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Natural Blonde: A Memoir
America's top gossip columnist spills the beans as she traces five decades of battling press agents and editors and landing celebrity scoops." ( Variety )
From Tallulah Bankhead to Joan Crawford to the Kennedys and Madonna, the ultimate insider, Liz Smith, has hobnobbed, air-kissed, and lunched with just about everybody who's been anybody over the last half century and then rushed to tell the world all about it. Now, in this candid, down-to-earth autobiography, she tells all about herself, and does it with the kind of style and warmth that has made her one of the most widely read columnists in history. But she wasn't always famous, and in Natural Blonde she reveals how a young woman from rural Texas came to New York hell-bent on making something of her life. From her salad days as a small-time reporter, typist, and proofreader to her triumphs at the Daily News , Newsday , New York Post and her 1995 Emmy for reporting, Liz tells what it's really like to be seen and heard by millions of people every day. One of the most-quoted people of our time, she offers a rare, private peek into the real person behind the witty quips and media coverage. Certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated autobiographies in years, Natural Blonde will give Liz Smith readers the item they've been waiting for the ultimate inside scoop from the "Grande Dame of Dish."
From Tallulah Bankhead to Joan Crawford to the Kennedys and Madonna, the ultimate insider, Liz Smith, has hobnobbed, air-kissed, and lunched with just about everybody who's been anybody over the last half century and then rushed to tell the world all about it. Now, in this candid, down-to-earth autobiography, she tells all about herself, and does it with the kind of style and warmth that has made her one of the most widely read columnists in history. But she wasn't always famous, and in Natural Blonde she reveals how a young woman from rural Texas came to New York hell-bent on making something of her life. From her salad days as a small-time reporter, typist, and proofreader to her triumphs at the Daily News , Newsday , New York Post and her 1995 Emmy for reporting, Liz tells what it's really like to be seen and heard by millions of people every day. One of the most-quoted people of our time, she offers a rare, private peek into the real person behind the witty quips and media coverage. Certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated autobiographies in years, Natural Blonde will give Liz Smith readers the item they've been waiting for the ultimate inside scoop from the "Grande Dame of Dish."
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1900
3 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Liz Smith
68 books5 followersMary Elizabeth "Liz" Smith is an American gossip columnist, nicknamed "The Grand Dame of Dish."
On February 16, 1976, Smith began a self-titled gossip column for the New York Daily News. During a 1979 newspaper strike, her Daily News editors asked her to appear daily on WNBC-TV's Live at Five, and she stayed with the program for eleven years. Her exposure on television made Smith a popular figure on the Manhattan social scene and provided fodder for her column which had, by then, been syndicated to nearly seventy newspapers. She won an Emmy for her reporting on the hot hit Live at Five for WNBC in 1955.
In 1991 Smith, hot off her exclusive interviews with Ivana Trump during her divorce from real estate tycoon Donald Trump, moved to Newsday, where she stayed until 1995. Smith then signed on to the Murdoch-owned New York Post. She worked for Fox News for 7 years and is today on Fox and Friends.
In April 2005, Smith left Newsday, over a contract dispute. The official discontinuation of her column came after several months of dispute among Smith, her lawyer David Blasband, and Newsday management. Lawyers for Newsday focused on a misstep and refused to renew her contract, the highest-paid in newspaper history. Blasband says, "Yes, Liz missed the date, but Newsday still had four months before the contract ran out." The matter was settled out of court and Smith continued at the New York Post where her column still appears. It also appears two days a week in Variety and in many other newspapers.
On February 16, 1976, Smith began a self-titled gossip column for the New York Daily News. During a 1979 newspaper strike, her Daily News editors asked her to appear daily on WNBC-TV's Live at Five, and she stayed with the program for eleven years. Her exposure on television made Smith a popular figure on the Manhattan social scene and provided fodder for her column which had, by then, been syndicated to nearly seventy newspapers. She won an Emmy for her reporting on the hot hit Live at Five for WNBC in 1955.
In 1991 Smith, hot off her exclusive interviews with Ivana Trump during her divorce from real estate tycoon Donald Trump, moved to Newsday, where she stayed until 1995. Smith then signed on to the Murdoch-owned New York Post. She worked for Fox News for 7 years and is today on Fox and Friends.
