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Uncle Mame: The Life of Patrick Dennis
Under his pseudonyms of Patrick Dennis and Virginia Rowans, Edward Everett (Pat) Tanner III was the author of sixteen novels—most of them best sellers—including the now-classic Little Me and Auntie Mame . Tanner made millions, became the toast of Manhattan society, and had his works adapted into wildly successful plays, musicals, TV shows, and films. But he also spent every cent he made, worked incognito as a butler to the wealthy, and constructed a persona so elaborate that not even his wife and children ever quite knew the real Pat. Based on extensive interviews with coworkers, friends, and relatives, Uncle Mame is a revealing, intimate portrait of the man who brought camp to the American mainstream and personified — even in his lowest moments — the glamour and wit he captured on the page.
322 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 16, 2018
Patrick Dennis was a pseudonym for the real Edward Everett Tanner III, who grew up in Evanston, Illinois. (He also sometimes wrote under the name Virginia Rowans.) He was also one of the best-selling writers of the 1950's, although his names and the enduring characters he created are not always linked among today's readers.
This well-detailed, warts-and-all biography captures Dennis' during his formative years, including his field ambulance service during World War II. Dennis settled in New York City in the Fifties and went to work for a publisher, the accepted route for many an aspiring writer. He wrote and wrote, married and had two children.
Specializing in comic novels, Dennis wrote some of the most popular books of the mid-Twentieth Century, including AUNTIE MAME, a 1955 bestseller, which went on to become a hit movie, later a musical on Broadway and a movie starring Lucille Ball. During 1956 Dennis became the first and only author to have three books on the New York Times' bestseller list simultaneously. Books such as LITTLE ME (which also became a play) and THE JOYOUS SEASON continued Dennis's literary successes.
Dennis later divorced and began to explore his bisexuality. According to Wikipedia, he became "a well-known participant in Greenwich Village's gay scene." However, he remained on good terms with his children.
Unfortunately, by the Seventies his books began to wane in popularity as the comic novel started to look a bit passe in an age of television and the emergent poolside culture. At one point in his life Dennis was reduced to serving as a butler. Eric Myers' well-written book has helped to restore Dennis' popularity and bring many of those books back into print. I highly recommend UNCLE MAME.
This well-detailed, warts-and-all biography captures Dennis' during his formative years, including his field ambulance service during World War II. Dennis settled in New York City in the Fifties and went to work for a publisher, the accepted route for many an aspiring writer. He wrote and wrote, married and had two children.
Specializing in comic novels, Dennis wrote some of the most popular books of the mid-Twentieth Century, including AUNTIE MAME, a 1955 bestseller, which went on to become a hit movie, later a musical on Broadway and a movie starring Lucille Ball. During 1956 Dennis became the first and only author to have three books on the New York Times' bestseller list simultaneously. Books such as LITTLE ME (which also became a play) and THE JOYOUS SEASON continued Dennis's literary successes.
Dennis later divorced and began to explore his bisexuality. According to Wikipedia, he became "a well-known participant in Greenwich Village's gay scene." However, he remained on good terms with his children.
Unfortunately, by the Seventies his books began to wane in popularity as the comic novel started to look a bit passe in an age of television and the emergent poolside culture. At one point in his life Dennis was reduced to serving as a butler. Eric Myers' well-written book has helped to restore Dennis' popularity and bring many of those books back into print. I highly recommend UNCLE MAME.
January 20, 2008
Patrick Dennis, to put it simply, was a manic. And totally another (like Thorne Smith) a screwball fiction wrtier. He's very much in the gay underworld of the 50's and 60's - and a total eccentric to boot.
He's mostly famous for his Auntie Mame novels, but he wrote other (really) great books as well. There is one called 'Genius" but can't find it on this particular site. Oh well, the funny thing is that he was probably one of most successful novelists in America during the late 50's - yet he's practically unknown author at the moment. Even though Auntie Mame is a famous creation of his - most know the stories via the Broadway stage and films.
Nevertheless Dennis married, had a family, had a gay life, and knew incredible people. He also got tired of his writing fame life - so he decided to change his name and ended up as a butler! Really!
Locate the book if it's still around and then get into his novels. He's fantastic!
He's mostly famous for his Auntie Mame novels, but he wrote other (really) great books as well. There is one called 'Genius" but can't find it on this particular site. Oh well, the funny thing is that he was probably one of most successful novelists in America during the late 50's - yet he's practically unknown author at the moment. Even though Auntie Mame is a famous creation of his - most know the stories via the Broadway stage and films.
