First published 2008
Robert Wagner grew up in Bel Air watching Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, and Cary Grant play golf next door. The sight sparked his movie star dreams. At sixteen, he walked Sunset Boulevard hoping producers would notice him. Under Spencer Tracy's guidance, he joined Hollywood's studio system alongside Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. Wagner worked for Darryl Zanuck and fell for Barbara Stanwyck, an actress twice his age. Then he met Natalie Wood. They loved deeply but divorced when her career soared while his stalled. Wagner made films in Europe with Steve McQueen and Sophia Loren, then married model Marion Marshall. They had a daughter before returning to America, where television was emerging. Lew Wasserman and Aaron Spelling helped Wagner produce hit shows. His marriage to Marion crumbled. He reunited with Wood and they remarried, raising daughter Courtney together. Wood's death in a yacht accident shattered Wagner. He battled depression before marrying Jill St. John, who helped heal his family and heart.
Genres: 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Bel Air, Europe, Sunset Boulevard
Period: World War II
336 pages · Hardcover · Dey Street Books