In April 2005, Smith left Newsday, over a contract dispute. The official discontinuation of her column came after several months of dispute among Smith, her lawyer David Blasband, and Newsday management. Lawyers for Newsday focused on a misstep and refused to renew her contract, the highest-paid in newspaper history. Blasband says, "Yes, Liz missed the date, but Newsday still had four months before the contract ran out." The matter was settled out of court and Smith continued at the New York Post where her column still appears. It also appears two days a week in Variety and in many other newspapers.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 15, 2022
Early years were enjoyable, but most of it was a boring career recap.
July 18, 2015
I had extremely mixed feelings about this book.
First let me say that Liz Smith was a HUGE figure to me during my teenage years. I read her newspaper column daily, watched her on "Live at Five" whenever she was on. To my awkward Brooklyn self, she symbolized a gateway to a glamourous world. But much more than that, Liz Smith was the first famous gay person I was aware of. The father of a good friend of mine worked for the Daily News and my friend had told me that Liz was openly gay, lived with her girlfriend, etc. When I came out in high school, I held Liz in the highest regard. Look, I thought, here is someone who is gay and open and able to be successful, loved, wealthy, famous. It had a tremendous impact on me.
In the late 80s, during the outing craze, when Michaelangelo Signorile was targeting closeted gay celebrities and forcing them out of the closet, Liz Smith was one of his big time targets. I was shocked and disheartened to learn that she was not out, had never been out. I had put her up on a pedestal mistakenly. She had been a hero to me, for absolutely no reason.
So, here comes the memoir. Will she come clean, I wonder, skimming along? She mentions her two brief marriages to men. Of course, as she should. She mentions a lesbian affair that she had in college. Her relationship with her father is never the same after he learns of it. Wow, I'm thinking, she is really dealing with her homosexuality here. Well done, Liz. And then.... nothing. I mean, nothing. She talks about men she has been involved with, she talks about men she had crushes on, she talks about OTHER people who were gay, other people who were closeted, But after her collegiate lesbian relationship, we're done.
Does she mention Iris Love, the woman she was purportedly involved with for over 20 years? Absolutely. Over and over again. My friend, the archeologist Iris Love moved in with me because it was more convenient for her to stay in Manhattan... My friend, the archeologist Iris Love, was an excellent traveling companion and we spent a month in Sardinia... My friend, the archeologist Iris Love was one of the guests at so and so's wedding, along with Elizabeth Taylor and Malcolm Forbes... and on and on. Girlfriend? Partner? Lover? Nada. So Liz is a middle aged, then elderly woman, millionaire, famous, who lives with ... her friend? Because... its convenient for her friend to live in Manhattan?!! This really made me wretch, and want to throw the book into the garbage. Why write a memoir at all if you're not prepared to be honest about your life?!
But the rest of the book, well, if you can forget the lack of honesty regarding her own life, its a good read. Liz is a very good writer, smart and funny and boy, does she have the dirt. She tells her story well, she paints vivid portraits of her famous and less so friends. And the dish is delicious.
Parts were worthy of 4 stars, parts were worthy of zero. But I had a difficult time putting it down.
First let me say that Liz Smith was a HUGE figure to me during my teenage years. I read her newspaper column daily, watched her on "Live at Five" whenever she was on. To my awkward Brooklyn self, she symbolized a gateway to a glamourous world. But much more than that, Liz Smith was the first famous gay person I was aware of. The father of a good friend of mine worked for the Daily News and my friend had told me that Liz was openly gay, lived with her girlfriend, etc. When I came out in high school, I held Liz in the highest regard. Look, I thought, here is someone who is gay and open and able to be successful, loved, wealthy, famous. It had a tremendous impact on me.
In the late 80s, during the outing craze, when Michaelangelo Signorile was targeting closeted gay celebrities and forcing them out of the closet, Liz Smith was one of his big time targets. I was shocked and disheartened to learn that she was not out, had never been out. I had put her up on a pedestal mistakenly. She had been a hero to me, for absolutely no reason.