Nevertheless Dennis married, had a family, had a gay life, and knew incredible people. He also got tired of his writing fame life - so he decided to change his name and ended up as a butler! Really!
Locate the book if it's still around and then get into his novels. He's fantastic!
September 10, 2021
The timeless character of Mame Dennis could have sprung from only one place: the singularly unique mind of Patrick Dennis, who was a remarkable gent who led an remarkable life every bit as outrageous as his characters’. This book is thoroughly enjoyable and a must-read for all Mame fans—and isn’t that all of us?
June 18, 2010
God, what a crap biography. Is it possible to be superficial and yet too detailed? This book manages it.
September 29, 2024
Oh, this is divine! Eric Myers tells this story lickety-split: this bio doesn't flag for a second! It's a brilliant portrait of a moment in America when camp was part of the mainstream and not demonized as some kind of grooming threat. The man who wrote AUNTIE MAME (just one of his triumphs as a light comic novelist) was his own greatest invention. Luckily, many people who loved Pat Tanner (his his kids, his publishing and theatre friends, his American Foreign Service buddies) are still around to provide these hilarious reminiscences of this crazy, booze-fueled, creative life that just seemed to blaze 24 hours a day. It took a toll: this portrait is dark and light, but the overwhelming feeling is this drive to express himself in all his contradictory glory. I am so glad I found this; as entertainment bios go, it's a gem!
July 4, 2026
I enjoyed this biography a lot. Dennis was always a campy entertaining guy from when he was a teen, not gay but maybe bi. He became a copywriter then started writing novels, and Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade, his third, was a best seller. He had a (literally) insane aunt that he swore was not the inspiration for her, and indeed, she was far nuttier than the fictional Mame ever was.
Two of his books that I discovered years ago and love are First Lady: My Thirty Days Upstairs in the White House by “Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield” and Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television, Belle Poitrine. They’re illustrated “memoirs” he wrote. Then he got actor friends to pose for the photos, and they’re hilarious.
The story took more than one unexpected turn. Dennis became severely depressed and suicidal and was committed to a hospital for several months. It was related to his inability to write another best seller, and his closeted homosexuality. Out of the hospital, he fell madly in love with a man he met at a bathhouse and moved with him to Mexico. He and his wife remained good friends, and he continued to have a loving relationship with their kids. He lived in Mexico for several years, made new friends, and wrote a couple more books. After that relationship fell apart he decided to go in a new direction: he figured that he had lots of experience in running a household and entertaining, so he became a butler to a series of wealthy households! He was good at it.
When he was diagnosed with cancer he moved back in with his wife, who took care of him till he died.
Two of his books that I discovered years ago and love are First Lady: My Thirty Days Upstairs in the White House by “Martha Dinwiddie Butterfield” and Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television, Belle Poitrine. They’re illustrated “memoirs” he wrote. Then he got actor friends to pose for the photos, and they’re hilarious.
The story took more than one unexpected turn. Dennis became severely depressed and suicidal and was committed to a hospital for several months. It was related to his inability to write another best seller, and his closeted homosexuality. Out of the hospital, he fell madly in love with a man he met at a bathhouse and moved with him to Mexico. He and his wife remained good friends, and he continued to have a loving relationship with their kids. He lived in Mexico for several years, made new friends, and wrote a couple more books. After that relationship fell apart he decided to go in a new direction: he figured that he had lots of experience in running a household and entertaining, so he became a butler to a series of wealthy households! He was good at it.
When he was diagnosed with cancer he moved back in with his wife, who took care of him till he died.
