Conversations With Michael Landon

by Tom Ito

In-depth interviews conducted during the year prior to the onset of Michael Landon's illness reveal the openness with which the actor could share his thoughts and feelings about his work and personal life

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

167 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited when I discovered this little book that promised to give amazing inside interviews with one of the greatest creators of family television ever. But then I started reading it--and not only does it not deliver many significant insights into the TV star, but Tom Ito clouds the whole concept with his strangely obscure and distant questions, sounding more like a philosophy professor than a media journalist.

It ends up that the author only had three short interviews he transcribed and doesn't even place them in their entirety in the book. He never explains why he spent hours with Landon that weren't recorded, or that he didn't use the full interviews as given. A number of times a story or detail is alluded to but no specifics are given. Instead there are a few pages here and there of interview segments that are surrounded by Ito droning on with overpraise about Landon. Some of it is a Wikipedia-like summary of the man's shows or life, other sections are Ito giving strange opinions, but none of it brings much new to the table.

Yes, there are a few interesting interview segments about Landon's strong faith (based on his mother's Catholicism and father's Judaism) and legacy (with Landon concluding that no one will be remembered in the long run by anyone except their family). Despite the author Landon himself makes a few really interesting admissions and observations about life. However, there are many times when Ito fails to follow up with substantive questions about significant moments in Landon's life, and others where the writer simply fails to confront the TV actor about his many contradictions.

It's absurd that Ito devotes a section to Landon's concern about the population explosion on the planet and the importance of birth control without dealing with the fact that Michael had nine children (some adopted)! Talk about hypocrisy. Or the failure to address head-on the actor's cheating scandals off screen while on screen he was writing and portraying one of the greatest moral husbands and father figures in history.

You end up with an extremely short book (164 pages with lots of white space, sometimes only 2 or 3 paragraphs to a page) with only about 1/3 of it containing actual interviews with Landon. Included are some comments by a few very minor character actors from Landon's series. Mixed in are hyperbolic comments from the author that often don't make sense, such as, "Behind the parapet of wariness he had thrown up against public intrusion dwells an individual of resolute candor." Huh?

The book needs to be edited, rewritten, have more research, and include a stronger objective overview of Landon's career. Why didn't Ito do the work to gather comments from significant co-stars or include more outside information to provide context or perspective? It just seems like a waste of one of the rare times Landon was willing to open up.

[Wendell Hennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this in my library for years and finally got around to reading it. Very complimentary of Michael, his diligence, dedication, and enjoyment of producing, writing, and acting. Michael did not have a happy childhood, a Jewish father who hated Catholics and a Catholic mother who hated Jews. He was determined not to raise his own 7 children in that kind of environment and made it a point to separate work and home life and not to short change home life.

I found the author's admiration interesting when a number of co stars have spoken out about difficulties working for and with Michael. He described Michael as being very thoughtful and respectful and he quoted Michael directly from the three interviews they held together. A short but interesting read about an actor that I admired from a young age as a Bonanza fan.

[R.J. Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but just ok. It was pretty boring and didn't answer much of what I would think everyone would want to know. More of a deep dive into his philosophy and I'm not even sure that worked.

[Norla Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful. Fleshes out Michael Landon's personal philosophy on life and work. Doesn't dig deep enough though.

[Melissa Coffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A lot of information I’ve never read about before and this is actually Michael himself answering these questions!

[Cws]

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