The Mommie Dearest Diary: Carol Ann Tells All

by Rutanya Alda

In this very private diary, Rutanya Alda ("Carol Ann") delves into the art, the business, and the wild milieu of American cinema by taking you behind the scenes of Mommie Dearest to tell her story of drama and disarray on and off the set. Rutanya frames her diary with anecdotes of Robert Altman, Joan Crawford, Brian De Palma, Bob Dylan, Elia Kazan, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Lee Strasberg, Barbra Streisand, and John Wayne, among others—a rich cast of her life's characters, who in turn entertain, illuminate, and ultimately weave Rutanya's life into Carol Ann's, setting the stage for you to vicariously live through the making of this cult classic, from her audition in the living room of director Frank Perry to the wrap party on the last day of shooting.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

165 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2015

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

In which Rutanya Alda relates ad nauseum how pretty she is, how sexy she is, how many times people told her how pretty she is, how she should stay away from Faye Dunaway because she looks too good, etc.
Oh, and how unprofessional Ms. Dunaway is too.
This hatchet job is to Faye Dunaway what Mommie Dearest was to Joan Crawford.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I randomly decided to rewatch Mommie Dearest, and, hey, the IMDB trivia told me that the actress who played Carol Ann wrote a memoir about it. It was on Kindle Unlimited, and I read it in one day.

Rutanya is a talented writer, though part of me wonders if she used a ghostwriter for the narrative bookends on either side of the play-by-play diary? Not because the diary is poorly written--it's not--but because the narrative bookends are just so well done? I don't mean to neg the author; it's just pretty common to co-write something like this. Whoever wrote the bulk of the narrative/backstory portions is great.

It was a bit odd to switch to the diary format at first because it was in present tense, and it felt like an inorganic format. When I journaled I always wrote about the day in past tense? It lent an air of artificiality to it at first and made me take pause more than once to wonder at it truly being a real diary from the time--but I have to go with trust on it I suppose. Once I got used to the writing style of the diary, it was very immersive and engrossing. I definitely feel like I got a peek behind the scenes on the movie and how it turned out the way it did.

Rutanya is generally a likeable "heroine" and you feel for her. She writes with a ton of feeling and depth about her life and not just things from the set, but personal stuff that went down with her husband (who was addicted to heroine and cocaine at the time). It's clear she takes her profession very seriously, took her role in the movie very seriously, and had to deal with a lot of shit.

But. There was an... undercurrent of self-aggrandizing narcissism that I did not miss. It was subtle, but to me telling. Ultimately I was left with a slightly bad taste in my mouth--nothing dire, but enough to dock a star--that the book was very much one-sided from a narrator I'm not entirely sure I can trust. I fully recognize this is in large part because I live in Hollywood and I know a lot of creative types who do the same kind of humble and barely-humble-at-all bragging about their accomplishments, hey day, beauty, etc.... in such a way that there's an edge of delusion to it? The author goes OUT of her way to point out to us all the specific praise she drew in movie reviews, accolades she earned, mostly for movies and roles that no one has heard of 40 years later. She talks over and over again about how she "let" the makeup department "play down" her incredible beauty so that Faye wouldn't get jealous and have her fired... and looking at photos of her from the time, she's a striking woman, but in particular the passage where she goes on and on about doing her headshots in the white suit and how a man on set said he'd do her, basically, because she looked so hot? IT WAS WEIRD Y'ALL.

Meaning: I think the author is a certain kind of has-been who's probably perfectly nice(ish), but has a streak of narcissism to them that makes them an unreliable narrator of sorts. Yeah Faye's a nightmare, but it's also very convenient that every story in the book plays into how talented Rutanya was, how everyone praised her acting, how she gave such good performances despite Faye stealing her shots but then they were CUT! She's so beautiful Faye was jealous. She KNEW all these A list actors, and she will name drop them in the book! I know more than a few people in Hollywood like this and they're rather sad, really. Completely incapable of seeing objective reality of their talents/history, and locked into a cycle of blaming others for why they never broke out.

[smcdonaldpoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading Rutanya Alda's wonderful book 'The Mommie Dearest Diaries: Carol Ann Tells All!'. I really enjoyed it. It's truly a love letter of sorts to every dyed-in-the-wool fan of not only 'Mommie Dearest' but the actress that played 'Carol Ann', Rutanya Alda. It's a fascinating look at what it's like to be working on a major Hollywood film at what was, arguably, the tail end of an era. Rutanya is generous in honestly sharing not only the details of her experiences on this film but on other films, too, as well as her private life. I loved reading about her working (and friendship) with the late, great Barbara Loden (her film 'Wanda' which Barbara wrote, starred and directed in 1970 being one of my favourite films). It's really a great read and brings back memories of those of us who are old enough to remember reading 'Mommie Dearest' when it first came out and just dying to go to the film when we heard it was being made. I was one of those folks and was there the first Friday evening it opened and the way Rutanya describes the reaction the audience had was perfect and mirrored my own. Thanks so much Rutanya for sharing your memories with us all in your fantastic book!

[Aaron Heinsman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While certainly playing up the cult of Mommie Dearest, this is actually a poignant and revealing glimpse inside the heart and mind of a working actor: the hopes, dreams, kindnesses, disappointments, anger, betrayals, and heartbreaks. It's not a polished thing, but that was part of its charm to me. With intrigue and banality in equal measure, this will scratch your itch for learning more about how the legendarily camp movie came to be, derailed from being a dramatic biopic in the mold of Golda or Coal Miner's Daughter primarily by the shenanigans of its star--caused by insecurities, arrogance, drug use, or most likely a blend of all three. I found it both moving and entertaining in its straightforward simplicity.

[David Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rutanya Alda will forever hold a special place in camp movie heaven for her supporting role as the loyal Carol Ann in the debacle known as "Mommie Dearest." The majority of this book is the diary she kept during the making of MD. Little bits of good dish here and there but, for the most part, what a snooze.

"Rain. Get up at 7:30am because I thought I heard the phone. Went back to sleep. Get up again at 11:30. Fix steak and eggs, shower, head to Janet Sartin for skin care. Eva gets her skin analyzed. We go to Paramount to pick up my check, then have Pizza. Head back. Paul J. stops in. Go to Harrison Starr's for dinner. First to arrive, last to leave. Home by 2am. Andy called." I'm sorry, who on earth would be interested in this?? Can we have more about how awful Barbra Streisand was on the set of "Hello Dolly" when you were her stand in?

Note to self publishers: I think it is incredible that this venue exists. What a great opportunity for authors to share their work. But I am shocked by the number of self published books I have read (and paid for!!) which have typos! Grammatical errors!! Spelling mistakes! Shameful. If you are going to publish your own book, hire an editor first (this means you, Rutanya).

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm beginning to love diaries. I love how democratic they can be with life events, such as this entry for 1/20/1980: "Pick up my personal photos of Christmas and Halloween from photo store. Back to Paramount for screening at 6pm of test shots [...] My middle age make-up looks most effective [...] Faye is very upset about her wig being too red and she is letting everyone know about it. Go to King King Chinese restaurant for dinner, then buy Whisker Lickins for Kukums [the author's beloved cat staying at the Chateau Marmont] like I promised. Watch the inauguration and Iranian hostage release story throughout the day." After having finished this book, I can see the origins of several storylines: Kukums' food-related health problems, drama with the author's photos and camera, the ordeal of being put in old age make-up only to get her closeups cut when the production ran behind schedule (or getting put into old age makeup for scenes in which Faye refused to have any done on herself), and of course, Faye's constant awfulness/insecurity undermining the hair/makeup/costuming, which in turn undermined the movie, which in turn affected the public's perception of Joan Crawford for decades to come. And oh yeah, the beginning of Reagan's presidency which changed the course of American politics, and the resolution of the crisis which was probably the nail in the coffin for Carter's presidency.

When Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty got caught in the great "Moonlight"/"La La Land" Best Picture gaffe, I said: "Everybody in this town has a Faye Dunaway story...now we all have the same story!" The first Faye Dunaway story I ever heard was from a wardrobe assistant who said she had to buy two of every dress for her, one in size 4, one in size 8, and then had to remove the size 4 label and sew it in to the size 8 dress. My friend Lyle has stories about her trying to rent her own movies from Video West in West Hollywood. When I was trained at a Landmark theater in Beverly Hills it was 1) how to clean the popcorn popper, 2) how to direct patrons to find parking, and 3) what to do if Faye Dunaway showed up. There was a button under the box office desk that would alert the manager in the office upstairs that there was either a robbery or Faye Dunaway in progress in the lobby.