May 18, 2024
Patrick Dennis (nee Edward Everett Tanner III) was an American treasure. The author who created one of our favorite characters, Auntie Mame, was apparently a kind man, a very funny man, a steadfast friend, and led quite a life. That life is ploddingly told in Eric Myers biography of Dennis entitled Uncle Mame: the Life of Patrick Dennis. Myers apparently thinks we, as readers, need to know every detail of Tanner’s life from birth. I have read many of Tanner’s sixteen novels, but, of course, my favorites are Auntie Mame and Around the World with Auntie Mame. I would venture to say that most who are familiar with his work feel like I do. Myers, in a roughly 280 page book doesn’t even get to Tanner’s beginning his writing career until page 100 or so. Prior to that, his life is interesting but not particularly entertaining as a story. Once the writing career begins, Myers then, as if he is writing a doctoral dissertation, quotes passages from each book and analyzes them for us. We who read the books of Patrick Dennis (and his other pseudonym Virginia Rowans) know his capacity for social satire, so not only do we not need Myers’s analysis but also it seems that the geniously written social satire shines in the totality of the books, not in isolated passages. As for Tanner and his existence, he lived a madcap life, partly because of his wild sense of humor, partly because of psychological problems, and partly because of his conflicted sexual identity. Myers wants us to think he has painted a portrait of a delightful person. He also wants us to blame much of Tanner’s problematic life on his being gay in an era when that was not accepted. And finally, we are to dismiss much of Tanner’s antics (a solid example of which is Tanner’s love for getting stark naked at social events) as just playful nonsense. Sadly, for me, I got annoyed at all this nonsense and wished Tanner to get his life together, since he had everything that should have made a good life. As a gay man who grew up during Tanner’s “conflicted” years, I learned to live happily despite the struggles of feeling like an outsider. And I did not have the wealth and adulation of creating an Auntie Mame character loved by the world. And yet, Tanner eventually wound up fairly penniless and died at an early age of pancreatic cancer, which Myers says was brought on most possibly by alcohol and cigarette addictions. Perhaps what bothers me most about this biography is that I believe Myers set out to honor a beloved author and yet it seems to be he smeared a reputation by spilling all the details of Tanner’s life. Having just re-read one of Patrick Dennis’s books, I thought I would read this biography to enhance the joy I’d had reading Patrick Dennis’s work. Instead, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I can only hope that reading another of Patrick Dennis’s books will restore my love for the author and make me forget the man.
November 8, 2018
I didn't expect this story to be so sad. I already knew he died a pauper, before I started reading. I didn't know he died so young, with a life so unfulfilled.
There's a joke, nowadays, that gay men go through a second adolescence in their twenties, because all the teen romance and drama, vital experiences that serve as passages into adulthood, has been deferred. With Pat, it went on and on all his life. It's ironic a great novelist lost to history was never really meant to be a novelist. He was a theater man, loving the attention and laughter, like a child. Now that I think of it, his novels are a lot like comedic stage plays, with lots of background characters to keep the audience's eyes on stage. He wrote his novels, essentially, to keep his ideal party going. But all parties must come to an end. Pat kept trying to start new parties, either with a new social scene or a new book, but they didn't help him escape his demons.
The man was clearly not very emotionally developed, a quality his wife and kids seem to have forgiven, because of the fun he loved to give. I'd forgive him, too. I think he wanted to stay a high schooler doing plays with his friends, but saw New York as a way to never have to really grow up. It's a city that does certainly keep people young. He fell into writing by working in the publishing industry, and used the bohemian writing industry that could only work in New York to his advantage. The product was Auntie Mame, and subsequent books. But he didn't really like being a novelist. I was shocked to read his editors finished two of them. How could he let that happen? Well...the novels were only one side of his creativity, and he didn't like it dominating his life. It's too bad, in the adult world, our lives don't have room to be everything at once. I feel you, Pat. I feel you. Eventually, he was tired of upholding a status as a novelist, society figure, or whatever else, and chose to be a butler. It seems like a nonsensical move. Getting to know Pat, it makes perfect sense. He could live in a fancy house, have no real pressing responsibilities, work with lots of people in a fast-paced environment, and be a part of lavish parties. All with a steady paycheck. A butler was a way to go back to being a child, while having all the fun adults get to have. It's sad that was the only way he could be at peace with himself and the world. But, at least he died able to be his full self.
There's a joke, nowadays, that gay men go through a second adolescence in their twenties, because all the teen romance and drama, vital experiences that serve as passages into adulthood, has been deferred. With Pat, it went on and on all his life. It's ironic a great novelist lost to history was never really meant to be a novelist. He was a theater man, loving the attention and laughter, like a child. Now that I think of it, his novels are a lot like comedic stage plays, with lots of background characters to keep the audience's eyes on stage. He wrote his novels, essentially, to keep his ideal party going. But all parties must come to an end. Pat kept trying to start new parties, either with a new social scene or a new book, but they didn't help him escape his demons.
The man was clearly not very emotionally developed, a quality his wife and kids seem to have forgiven, because of the fun he loved to give. I'd forgive him, too. I think he wanted to stay a high schooler doing plays with his friends, but saw New York as a way to never have to really grow up. It's a city that does certainly keep people young. He fell into writing by working in the publishing industry, and used the bohemian writing industry that could only work in New York to his advantage. The product was Auntie Mame, and subsequent books. But he didn't really like being a novelist. I was shocked to read his editors finished two of them. How could he let that happen? Well...the novels were only one side of his creativity, and he didn't like it dominating his life. It's too bad, in the adult world, our lives don't have room to be everything at once. I feel you, Pat. I feel you. Eventually, he was tired of upholding a status as a novelist, society figure, or whatever else, and chose to be a butler. It seems like a nonsensical move. Getting to know Pat, it makes perfect sense. He could live in a fancy house, have no real pressing responsibilities, work with lots of people in a fast-paced environment, and be a part of lavish parties. All with a steady paycheck. A butler was a way to go back to being a child, while having all the fun adults get to have. It's sad that was the only way he could be at peace with himself and the world. But, at least he died able to be his full self.
