A Dreadful Man: The Story of Hollywood's Most Original Cad, George Sanders

by Brian Aherne, George Sanders (Contributor), Benita Hume (Contributor)

In 1972, Broadway and movie actor George Sanders committed suicide at the age of 65 because, he wrote in a note he left, "I am bored." Brian Aherne, himself a famous and distinguished actor, was one of Sanders'close friends. In this intimate biography, he takes us into the private life of an amazingly talented star whose unpredictable behavior and brash temperament often led the author to joke that he was "a dreadful man," but who was nonetheless capable of genuine kindness and compassion. Sanders was undeniably a remarkable character As a young man in the Argentine, he shot a man in a duel. While living in California, he was offered the lead in the Broadway production of South Pacific after spending $5,000 to make a record of himself singing "Some Enchanted Evening" and sending it to Rodgers and Hammerstein, only to turn the role down. Always obsessed with escaping taxes, he turned his life into a continual worldwide excursion and lost over a million dollars in speculative business deals. Aherne recalls Sanders' brief, stormy and often hilarious marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor, his long and happy marriage to Benita Colman, his sad deterioration and tragic death. A Dreadful Man is a splendid examination of a complex and fascinating personality. At the same time, it is a touching and extraordinary book about the friendships in a group of exceptionally gifted, talented and charming Sanders, mercurial, quixotic and moody; Benita Hume, Ronald Colman's widow, who eventually married Sanders; and Brian Aherne himself, not to mention a cast of equally distinguished players, who move through this brilliant narrative and those remarkable, lively and fascinating letters with wit and con brio.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Anglo-American stage and screen actor.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really adore this book. I love Brian Aherne as an actor and of course was fascinated by his long-time friend, George Sanders. The book is not really a biography at all. It is a series of letters exchanged between Sander's wife Benita Hume Colman and Brian Aherne. While the enigmatic character of George Sanders is somewhat illuminated, we learn a lot more about Aherne and Benita. It paints a fascinating picture of a middle-aged couple who've had multiple marriages trying to muddle through life and a complicated friendship between two insecure, talented men.

[Frederic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficial,mildly diverting memoir about minor stars in the ci-devant Hollywood firmament...not a biography of George Sanders but rather a reflection on the last thirty years of his life through the eyes of Brian Aherne and Benita Hume...

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky biography of actor George Sanders, by fellow British actor Brian Aherne. The two were friends for many years. "A Dreadful Man" was a phrase Sanders used to describe himself at times. The book consists of letters back and forth between the men (and the largest number of letters in the book come from Sanders' wife Benita Hume (married to Ronald Colman until his death, then she married Sanders) to Brian and his wife. Aherne would add explanatory and narrative material between the letters.


The letters span the 40s, 50s, and 60s and right up until Sanders' suicide in 1972. I found the book intriguing as a lover of old movies and George Sanders was one of my many favorites.


**#28 of 100 books I have pledged to read/review during 2015**

[k · Rating 3 out of 5]

George Sanders: a delightful and horrible man.

[Susann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and a bit of an insight into George Sanders...but not much. It was formatted primarily by letters from his wife, Benita Hume, to Aherne with a few from George himself. The book should really be called, Letters by Benita Hume Reporting on Her Chirpy Life with George. They were apparently happy together which gives the lie to his supposed caddish behavior...sort of. Much of the beginning of the book seemed to be Aherne talking about his acting career which created a very slow start into the meat of the story. A strange format but nonetheless full of nice gossip about various celebrities and some quite clever verbiage in epistolary form. Sad ending.

[Larry Sampson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this from a used book store. It's a book I have wanted to read for years. Sadly I did not really get into the book the. It was a series of letters between the author, George Sanders, and several of their friends. I found no real narrative through out the book. I did find two interesting very old book marks belonging to who ever owned the book before me. That was the most interesting thing about the book for me.

[Newarkf1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a book about George Sanders. It’s is a book almost completely comprised of letters from Brita Hume, one of George’s wives. There are occasional mentions of George as to how he relates to the author and Brita, but it is primarily a book of Brita’s incessant name-dropping and pompous, racist babble. Don’t waste your time.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of the letters B. Hume to Brian Aherne.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book about George Sanders I had never seen one before, I remember him in old movies he always had a regal appearance, looked good but not a lot of depth, its sad to say his real life was like the characters he played.
But as far as the book was concerned Brian Aherne seemed more concerned with himself than the subject, I read the book, well, towards the end just perused it. Mostly it was copies of letters between their wives. As an author for a friend Brian Aherne was a major disappointment.

[Calvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Aherne, the author, was a B-actor who was one of the best friends Sanders ever had. You wonder how tounge-in-cheek the effort is, as Sanders dearly wanted to be thought of as the complete "cad" he was in his films.

All in all though an interesting read about the only Oscar winner to marry not one, but two Gabor sisters.

[Jeanette]

Good thing it's older and only cost me about buck. It was like looking for the chicken in a boardinghouse stew.

[Ian Laird]

Dreadful book, not worth rating.

[Ria Pierce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very interesting. I read half the book then decided not to waste anymore time on it.