This diary portrays the breakdown of a major film production. The director is afraid of the star, had tried to get her fired but the expensive costumes had already been made (although many were subsequently ruined by Faye's personal wardrobe assistant, even though they were made by 5-time Oscar winning costume designer Irene Sharaff, who came out of retirement for the picture, as she had costumed Crawford many times back in the day). The other actors get scenes cut, lines of dialogue stolen by Faye, and always have to do their closeups with the script supervisor because Faye will not stay on set once her shots are done. Days run into overtime frequently, causing budgetary problems that get resolved by cutting whole sequences, and the crew becomes very disgruntled and compelled to hurry through anything not involving Faye. It is at this point in the diary when everyone starts telling Rutanya their Faye stories.

When Irene Sharaff quits, she tells Rutanya, "I have never in my whole career been treated as badly by anyone as by this drug addict. You have to throw a piece of meat into her dressing room before you go in there."

Rutanya recalls her good friend (and wife of Elia Kazan) Barbara Loden who said that when she starred in Arthur Miller's "After the Fall" (based on his relationship with Marilyn Monroe) and Faye Dunaway was her understudy, "Faye was always up in the rafters screwing somebody and wondered if she ever paid attention to what was going on with the performance that she was supposed to be understudying."

Faye's own personal makeup artist tells Rutanya how he had left Faye alone for two weeks on the set of "The Champ" and returned to find her 20 pounds heavier and needing to go to a fat farm for a week. She had just stayed in her hotel room and ate. Her skin was thin and very sensitive to age makeup because of the rapid weight fluctuations.

Meanwhile, other things in the world happen. Reagan is inaugurated and the hostages are released, as noted above. Then Reagan is shot. There's a massive, multi-day estate auction of Pickfair which Rutanya and her partner Richard Bright attend. Rutanya runs into Robert De Niro in LA as they prep for "King of Comedy" and he wins the Best Actor Oscar the next week. Carol Burnett wins her landmark case against The National Enquirer.

But Rutanya soldiers on. Her boyfriend Richard struggles with addiction to heroin (and sometimes cocaine) which comes to a head at the end of her time on this set. To try to escape her tumultuous life, she throws herself into the role of Carol Ann, but this involves her being as faithful to Faye as Carol Ann (a fictional composite character) was to Joan, trying very hard hard not to get upset with Faye. By the end, however, she feels as abused as everyone else. This is often considered the film that ruined Faye's career, but I propose that it was Faye who ruined the film, and her reputation as a monster was cemented with this film, which then made it unlikely she would get another film with so much riding on her. She had almost always been part of an ensemble, perhaps mitigating the damage she could cause, and here she was the whole show.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw "Mommie Dearest" once years ago and pretty much put it out of mind, but Rutanya Alda's memoir is about more than the challenging production which brought about the cult classic. It gives you a look into the biz that only an insider can provide. Rutanya has navigated her way through the often crazy world of big-budget filmmaking for nearly half a century, and even the less interesting days in her journey are described in entertaining and informative fashion. I appreciated reading it.

[Kmystraveler · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting and fun read! I highly recommend ordering this self published book. Rutanya gives an inside look into the making of movies- and this camp fave. I love the details of the make-up, costume, camera work that are so necessary for movie magic and what makes an actor or actress generous? Unfortunately, Faye did a hatchet job on Joan Crawford as well as her fellow actors. What goes around comes around. Can't wait for the movie about "Faye"

[N · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a serious reader of literature, and English teacher- in these Covid times, during off hours, a little trashy read does not hurt. I do not consider reading Ms. Alda's diary a guilty pleasure- it was indeed a pleasure to read about her behind the scenes account of acting in one of filmdom's most infamous campfests- none other than Mommie Dearest, the film version of actress Christina Crawford's accounts of her abusive life with her mother, the famous, or infamous but still beloved: the fascinating, legendary Oscar winning Joan Crawford!