October 22, 2026
Delicious read
Myers gave this eccentric and hilarious author the delightful biography he deserved. Patrick Dennis wrote books that are still funny AF today - Auntie Mame and Travels With Auntie Mame are only the tip of a laugh packed pile of fun. A very enjoyable bio!
Myers gave this eccentric and hilarious author the delightful biography he deserved. Patrick Dennis wrote books that are still funny AF today - Auntie Mame and Travels With Auntie Mame are only the tip of a laugh packed pile of fun. A very enjoyable bio!
October 29, 2017
Patrick Dennis's life doesn't disappoint. Even a mediocre writer would have had a difficult time making his life boring if they chose to stick to quotes and stories. The information about the making of books such as
Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade
or
Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television
is intriguing because these books, having been republished, are easily attainable. Dennis's writing talent, ability to keep people shockingly entertained, and kindness and generosity come through.
January 20, 2021
I love this book because I want Mame to be real. I love everything about Mame.
Read
February 24, 2023Ironic? But probably inevitable?
Read
May 25, 2024Every other word is “camp” … could be better edited, but an interesting subject.
Read
February 20, 2026A romp! Includes references to all of his works, so some of these I will add to my interlibrary loan accounts.
June 10, 2016
Gossipy, light, but with surprising depth to it (much like Patrick Dennis himself)--I've only read three of his books, but I plan on rectifying that and since he wrote 16, I have a ways to go. He's an interesting character, who packed a LOT of life in his 55 years, who wrote beautifully funny novels, and self destructed like so many of them did in a haze of alcohol and parties--Benchley, Parker, Smith. Wodehouse, the exception, since I think he is the Agatha Christie of comedy. Extremely formulaic, not that much depth really, but such supreme worksmanship that you can't help but be impressed time and time again.
But back to Dennis, the book has an interesting digression towards the end regarding the status of light comedy and how it has always been the bastard child of literature, and has been slowly dying out. You can't help but agree but it's a shame. He has some good Noel Coward quotes too. The book I think does a very well rounded appraisal of Patrick Dennis. It helps that he documented his life so thoroughly and always, no matter the current situation, with wry elegance. I liked how he rose from the ashes of his life in Mexico to become a butler--such a Mame thing to do.
There were parts I think were TOO focused on Dennis. I would have liked to have known more about why he never got any money from any musical versions and if he tried legal remedy. I would have liked to have read a lot more about the 15 month original Russell run and more about Jeri Archer and the falling out with her after Little Me. More background on Cass. However, it does have a lot of interviews with primary people in his life, so if you are into literature and New York society of the 50s and 60s and want to read about the birth of camp, can't go wrong with this book. And I think ultimately Dennis was wrong--he never got old fashioned really--and I think John Waters picked up the torch after him. My consensus after this book was his indulgence in the good things and disregard of his writing was what ultimately sunk him. Not finishing books and tricking your editors and publishers to quickly come up with the last two chapters? But he seemed to be blithely unconcerned about his work--especially towards the end, and then get upset at lackluster reception.
But ultimately it is a positive portrayal--Dennis was too wellbred and kind man to make many enemies and he certainly had a talent for friendship.
But back to Dennis, the book has an interesting digression towards the end regarding the status of light comedy and how it has always been the bastard child of literature, and has been slowly dying out. You can't help but agree but it's a shame. He has some good Noel Coward quotes too. The book I think does a very well rounded appraisal of Patrick Dennis. It helps that he documented his life so thoroughly and always, no matter the current situation, with wry elegance. I liked how he rose from the ashes of his life in Mexico to become a butler--such a Mame thing to do.
There were parts I think were TOO focused on Dennis. I would have liked to have known more about why he never got any money from any musical versions and if he tried legal remedy. I would have liked to have read a lot more about the 15 month original Russell run and more about Jeri Archer and the falling out with her after Little Me. More background on Cass. However, it does have a lot of interviews with primary people in his life, so if you are into literature and New York society of the 50s and 60s and want to read about the birth of camp, can't go wrong with this book. And I think ultimately Dennis was wrong--he never got old fashioned really--and I think John Waters picked up the torch after him. My consensus after this book was his indulgence in the good things and disregard of his writing was what ultimately sunk him. Not finishing books and tricking your editors and publishers to quickly come up with the last two chapters? But he seemed to be blithely unconcerned about his work--especially towards the end, and then get upset at lackluster reception.