So, here comes the memoir. Will she come clean, I wonder, skimming along? She mentions her two brief marriages to men. Of course, as she should. She mentions a lesbian affair that she had in college. Her relationship with her father is never the same after he learns of it. Wow, I'm thinking, she is really dealing with her homosexuality here. Well done, Liz. And then.... nothing. I mean, nothing. She talks about men she has been involved with, she talks about men she had crushes on, she talks about OTHER people who were gay, other people who were closeted, But after her collegiate lesbian relationship, we're done.
Does she mention Iris Love, the woman she was purportedly involved with for over 20 years? Absolutely. Over and over again. My friend, the archeologist Iris Love moved in with me because it was more convenient for her to stay in Manhattan... My friend, the archeologist Iris Love, was an excellent traveling companion and we spent a month in Sardinia... My friend, the archeologist Iris Love was one of the guests at so and so's wedding, along with Elizabeth Taylor and Malcolm Forbes... and on and on. Girlfriend? Partner? Lover? Nada. So Liz is a middle aged, then elderly woman, millionaire, famous, who lives with ... her friend? Because... its convenient for her friend to live in Manhattan?!! This really made me wretch, and want to throw the book into the garbage. Why write a memoir at all if you're not prepared to be honest about your life?!
But the rest of the book, well, if you can forget the lack of honesty regarding her own life, its a good read. Liz is a very good writer, smart and funny and boy, does she have the dirt. She tells her story well, she paints vivid portraits of her famous and less so friends. And the dish is delicious.
Parts were worthy of 4 stars, parts were worthy of zero. But I had a difficult time putting it down.
April 21, 2008
A memoir that comes across as self-conscious trumpet-blowing for herself and her many fine qualities! She places herself as an important player on the world stage sounding exaggerated at best. An insider, cosmopolitan, arts-loving woman in full bloom. It all has a certain disingenuous quality as if told through a rosy filter. Romanticized, bloated shallowness--
August 30, 2009
Fun read but this book begs for editing. Anyone that writes their life story and needs this many pages has to be a little full of themselves.
June 21, 2018
Overlong gossip columnist memoir. Some fun dish and behind the scenes stuff.
March 24, 2023
Eye-opening memoir that gets very gritty and manages to insult just about every famous person Liz Smith knew while also praising them. It's an odd tactic to tell dirty stories about big names and reveal secrets while she also admits to her own giant lack of ethics. All done for entertainment purposes and the big bucks she made spreading gossip.
Smith spends way too much time at the start of the book detailing her odd jobs (which surprisingly include a number of gigs as a television producer in the 1950s and 60s) as well as talking about her very dedicated Baptist mother. Smith admits she rebels at just about everything she was raised to believe, and for some reason she feels the need to use her memoir to brag about her many divorces, affairs (including with women), lies, deceptions, and in the saddest case her arranging to have an abortion for the girlfriend of married Candid Camera head Allen Funt.
Smith has no moral compass and proclaims herself a liberated Democrat. That should tell you enough right there, that she's willing to do anything to anyone in order to get what she wants or make money, all the while claiming to be kind-hearted. She's as bad as the many bosses she mentions in the book who are abusive and disgusting while promoting progressive ideas. The fact that she thinks this is good is the biggest shock of the autobiography.
There is a huge list of famous stars that she slams, then turns into faint praise when years later they "make up." This was also true of the men and women she worked for. Some of the stories are so shocking it's a surprise she didn't get sued, but most of the famous ones she spills the biggest dirt on are dead or were close to it by the time the book was published. Frank Sinatra, Mike Wallace, Helen Gurley Brown, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Joan Crawford, etc. The women tend to come off a bit better and she often insinuates lesbian situations (as well as just plain admitting to having a female lover) and she outs some gay guys, but she has no love for some of the men she tattles on. Let's just say that if you think the Kennedy males were good people then you might want to read some of these stories--they were horrible and no one should respect the Kennedy name. Harming lowly individuals and cheating on your wife while proclaiming to help women and the needy is disgusting.
Smith certainly likes to tell stories about how the rich and famous loved her. Some of it is hard to believe. Much of it comes across as a celebrity wanting to kiss up to a columnist who could make or break a career or project. But the worst is when Liz claims that all sorts of hot male stars came on to her, including Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. Right. She may have had a loose personality but to be blunt the photos in the book show that she was far from glamourous.
There is also way too much about New York City elitists--most of us won't know many of the NYC names she tosses about, nor care about them. Smith seems to want to try to impress her New York pals by tossing in names the rest of America hasn't heard of, but instead she needs to cut out a hundred pages of the long 450.
The biggest objection I have to the book is her calling herself a "journalist" when she lists all the illegal and unethical things she did in order to get stories. She's really a propagandist and should have been prosecuted for some of the tactics she used after this book came out. What's humorous about lying to officials, cheating your boss, breaking laws that the rest of us have to follow, misrepresenting yourself, or even spreading gossip that is often unverifiable?
If there's anything natural about this book it's not Liz Smith's blonde hair color; it's that her lack of morals, ethics or integrity make her a Natural Blah.
Smith spends way too much time at the start of the book detailing her odd jobs (which surprisingly include a number of gigs as a television producer in the 1950s and 60s) as well as talking about her very dedicated Baptist mother. Smith admits she rebels at just about everything she was raised to believe, and for some reason she feels the need to use her memoir to brag about her many divorces, affairs (including with women), lies, deceptions, and in the saddest case her arranging to have an abortion for the girlfriend of married Candid Camera head Allen Funt.
Smith has no moral compass and proclaims herself a liberated Democrat. That should tell you enough right there, that she's willing to do anything to anyone in order to get what she wants or make money, all the while claiming to be kind-hearted. She's as bad as the many bosses she mentions in the book who are abusive and disgusting while promoting progressive ideas. The fact that she thinks this is good is the biggest shock of the autobiography.
There is a huge list of famous stars that she slams, then turns into faint praise when years later they "make up." This was also true of the men and women she worked for. Some of the stories are so shocking it's a surprise she didn't get sued, but most of the famous ones she spills the biggest dirt on are dead or were close to it by the time the book was published. Frank Sinatra, Mike Wallace, Helen Gurley Brown, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Joan Crawford, etc. The women tend to come off a bit better and she often insinuates lesbian situations (as well as just plain admitting to having a female lover) and she outs some gay guys, but she has no love for some of the men she tattles on. Let's just say that if you think the Kennedy males were good people then you might want to read some of these stories--they were horrible and no one should respect the Kennedy name. Harming lowly individuals and cheating on your wife while proclaiming to help women and the needy is disgusting.
Smith certainly likes to tell stories about how the rich and famous loved her. Some of it is hard to believe. Much of it comes across as a celebrity wanting to kiss up to a columnist who could make or break a career or project. But the worst is when Liz claims that all sorts of hot male stars came on to her, including Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. Right. She may have had a loose personality but to be blunt the photos in the book show that she was far from glamourous.
There is also way too much about New York City elitists--most of us won't know many of the NYC names she tosses about, nor care about them. Smith seems to want to try to impress her New York pals by tossing in names the rest of America hasn't heard of, but instead she needs to cut out a hundred pages of the long 450.
The biggest objection I have to the book is her calling herself a "journalist" when she lists all the illegal and unethical things she did in order to get stories. She's really a propagandist and should have been prosecuted for some of the tactics she used after this book came out. What's humorous about lying to officials, cheating your boss, breaking laws that the rest of us have to follow, misrepresenting yourself, or even spreading gossip that is often unverifiable?
If there's anything natural about this book it's not Liz Smith's blonde hair color; it's that her lack of morals, ethics or integrity make her a Natural Blah.
April 12, 2020
I didn’t actually finish it because I was so tired of it by the last tenth of it I just couldn’t take it anymore. This woman was so in love with celebrities it made me dislike her. The only good part of the story was her life before going to New York. That’s was interesting. But all those names of people long dead whom nobody remembers! She even predicted Trump would be president and seemed to think it was a dandy idea. Blech.
October 28, 2017
This was a really great book. It told a story very quickly, very thoroughly, and kept right on moving. She is a pretty great gal. She touched on her experiences and left you wanting more. She dissed no one and I will believe everything she wrote. I will look for her other books. WhT a grand life.
June 26, 2019
Nonsense galore. Liz even met Trump !!!
However ... If you have time to kill, that's the book to read. If you like gossip of dead or faded celebrities, you will love it. I skipped most of it. I couldn't read it.
However ... If you have time to kill, that's the book to read. If you like gossip of dead or faded celebrities, you will love it. I skipped most of it. I couldn't read it.
