'll make an offer!). And lordy, the abortions! Conservatives who rail against their mythical, racist stereotype welfare queens who use abortions as birth control should not look too closely at the beloved stars of yesteryear--I think I counted 4 abortions here (she was a little vague on number four, the first three were flat out), so she's right there with silent screen queen Gloria Swanson for D&C'ing and telling.

Anyway, I loved this book. Her struggles to make it as an actress on the stage are familiar to any aspiring actor, and give depth to her Academy Award acceptance speech, in which she famously said, "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is." Because I'm an old Hollywood weirdo, I loved the stories of her palling around with Helen Hayes, and Ruth Chatterton (they took flying lessons together!), Alexander Woollcott (and therefore Harpo Marx), Thornton Wilder, and so on. I really can't wait to read more.

[Mikealbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

You cant help but have Gordon's unmistakable voice in your head while you read this rollicking, circuitous, sometimes confusing memoir. Of her three memoirs, this is the second, and it is the most comprehensive. You won't get much dirt on her later film experiences on the sets of Rosemary's Baby and Harold and Maude. In its place are pages of snappy dialogue (a credit to her screenwriting skill) and plenty of descriptions of her work as an actress in theater, the fabulous hotspots and hotels of the time in New York City, Palm Beach and Chicago, endless namedrops of people she met and knew (Helen Keller, Vivien Leigh, Lillian Gish, Thornton Wilder, Harpo Marx). She mentions so many plays she starred in, turned down, regretted, coveted to be in you comprehend how vibrant the american theater has always been. There isnt much self reflection. This woman had a firm, burning ambition to be a "visceral myth" and nothing would stop her, even her own self doubt. But occasionally she opens up about tragedies or challenges -- the death of her first husband, her abortions, her affairs. If anything this book helps you understand all the lived experience that Gordon drew upon to create the indelible characters she played.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Side: The Autobiography of Ruth Gordon (Hardcover)
by Ruth Gordon

Gordon was an actress. Written in her 80's she recalls the golden era of American Theatre, Cinema, and art.

[Lenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read less then half. Not very interesting.

[Mika · Rating 2 out of 5]

found it in a used book store in the outer banks.

read the first couple 'chapters': in the first chapter, she just talked about how if the publishing company had let her do it, each page would be a different color (green like the garden at a summer home in her youth, pale yellow like a dress she wore in her youth, &c).

flipped through to see if there was any DIRT or SEXY SECRETS from behind-the-scenes of 'Harold & Maude'--and there may have been, but most of the pages indexed for 'Bud Cort' just mentioned him offhand, and then she would reflect upon her youth. huh.

ruth gordon: this is definitely HER SIDE, but it's kind of disjointed and a bit too princessy. but you gotta love her.. right?

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book sale find. This was a bit tough to read....she jumped around in time. Very hard to follow. She did give you a good account on how tough it is to become an actress. Lot's of rejection, the casting couch...and a strong will to succeed.

I did find it eerie that after I had a reading session ...and later watch a bit tv...Ruth would show up on a show or two that usually watch.... :) I kinda like when that happens... :)