Breaking the Silence

by Mariette Hartley, Anne Commire

Overview

Mariette Hartley's Polaroid commercials with James Garner and her Emmy Award-winning television performances have made her one of America's favorite stars. But hidden behind her high good humor was a family legacy of abuse, suicide, and alcoholism that nearly destroyed her. Growing up the privileged granddaughter of pioneering psychologist John B. Watson, who preached that children should never be kissed, hugged, or even touched, Mariette went from days of martinis, tweeds, and roses in suburban Connecticut to madcap nights in Hollywood, outwardly leading a charmed life. Inside, though, her family secrets and abusive husband were pushing her toward tragedy. Filled with wit, humanity and marvelous inside stories of Hollywood and television, Breaking the Silence is the story of Mariette's triumphant journey to hope, courage and a happy new life-a work as warm and engaging as the woman herself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780615316949
Publisher:	Cavu Productions
Publication date:	01/27/2010
Pages:	286
Sales rank:	660,570
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

Sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrifying, always on target, this splendid autobiography by Emmy-winning actress Hartley and playwright Commire rises well above other efforts of its kind. Many of Hartley's themes are familiar--alcoholism, physical and mental abuse, psychoanalysis and eventual redemption--but her intelligence, candor and uncluttered prose cast all afresh. Whether she is describing an outrageous series of outtakes on the set of Gunsmoke or her father's decline and eventual bloody suicide, she offers substance and style. A special pleasure is her humor. On an adolescent rival: ``I'll bet she saves all her kilt pins in a little box that says `Kilt Pins.' '' On Fay Wray: ``I just wish my demons had been large, furry and visible. They weren't.'' Photos not seen by PW. First serial to People; BOMC featured alternate. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Television star Hartley's early life was considerably grimmer than her perky personality would suggest: the child of alcoholic parents, she grappled with the painful legacy of her father's suicide and an ill-fated marriage to a man who beat her. But psychoanalysis, she says, has helped her put these problems in perspective, and her intrinsically cheerful nature shines through every sentence of this memoir. Best known for her ill-fated stint as co-host on the CBS Morning Program and a series of Polaroid commercials with James Garner, Hartley is very funny when relating stories of her career and family life with second husband Patrick Boyriven and their children. Her quirky, irreverent style makes this fast-paced, episodic book a delight to read.--Marcia L. Perry, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass.

Library Journal