But ultimately it is a positive portrayal--Dennis was too wellbred and kind man to make many enemies and he certainly had a talent for friendship.
December 15, 2009
Uncle Mame is a short but very readable biography of the man who created Auntie Mame. Although Edward Everett Tanner III was the very successful author of sixteen novels under the pseudonyms Patrick Dennis and Virginia Rowans, he's barely remembered today for anything but the bestseller Auntie Mame (also made into a play and a wonderful movie with Rosalind Russell). There's little in print about Tanner, and Myers does a very good job recreating his life through extensive interviews with his family and friends, from Tanner's childhood through the height of his career as a writer to his reinvention of himself as butler to the rich and famous.
February 20, 2010
This is a must-read for Auntie Mame fans! It's fascinating to get to know the complex mind and psyche that gave birth to one of the most beloved characters of all time. Contrary to popular rumor, Mame was not based on Patrick Dennis's real-life aunt but is actually a facet of himself--a large one. I was personally interested in learning more about Dennis, both because of my love of Mame (she's my heroine) and because he grew up in my home town of Evanston, IL. Writer to writer, his saga of being, to a large degree, a sensitive and somewhat tormented artist hit home. Uncle Mame is the shadow of Auntie... and somehow, knowing that dark side makes her shine all the brighter.
September 18, 2015
A fascinating read for fans of Patrick Dennis, and also of interest to writers in general. The first few chapters, covering Dennis' early life, moved a bit slowly, but once his writing career got started, the book really pulled me in. Writing 25 years after Dennis' death (at the early age of 55) in 1976, Myers interviewed many of Dennis' friends and family, including his wife and children, revealing a complicated, often troubled, and widely loved man.
February 23, 2012
The story of the life of the man who gave us Auntie Mame and Little Me, both books that went on to be made into better known musicals was a blast to read.
A tortured soul who created the "camp" comedic novel, married, had children, came out years later as gay, went thru his money and ended his life working as a butler. Outrageous, but true. A fascinating read.
A tortured soul who created the "camp" comedic novel, married, had children, came out years later as gay, went thru his money and ended his life working as a butler. Outrageous, but true. A fascinating read.
June 26, 2013
Have always loved Auntie Mame, and the autobiography gives a good life overview of Patrick Dennis (pseudonym of Edward Everett Tanner III). Makes a lot more sense the other books I had found written by Patrick Dennis, such as Little Me. The autobiography is just ok written, but gives you a look into an author that did so much more than Auntie Mame.
July 11, 2007
I love the group he was in before Auntie Mame, at the advertising agency. They were all writers who took long boozy lunches and then came back and hammered out ad copy, and the guy running the place loved it. Like a room full of mini dorothy parkers.
January 31, 2012
One feels simultaneously sorry and irritated with this man who wrote wonderfully funny novels but also wasted years of his life on drink, tolerated at least one abusive sexual relationship, and in the end wasted the last years of his short life being Ray Kroc's butler!
April 11, 2013
The books of Patrick Dennis were practically required reading in our home. I vividly remember laughing out loud while reading 'A Joyous Season,' one of the many Patrick Dennis novels that my mother devoured as a teenager and later encouraged her children to read.
December 15, 2014
This was a very interesting look into the life of the author who gave us Auntie Mame. Why someone has not adapted his life into a screenplay is beyond me! I will definitely be reading more of his novels.
May 21, 2016
Poor Pat Tanner, bedeviled by a success he never felt he was worthy of. A solid biography of a man who for all his talents, couldn't come to terms with himself. But we are forever grateful to him for
Auntie Mame!
Auntie Mame!
April 14, 2008
What a fascinating nut (in the best sense of the term).
July 3, 2008
I love the book and the movie (Rosalan Russell (sp?) Auntie Mame and this is a look at the creative but seemingly tortured life of Patrick Dennis that brought "Auntie" to life.
November 30, 2010
Good biography of the guy that wrote "Auntie Mame." This guy had one of the more incredible lives. I would not have believed most of it if it had been an autobiography. Very fun read.
Want to Read
March 26, 2012This was written by a literary agent who just requested my full manuscript. I thought it might be good to get to know his writing style.
December 16, 2012
actually a nicely done bio of a wacky creator of wacky camp.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews