My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir

by Shirley MacLaine

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “This book is like nothing you’ve read before about the world of movies—written by a movie star.”—Liz Smith

An Academy Award-winning actress and the internationally bestselling author of Out on a Limb delivers her touching, warm, and headline-making memoir. In My Lucky Stars Shirley MacLaine talks candidly and personally about her four decades in Hollywood, especially about the men and women—her “lucky stars”—who touched and challenged her life.

“[Maclaine is] an engaging storyteller. . . . Breezy and entertaining.”— The New York Times Book Review

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, Film

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 25, 1995

About the author

Shirley MacLaine is an actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed, and eccentric women, she has received numerous accolades over her seven-decade career, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, six Golden Globes, and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Apart from acting, MacLaine has written numerous books regarding the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, and reincarnation, as well as a New York Times bestselling memoir, Out On a Limb.

Reviews

[Deodand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Shirley. She takes art very seriously, yet she is not very serious about life. I also think she is an excellent actress, having seen nearly all of her films. She is very candid in this memoir - more so than other contemporaneous actresses. You get the feeling that it is actually her behind the words instead of a ghost writer.

Plus there's some pretty good gossip in this one. You can skim the metaphysical chat without ruining the reading experience.

[Valerie Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was okay. Some good Hollywood dish, but somewhat jumbled up to make this sometimes nothing more than Ms. Shirley's ramblings. I was confused on her lover/closeness/losing my heart.Did this mean that she went to bed with them, that they were her BFF'S, or what?

I had read about her marriage before and I was utterly shocked at how she revealed her marriage. As for her metaphysical stuff - well, we all need something :)

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Shirley MacLaine, one of our enduring Hollywood stars (she's great on Downton Abbey!). This book is well-written and gives many insights into life as a star, and all the other stars she encountered along the way. Shirley can be a tad too metaphysical for me, but overall, a good read.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Shirley, no matter what life she's in.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

She writes extremely well, is funny and dishes some dirt

[Leanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not too familiar with Shirley’s career. I did enjoy several of her movies after she transitioned from starlet to playing more aging character roles. I loved this book as it was about the business of Hollywood and Shirley’s interactions with the entertainment business. She is a keen observer of people and things. She also has many opinions on her observations and they are pretty interesting. Her thoughts on who holds power in Hollywood were definitely illuminating to me. I also was interested in how the business has changed over time. I found that part especially fascinating because what she says is just her perspective, but she backs up how she got to that perspective with her logic on her observations.

This is a book about Shirley’s work surroundings and people who crossed her path. It’s titled appropriately. It’s a Hollywood memoir, not a Shirley focused memoir. You can kind of glean a lot about Shirley from her observations and I was satisfied with her writing. There’s a subtle twist in how she captures moments she experienced and then works out her opinion on it based on her background. I think if I were to tell the events in my life, I would do it very similar to this. Tell you what I saw, what I think I experienced and then give you a shoulder shrug, like maybe I think differently about it now with some time under my belt.

Here’s something I noticed early on in the writing - if you want chronological order, then you will be disappointed. From the very beginning, she talks about her first job with Martin and Lewis, but then you get a montage of experiences with both men that happened at different points in her life. She’s a storyteller that has connected experiences with people, but you can’t figure out the time element. At one point, she was touring with Sinatra in 1992 and distilling her thoughts on what transpired and she takes a turn in this chapter to talk about Sinatra Jr. getting kidnapped and sending her daughter, Sachi, to her father in Japan. I had to put down the book and go look at when Sinatra Jr was kidnapped and it was 1963 - uh, my reader’s head is still in the 1992 story. I was forgiving of her time hops as she kept the story interesting.

The majority of the book (except for a few chapters at the end) is about Shirley’s reel life, which I thoroughly enjoyed and found fascinating. She covers her work with an eye on how the Hollywood machine operates and it is super interesting. The last couple of chapters of the book, Shirley writes about her real life - her marriage, her spiritual journey, and her deeper thoughts on life. This is where I felt like she was revealing her coping mechanism for the dysfunction in her life and all I could think is that she had clarity in her work life, but her personal life reflections are delusional and she uses delusion to cope with the choices she made. She also changes from writing of her work experiences with a discriminating eye to what appeared to me to be a preachy mode on her personal life choices.

I reserved this book and her daughter’s book through the library system, so I will start “Lucky Me’ (Sachi’s book) right after this. I picked this book of Shirley’s out of the pile of others because I think it was the best glimpse of Shirley before reading the daughter’s memoir. I think from what I have heard of her daughter’s book, she will probably provide the truer and more detailed picture of Shirley’s personal life (unless Sachi is so dysfunctional from her own life that she is mentally blocked from making sense of her mom).

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things I learned from this book:
• Shirley started as a Broadway dancer.
• Shirley MacLaine worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, Bob Fosse, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Jack Lemmon, and of course all of the amazing women in Steel Magnolias.
• Debra Winger sounds like a fucking lunatic, but everyone seems to chalk her absurd behavior up as her creative process. Like, *eyeroll* actor kind of dismissal. I'd have smacked that idiot bitch.
• Shirley, Frank and Dean would perform in front of audiences, a kind of in-person revue.
• Warren Beatty is Shirley's younger brother.
• She is, as of this review, 90 years old.
• She is weirdly into metaphysics.
• When she was married and making movies it was common in Hollywood to have open relationships because spouses usually didn't live in the same city their whole careers. Shirley's husband lived in Japan for a significant chunk of their marriage and she had.. her fill of extra men.
• Her husband stole her money and basically got away with it. Millions of Shirley's money was transferred to offshore accounts over many years. When they divorced a judge ruled that Shirley would need to continue to split future earnings with her husband down the middle to allow him to continue the lifestyle he was accustomed to, even though the lifestyle he was accustomed to was built on theft. They apparently reached a (still rather generous) agreement, but he got away with it.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jag har läst alla hennes tidig böcker, där hon vänder ut och in på sig själv, sin karriär och sitt psyke. Så varför väntade jag så många år på att läsa den här? Tja, jag såg väl inte meningen med att gräva mer i den biten ... Men, vad fel jag hade. Den här gången (redan nästan 30 år sedan) vände hon ut och in - inte på sig själv - utan på Hollywood, hela filmindustrin - då (50-60-tal) och nu (dvs när boken skrevs 1995), motspelare och vänner. Och som alltid en psykologisk djupdykning. Inte kronologiskt, för det här handlar inte främst om Shirley. I stället är kapitlen koncentrerade kring olika teman.

Shirley MacLaines skriver alltid själv, det är hennes egna psykologiska insikter, och mycket skickligt formulerat. Så det här var 'inte' en onödig bok, den tillförde mer, även om jag kanske inte hade velat veta allt ...

[Elvis2 · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like rambling, disjointed, and incoherent writing, this is the book for you. I constantly had to reread sentences in an attempt to understand what she was talking about. Many years ago I read a couple of her books and enjoyed them but I was young and not as discerning as I am now.

The chapter about the filming of Terms of Endearment should be required reading for anyone who chooses Hollywood stars as their idols. I'm not a physician but I'll make an assessment of Debra Winger. Crazy. Shirley is not far behind. Just reading about how Shirley behaved as a child was disturbing.

PS Since some reviewers have lauded her performance in Downton Abbey, I'll take this opportunity to say that she was terribly miscast.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first memoir I've read from Shirley MacLaine and i was so impressed with how insightful she was on everything - from the industry, to the Hollywood dream, to her coworkers and to herself. It's also amazing what she didn't pick up on, but its always easier to diagnose somebody else than it is yourself in some ways. I initially picked this up for the Martin & Lewis facts, stayed for the Dino and Sinatra facts, and then was riveted until the end with every fascinating person she encountered (Mitchum!).

[Kaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've taken in a lot from this book. somethings I understand & something's I have not had enough experiences to understand. Shirley MacLaine is very different as a person & the other roles she's taken. She seems to have achieved what I wish I will In the future to get to the core of the lessons from the challenges that have appeared. I will definitely come back & read this book again in a couple years & find new meanings to the lessons she has given to then apply it to my own.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting memoir by Shirley MacLaine. I have to admit I was mainly focused on the story behind Terms of Endearment and to read more about what went on during filming. That part of the book was absolutely fascinating and Shirley MacLaine had interesting insights into her costars, the director, and the filming process. The rest of the book wasn't as interesting for me, but this chapter was fantastic.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written semi-biographical book of Shirley MacLaine. I have had it on my bookshelf for what seems like forever, but finally decided to read it. I did enjoy her perspective of Hollywood from the 60’s and her opinions. Well written - I just didn’t like that she spent the first part of the book on Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra- way more than the rest of the parts of the book. Other than that, a worthwhile read!

[Heather Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, def a 4.5 star. I saw Shirley MacLaine on stage when I was young, influenced by my Mom and my Aunt I grew up loving her work. Granted she’s a bit quirky but she embraces it and jokes about it and just lives life to her fullest. The back stories in some of her long time friendships were fascinating.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of her life and those of the stars that she knew as only Shirley MacLaine can tell it. Very candid, full of her own insights, and tales of when she was young and inexperienced, all the way through to middle age and beyond. She has other memoirs and books that I would like to read, too!

[Natalie Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is maybe my favorite of her books. I enjoy all the stories of old Hollywood, the behind the scenes peeks at the movies she has made, the tales of her co-stars both good and bad. Her love affairs! This one hits the perfect mix of a Shirley book with some of the metaphysical and some of the Hollywood, a good balance.

[Cynthia Bemis Abrams · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a keen observer of people and subsequently, herself. MacLaine wrote this when she was 60. In 2024, she's 90. Her stories of others and thoughts about life, love and the human condition are fascinating and honest. Really, really recommend.

[Dee O'Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner. A great and fun read.

Loved Shirley honesty and unabashed facts. She is very very bright and forthcoming. Great read. Met her years ago st a NASA space launch. Very friendly and witty. Have been s fan for years.

[Heaven Claussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book so quickly cause I couldn't put it down! Peoples lives are so interesting to me.

[Joseph Cherian · Rating 3 out of 5]

SHE flew over the cuckoo's nest!

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea the wild life she lives. Very train of thought written and bounces all over the place, but in a conversational way.

Juicy Hollywood insights

[Lucy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shirley's best book I fear

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on this once I googled her and found out she believes in past lives and aliens and other weird stuff. Too bad I googled her, because I was like 78% into it when I did, but I just couldn't finish knowing that's what was coming.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shirley Maclaine - Her Life- back in the 1990's I read this one back in 2011, In My Lucky Stars Shirley MacLaine talks candidly and personally about her four decades in Hollywood, especially about the men and women--her "lucky stars"--who touched and challenged her life. It's a great autobiography., I've always liked her over the many decades in movies, etc..

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always thought Shirley Maclaine to be an interesting person, although I haven't read any of her other books. This is a memoir of her years in Hollywood and on Broadway, from her early career to her later movies. I think she believed that her readers would be most interested in her friendships and relationships with actors like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Robert Mitchum, but I found her stories about her female colleagues to be much more interesting, without the long descriptions of romances (or lack thereof). For someone unfamiliar with Maclaine's movies (I haven't seen most of them), and too young to remember the Rat Pack and the movies of the 1950s and 1960s, this book may not be of interest at all. When she actually describes her career, rather than going into the details of relationships or waxing philosophic or psychoanalytic about people, the book held my interest more. I get the feeling that she is her main audience, which left me restless and wondering if it was worth finishing the book. It probably wasn't, although I did.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago and wanted to read again. Shirley MacLaine writes of her career on stage then her 40 years in movies. This book was written in 1995 so her movies she writes of are up until then. The shares the ups and downs of her career. Mentions the actors and some of the actresses she has worked with. I liked this book. Found it pretty good.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and gossipy memoir of show biz days with all the scoop on Frankie, Jerry, Sammy and Dean included.

[Temptress2536 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get a lot of dirt on stars during this stars reign. Filled with gossip, growth, and film stars.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's entertaining on screen and on paper.

[Keri Murcray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning more about Shirley Maclaine's Hollywood journey. Her stories were interesting and well written and I loved all the pictures.