Ecstasy and Me

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Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman
Hedy Lamarr in The Heavenly Body 1944.jpg
Actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr
Author Hedy Lamarr
(Leo Guild and Cy Rice)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Autobiography
PublisherBartholomew House
Publication date
1966
Pages318
OCLC 412157

Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman is the alleged tell-all style autobiography of Austrian-born actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, ghostwritten by Leo Guild and Cy Rice and first published in 1966. The book spent four weeks at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 1966. [1]

In 1966 Lamarr's lawsuit to overturn the book was refused by a Los Angeles judge. [2] When the book was published, she filed for $21 million in damages. [3] Lamarr condemned the book's contents as "fictional, false, vulgar, scandalous, libelous and obscene". [4] [5] During a 1969 appearance on The Merv Griffin Show , she responded to a comment from host Merv Griffin regarding Ecstasy and Me by stating "Don't talk about that, that's not my book" and mentioned writing a book of her own called Hedy. [6]

In a 1970 interview with The New York Times , Lamarr noted that her material was "misused and distorted" and that she did not receive any funds from the book. [7]

When the book was published, it was reviewed in The New Republic by Larry L. King, [8] where King noted "If there is a sexual experience Miss Lamarr has not partaken of, it belongs in the future tense". [9]

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References

  1. Justice, Keith L. (1998). Bestseller index : all books, by author, on the lists of Publishers weekly and the New York times through 1990. Internet Archive. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. p. 183. ISBN   978-0-7864-0422-3.
  2. "HEDY LAMARR LOSES SUIT TO HALT BOOK". New York Times. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  3. "Hedy Lamarr Is Suing Nine For $21-Million Over Book". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  4. "Hedy Lamarr: Tarnished Star - Yahoo7". Archived from the original on 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  5. Kakutcad, Michiko (1979-03-18). "IT PAYS TO BE A GHOST". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  6. "The Merv Griffin Show S01:E13 - Episode 13 (August 18, 1969)". Tubi. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  7. Birmingham, Stephen (1970-08-23). "'Would You Believe I Was Once a Famous Star? It's the Truth!'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  8. King, Larry L. (1999). Larry L. King: A Writer's Life in Letters, Or, Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye. TCU Press. pp. 36–37. ISBN   978-0-87565-203-0.
  9. Morris, Willie (1993-09-12). "HEADY DAYS, HEDY NIGHTS". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-04-24.