Ms. Alda writes about what it's like to be a starving, journeyman actress, who though with some successes- "The Deer Hunter" for example; was hoping that Mommie Dearest would've have been her big break. But being in a movie with an egomaniac like Faye Dunaway- with all her campy scenery chewing, insecurities, temper and horrible treatment of others, the behind the scenes look at how perhaps it was Ms. Dunaway's own doing that caused the film to become sabotaged from serious Oscar bait biopic into one of Hollywood's most infamous misfires- turning this film into the camp classic it is, especially with gay audiences like myself who is fascinated by the fierceness of the memory Joan Crawford left behind; and the insanity of the equally talented but sadistic actress who played Joan as an aging drag queen, complete with Kabuki like posturing and laughably funny scenes that are meant to be unfunny and horrifying again and again.

Fans of Mommie Dearest- both the book and the film will love how Ms. Alda recounts juicy details not only of Ms. Dunaway's erratic behavior on the set, but how cast, crew and production members were abused by the allegedly egomaniac Ms. Dunaway because of her determination to humiliate anyone who does not bend to her will, including a weak director who does not tighten the reins on his out of control diva. But its a good, pleasure read, filled with juicy gossip, anecdotes, and for those who want to savor the worlds of divas galore like Joan Crawford, and Faye Dunaway.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book that is not so much a hatchet job of Faye Dunaway than a portrait of the life of a working actress. The daily schedule sounded very tedious. The production of this film seemed like a train wreck, in part due to Faye Dunaway's quest for control. The director and producer seemed afraid of her. I enjoyed the book.

[Randall David Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some choice moments, but overall, a bit disappointing. It really is just the diary of Ms. Alda, thus just her limited perspective in a far more interesting story. Though honest, the diary isn't quite sufficiently detailed. For example, she mentions she called Robert DeNiro to wish him luck at the Oscars, and that she was a little jealous of her co-star Diana Scarwid for also being nominated at the time, then later mentions that she watched the Oscars, with no response to the fact that that's the year DeNiro won Best Actor! How did she feel?

Faye Dunaway was clearly running the set like Cleopatra, but most details of this behavior aren't included. More is needed, and more is definitely wanted.

[Reginald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mommie Dearest Diary: Carol Ann Tells All..... is to me, a provocative, yet entertaining read. As many may remember the the Book, made into a Motion Picture, "Mommie Dearest", Carol Ann, Joan Crawfords, Personal Assistant (especially at home), provides some daily details in the life of Joan which she viewed 'first hand'..... I believe that many will actually enjoy this read...

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

You're only reading this because you're a Mommie Dearest fan. Light, bitchy fun, despite the fact the reading is bookended with the tragic elements of Ms. Alda's life (for instance, she had an inestimably worse childhood than Christina Crawford). Seems like everyone in Hollywood cheats on their spouse. Not a shock. Nice read for when your brain needs a break.

[Reader66 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great example of how candid an author can be when he/she has nothing to lose!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publishing a diary kept while making the infamous Mommie Dearest is a canny business movie, but a little bit of extra effort might have made this much more impressive. Parts of Rutanya's diary are fascinating and insightful, others are drab and too removed from the rest of the narrative to do anything but grind the reader to a halt. Adding extra passages, annotations and recollections to round out the diary would have been game-changing.

This book does present a good argument as to why Mommie Dearest failed - and let's face it, that's why we're reading this. In short: Faye Dunaway was given too much influence by a cowardly production management team. But it never quite becomes the central tenet of the book, which it should have been.

The most fascinating thing I found about it was the contrasts it presented about life working as an actress in Hollywood in the 80s. Rutanya spends her days frantically networking. Whether that means kissing up to friends she hasn't seen in months or years and may never see again, passively enabling drug dealers, or flirting to the brink of sexual assault with directors and producers, she'll do it. It's all just part of the business for her as a relatively unknown, jobbing actress.

Faye Dunaway, at the other end of the spectrum, bullies and coerces, and exerts extraordinary influence over the entire production in a way that has long-term consequences. In many respects, I think this would make for a great miniseries.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker when it comes to Mommie Dearest, the movie and the book. So when I found this when thrifting one day I had to give it a read. I wanted to know of the happenings on the set - since there were many. What better way to hear it from the actress who played Carol Ann.

I enjoyed it. The actress herself is interesting for the films she has been in and the actors and actresses she has met. I would be interested in reading more but it appears that all she really wanted to highlight on was Mommie Dearest. After that she didn't really act all that much.

No surprise that Faye was difficult. Being that I am familiar with her run ins with Andrew Lloyd Webber, she always seems to grab for the roles where she is some sort of a diva or demanding woman. Here, she comes across flighty and shades of someone who may have bipolar. Having her highs and downs. I also had no idea how many people back behind the scenes either came out of retirement that worked with Joan Crawford to make this film. Yet, Faye just steam-rolled them all. The makeup-artist, the costume designer, some of the staff were booted from handling her directly. Yet the actress herself was rather humble.

I recommend it as a quick mini-bio to read and if you're a fan of the film. You learn some things, not ness. about the movie but how people are in Hollywood.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the first part of the book, Alda talks about her early life and work. I enjoyed this part the most since she had minor roles and worked as a stand-in on some good movies with interesting people. The second half is the diary she kept while playing Joan Crawford's servant/assistant in Mommie Dearest. Faye Dunaway comes off as a total diva. It was interesting to see Alda's attempts to use Dunaway's actions to fuel her role, figuring that her character would have to be supportive and subservient to an overbearing actress. Or Alda might have enjoyed being a doormat. A hefty part of the diary deals with her drug addict husband who kept stealing her money and forgetting to pick her up since he had her car. She mentions at the end that they separated about a decade later, but she stayed married to that jerk until his death in 2006.

[Eric Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The day to day of making a movie was interesting, but also a tad boring (as it probably is in life half the time, so okay fine). What I’m mostly left with is how the author (the most brilliant and sweet and stunningly gorgeous actress you never heard of, if she is to be believed) wanted to tell the world what a nightmare Faye Dunaway was, but ended up revealing more about her own narcissism and delusions of grandeur. Are all actors like this after a while? Is this what Hollywood does to people? There was certainly a lot to ponder while reading Ms. Alda’s diaries, but probably not the questions she was trying to raise.

[Leon Acord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book could have easily devolved into a diva bitch-fest. But Ms. Alda shows true restraint. More than I would have shown if I had to work with a nightmare like Ms. Dunaway. A must-have for fans of the film, but also invaluable insight for actors on what it's like to be a jobbing actor. I highly recommend this one!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.

This is one of my favorite movies so it was fun to read about it behind the scenes. However, it’s strictly taken from the diary and doesn’t have lots of detailed stories, just generalizations from the day and some instances of people relating to Rutanya their negative encounters with Faye. The pace is very fast.

[Mark Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-done

I wasn't familiar with Rutanya's work, but I've heard enough people say in interviews (i.e., Bette Davis on The Tonight Show) that Faye Dunaway was the one person they would never work with again that I was intrigued when I saw the book. Well-done, and she sensitively deals with her own difficulties (life with a drug addict).

[Matthew Fitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not just a fun read for fans of the film but a great look at process of filmmaking and an actors life. The only knock I have on the book is I wish there was more. Hopefully she’ll write another book eventually

[James Siejak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and full of information about the making of the cult classic film Mommie Dearest.

[Glenn Finley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! Fast, funny, sad. Every emotion that the movie ,Mommy Dearest, put us trough and then some.

[Robbie-Ann McPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!

Wonderful insight into the life of an actor at that time, and a really interesting read. Like running into someone and asking what that shoot was like.

[Ron Popp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down. Not as “gossipy” as one might wish, but an interesting diary from a supporting actor in the film and her personal life while filming the movie.

[Gary Cabana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great inside-the-movie-biz tale based on the real-life adventures of veteran actress Rutanya Alda as she tackles the role of lifetime as 'Carol Ann', the put-upon asst. to Screen Legend Joan Crawford (as played by the very-much-method-y actress Faye Dunaway). The cruelty of working under a paranoid superstar who practically edited out every other perf in the film (including most of Ms. Alda's work) is both horrifying and educational. ALL young actors should read this book before entertaining thoughts of seeking a life on the Silver Screen. Ms. Alda is very candid about her early life rising thru the Hollywood ranks and one can only wonder how much further she would have gone had she not run into that Oscar-block Faye Dunaway. MUST-READ for anyone with only an inkling of Hollywood really works on set.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Currently retailing at £13 , this slim paperback is not worth the money. I was very disappointed at the often mundane nature of Rutanya's diary...things like what she had to eat, which fancy restaurant or theatre she went to that night. Who cares? There's only one thing most of the readership want to know & that's just how much of a bitch Faye Dunaway was to work with? Whilst Rutanya makes her thoughts clear on this matter there is scant detail. You could probably condense the juicy gossip in this book to 4 or 5 pages, the rest is mostly filler.