Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder, and Mystery

by H. Paul Jeffers

A biography of the 1950s teen star whose career was ruined by his refusal to deny his homosexuality; also examined : his shocking stabbing death.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Film, History, LGBT, True Crime

237 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

H. Paul Jeffers was an established military historian and author of seventy books. He worked as an editor and producer at ABC, CBS and NBC, and is the only person to have been news director of both of New York City's all-news radio stations. He taught journalism at New York University, Syracuse University, and Boston University.

Reviews

[Matthew Steiger]

This book was rather boring considering the topic. I really wanted to like it more but it just wasn't a real, professional biography.

[Guy]

I love Sal Mineo, but this book is pretty short on anything beyond a collection of plot outlines for Mineo's films, and it commits the ultimate sin of revealing the endings of every one of his films! Not cool! There are some great publicity photos, but this is more filmography than biography, as very little is revealed that makes the reader feel they truly understand Sal Mineo, and even insofar as the details of the films are concerned, there is scarcely anything about the circumstances of the location shoots, interaction between cast members, circumstances of Mineo and Hayworth's relationship and living arrangement, or even interviews with many of his co-stars. You could know as much by watching Sal's films (and in fact the author does recommend that). Jeffers lets us know that he slept with Sal Mineo, but it feels about as meaningful as if he'd admitted he had a cheeseburger and a Coke for dinner. If I'd spent a night with Sal Mineo, I'd at least do a little crowing. Sal Mineo was a fine actor, a beauty and a pioneer among openly gay entertainers. His story deserves to be told with more passion and insight.

[Nel]

The only biography available on the compellingly beautiful, talented, convention-bending and tragic actor (best known as Plato in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE) luckily happens to be a very good one written by someone who once knew Mineo himself.

[bilal]

a decent biography of hollywoods forgotten star, one of the first to publicly come out of the closet.

[David Cerda]

Interesting biography about a fascinating enigma of a man. You keep wanting to get to the part where everything turns out okay and unfortunately it never happens.

[Robyn Dones]

Read in 2008

[Cindy]

Kinda sleezy writing.

[James Clark]

the first biography I read on Sal it was an elightening and fascinating insight into a forgotten star.

[Dirk Theunissen]

After such a long time a bio about Muneo. The book was a bit impersonal & you never really know who he was dating but a vivid story about the times he lived and loved

[Sharon]

Mr. Jeffers seems to have captured Sal Mineo's voice. A tragedy.