Thank Heaven

by Leslie Caron

Book Overview

One of the best-loved stars of classic American cinema tells all in this wry, funny, and poignant memoir Leslie Caron is one of the most cherished and admired international film stars of our time. She made her film debut with Gene Kelly in the classic MGM musical An American in Paris , created one of the most enduring roles in American musicals as Gigi , danced with Fred Astaire in Daddy Long Legs , and starred with Cary Grant in Father Goose . In...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670021342
• ISBN13: 9780670021345
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Merci Beaucoup Caron!

This book is every bit as delightful and charming as Ms.Caron herself. And it's fascinating, too, because Leslie Caron lived through WWII in France, she was a very young woman in Hollywood at the end of its golden era, and she is a true child of show biz, proving once again that old show biz maxim about why people enter the theater 'because they didn't get enough love at home.' Show biz and Hollywood became her family; she was the French version of a Broadway gypsy, the only difference being she was part of a ballet company, not a Broadway chorus line. But what a glorious and demanding family she had at MGM just after the war! The MGM productions were at their bloated biggest and grandest. You read about "Gigi" and wonder how the studio survived the hotel bills, let alone the location costs, costumes, star salaries, etc. Caron was an insider for the last gasp of the days when Hollywood was truly at the top of its game, but she had the objectivity of being a young outsider. Although her mother was American, she was raised in France, albeit with more liberal American child rearing ideas. She conquered Hollywood, and the French and European colonies in that most provincial of towns. How she survived Hollywood in those days is truly an amazing tribute to her intelligence, talent, and determination. She tells her story very well, no catty comments, not psychologizing agony about her youth, her failed marriages, her depression and alcoholism, just the facts and her scintillating perceptions. What a life she led, gilded and yet so impossible. How to ever find anyone who could share it? And Warren Beatty? Poor thing. When I read about her affair with him, I could only think, Hollywood is a very, very small town and eventually everyone seems to have an affair with everyone. This is written so well, with such colloquial ease, that you can hardly believe that English is not her native tongue. The story flows like her life from one interesting and difficult adventure to the next, each chapter bringing her new insights and understanding of who she is and how to live. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

When I was a little girl

Yes, thank heaven for little girls. When I was a little girl Leslie Caron was an influence in my life with her movies. And now, to read her book, she is a model for someone who wants to age as gracefully as she has. The book is charming, literate and entertaining.

Frank, no nonsense Autobiography

I probably started this book with a bias because Leslie Caron has always been a favorite of mine. I was not disappointed. Very candid self examination of her life and doesn't always lay the blame on someone else for her disappointments, although she had every right to in some instances. I don't think she realises how magical she was for the movie going public. I saw her in "American in Paris" when I was 7 years old and the minute she came on screen she had my attention. I will never have the privilege of meeting and talking to her on one to one; but if I could, I would tell her what joy her performances gave me. Great Book, keeps your attention from start to finish, although there are some gaps ,one doesn't feel cheated. I thought, ok she didn't put it in here so it's probably none of my business.

"My famous friends...and me!"....

Would have been a much better title for Miss Carons book, becuse it's really about the famous people that shes encountered throughout her life and career, I think Miss Caron truly wrote the book with the intentions of being completely open about herself but she was clearly afraid of the process, she teases her readers by opening up and revealing lots of amusing, tragic and sad moments of her life but she doesn't give the details that would allow her readers greater insight into the true person that she is and the IMPORTANT relationships in her life (notably her mother whom I REALLY wanted to know more about), so in most cases she comes accross as extremely shallow, and vapid, but amusingly so! I gave the book the full 5 stars because Miss Caron is so utterly adoreable after all these years, you can see that she really tried to open herself to her readers but she just couldn't I guess lol, and some of the stories about her famous friends are quite enjoyable but I would have much rather read about HER. Readers will enjoy this book as a light read on a lazy sunday or a lazy day at the beach.