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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
EAN: 9780061373312
ISBN: 0061373311
Label: HarperEntertainment
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: October 01, 2008
Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Release Date: September 23, 2008
Sales Rank: 312
Studio: HarperEntertainment
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In this moving memoir, Robert J. Wagner opens his heart to share the romances, the drama, and the humor of an incredible life
He grew up in Bel Air next door to a golf course that changed his life. As a young boy, he saw a foursome playing one morning featuring none other than Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Randolph Scott, and Cary Grant. Seeing these giants of the silver screen awed him and fueled his dreams of becoming a movie star. Battling a revolving door of boarding schools and a father who wanted him to forget Hollywood and join the family business, sixteen-year-old Wagner started like any naïve kid would—walking along Sunset Boulevard, hoping that a producer or director would notice him.
Under the mentorship of stars like Spencer Tracy, he would become a salaried actor in Hollywood's studio system among other hot actors of the moment such as his friends Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. Working with studio mogul Darryl Zanuck, Wagner began to appear in a number of films alongside the most beautiful starlets—but his first love was Barbara Stanwyck, an actress twice his age. As his career blossomed, and after he separated from Stanwyck, he met the woman who would change his life forever, Natalie Wood. They fell instantly and deeply in love and stayed together until the stress of their careers—hers marching upward, his inexplicably deflating—drove them to divorce.
Trying to forget the pain, he made more movies and spent his time in Europe with the likes of Steve McQueen, Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Liz Taylor, and Joan Collins. He would meet and marry the beautiful former model and actress Marion Marshall. Together they had a daughter and made their way back to America, where he found himself at the beginning of a new era in Hollywood—the blossoming of television. Lew Wasserman and later Aaron Spelling would work with Wagner as he produced and starred in some of the most successful programs in history.
Despite his newfound success, his marriage to Marion fell apart. He looked no further than Natalie Wood, for whom he still pined. To the world's surprise, they fell in love all over again, this time more deeply and with maturity. As she settled into a domestic life, raising their own daughter, Courtney, as well as their children from previous marriages, Wagner became the sole provider, reaping the riches of television success. Their life together was cut tragically short, though, when Wood died after falling from their yacht.
For the first time, Wagner writes about that tremendously painful time. After a serious bout with depression, he finally resurfaced and eventually married Jill St. John, who helped keep his family and his fractured heart together.
With color photographs and never-before-told stories, this is a quintessentially American story of one of the great sons of Hollywood.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Reading the book I felt like I was having a personal conversation with Robert Wagner - a very entertaining read. Added reflective details on difficult situations - such as Natalie's death and his relationships with his parents, Natalie, Natalie's family and the lawsuits with Aaron Spelling. What a life and what a guy - would highly recommend it!
Rating: -
Always liked Robert Wagner, and after seeing him on a few talk shows discussing the book, thought it would be an interesting read. It was. Quite an amazing life, from the time he was a child and watched the early movie actors golfing, up to his days of actually working and becoming friends with many of them. No big startling confessions or bombshells dropped in the book, but a good book to read on a quiet night when one just wants to relax.
Rating: -
Whether you've followed Robert Wagner's career or not, I think you will find plenty to enjoy in his forthright description of how he made it in Hollywood. It was fascinating to learn how he befriended big stars, like Gable, Astaire, and Tracy. And he conveys genuine feelings about his relationships with twice-wife Natalie Wood and current wife Jill St. John.
Rating: -
Robert Wagner has always been a quality actor and screen idol, but now has
shown he is to be admired as a decent, loving husband, father, and caring individual. His "Pieces of My Heart: A Life" is like an honest, warm, revealing conversation with an old friend. And the reader becomes just that...an old friend, as he turns the pages of this wonderful narrative.
His loves, his challenges, his delights, and his sadnesses all are shared with straight-forward descriptions that leaves the ... Read More
Rating:  -
For years Robert (a/k/a "RJ") Wagner has been regarded in Hollywood as the closest thing to royalty that we've got. His screen image is of a well-dressed, classy looking and talking gent who is always proper in looks and appearances.
This book, eagerly awaited by most, falls short of the mark. Although it sketches out his life (problems with his father/ difficulty in getting good acting roles) it seems to stop there. Yes, this is a book about Robert Wagner but as he constantly refers ... Read More
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