Read
September 13, 2019Fun read if you like old time TV and movies
dnf
May 27, 2021I wanted to read this for Iris Love, famous archaeologist, but I had to DNF at around 60% when the author gets into her friendship with the Trumps.
February 24, 2022
Fascinating, honest, and humble.
April 18, 2023
Good solid memoir with fun anecdotes. Skipped over the Texas years and went straight to new York. She came across or knew just about everybody.
December 5, 2020
This book was a bear to read. Tightly wound and verbose, Liz Smith’s vocabulary , phrasing and references caused me to pause frequently to look up information. This was such a beautiful book full of advice on how to be. The name dropping got to be a bit much but it was done with a deep reverence for the people named. I am proud to have read this book. Also the “big names” of our generation are only just people. The last few chapters and last few pages of the book are the best.
June 22, 2009
This is just a fun read. Liz Smith, the "Grande Dame of Dish" has been writing a gossip column for decades and seems to know everyone in New York. This book looks back on her life and career in a very funny and self-effacing way. She chronicles her successes and her failures and admits that she found herself in some very uncomfortable situations over the years. I listened to this book in audio and Liz Smith read it. After hearing this book, I can see why she has so many friends among the society set.
July 28, 2011
I really liked reading about Liz Smith's life. She doesn't hold anything back. There are also pictures scattered though out the book. I didn't realize that Liz Smith was that old. To me she is the young snappy dresser that you see on the book cover. I've read her column in the newspaper and thought she was great. Liz Smith recounts her childhood in Texas and her adventures during World War II and into college. Liz's book is very entertaining and I recommended it for those who are curious about the private lives of the rich and famous.
May 9, 2009
This should be between a two and a three stars. Listened to it while cleaning house (a bit of fluff to occupy my mind while dusting, mopping, etc...) and was surpised by a good deal of the first half. I think I enjoyed it more hearing it in her voice than I would have reading it in book form.
September 26, 2010
A memoir written by one of the most enduring gossip columnists. Lots of inside info and some good stories. Liz comes off as being quite infatuated with herself; but she does seem to be as honest and upright as a gossip columnist is able to be.
March 21, 2008
this lady has lead a great , interesting, somewhat immoral life..surprised me
May 6, 2008
Just a mindless read about celebrities of days gone by...
June 20, 2010
This was a book that I gave up on somewhere in the middle of it. Got enough of it ands quit.
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
July 12, 2012
Fun read. I've always liked her.
June 19, 2013
written in 2000 i picked it up at library book sale and enjoyed all her stories.
February 27, 2015
Her story about meeting Frank Sinatra made me so smiley.
November 15, 2025
Fun read, I’ve always liked her.
December 7, 2010
Finally putting in the books I read this summer. This one was fun.
April 8, 2017
Ho hum.
Oddly dull, considering the author makes her living by writing and that her writing is on gossip.
I was surprised at how many times I thought to myself, "I guess you had to be there," in response to her narration of an allegedly wild and crazy party.
I was amused when she noted how something or another she wrote created a "sensation." Perhaps they created a sensation among certain cliques in Manhattan or the Hamptons, but they didn't hit my radar screen. Just goes to show how each of us is the center of our own universe.
Possibly the most irksome feature in the book was when she'd refer to "my friend so-and-so" [insert extremely interesting person's name here] in passing, without offering up any information about that person. Instead, she squandered many pages on the Trumps and others of that ilk.
She kept my interest most when she described her childhood and young adulthood.
Oddly dull, considering the author makes her living by writing and that her writing is on gossip.
I was surprised at how many times I thought to myself, "I guess you had to be there," in response to her narration of an allegedly wild and crazy party.
I was amused when she noted how something or another she wrote created a "sensation." Perhaps they created a sensation among certain cliques in Manhattan or the Hamptons, but they didn't hit my radar screen. Just goes to show how each of us is the center of our own universe.
Possibly the most irksome feature in the book was when she'd refer to "my friend so-and-so" [insert extremely interesting person's name here] in passing, without offering up any information about that person. Instead, she squandered many pages on the Trumps and others of that ilk.
She kept my interest most when she described her childhood and young adulthood.
November 27, 2017
This memoir made me realize Liz Smith was a damn good writer.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews