NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS
I saw tom thumb on the big screen when I was seven years and I’ve been a Russ Tamblyn fan ever since. But I knew nothing about his life off-camera until now. His parents were in show business, but they just barely got by and were less than ideal parents. A natural show-off, Russ was cast in a play that piqued the interest of a movie studio and that led to work in the movies—first as Rusty (in Gun Crazy and Samson and Delilah) and then as Russ. He lived to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of his most famous film, West Side Story, which is remarkable when you consider his sybaritic lifestyle and the quantities of drugs he ingested, alongside lifelong pals like Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper. His long-term contract at MGM insulated him from many of life’s mundane realities, as he readily admits. Eventually put his energies into creating fine art—collages and canvases that often sold at exhibitions but couldn’t match what he earned as a performer. That’s why he accepted latter-day parts in films like Son of a Gunfighter and Satan’s Sadists. He finally found happiness with his third wife, while their daughter Amber made a name for herself as an actress and published poet. Tamblyn doesn’t excuse his trespasses but instead offers a straightforward, account of his many misadventures. He also shares his recollections of working with the likes of directors Cecil B. DeMille, Joseph H. Lewis, Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins, and David Lynch, among others. This is a good warts-and-all autobiography that underscores the difference between an on-camera persona and a real-life individual.
Leonard Maltin
The book, as I had hoped and always thought would do, portrays Russ as an underappreciated actor but also a seminal figure in important films and in the developments of American culture of the Hippie and Easy Rider generation even if you chose to do War of the Gargantuas instead of the latter movie. West Side Story, The Haunting and your connection to the avant-garde arts community would be enough to guarantee that one’s life was worthy of significant respect and celebration, but this book fills in other gaps in a life lived both memorably AND to a great deal on the edge, full of adventure and never ever dull with remarkable ups and downs all the way through. It’s the sort of book that would be difficult to put down– and the cover is indeed terrific.
David Soren
Dancing on the Edge: A Journey of Living, Loving, and Tumbling Through Hollywood
Russ Tamblyn, Read by Russ Tamblyn • Unabridged • JULY 2024
Singular, bold, and intimate are among the many qualities that describe dancer, actor, and fine artist Russ Tamblyn’s narration of his immersive memoir. He also brings precision and intoxicatingly good humor. While listeners may hear the impact of a robust 89 years of life in his timbre, his performance is careful and, at moments, caustic. Known for his nimble dancing and acting abilities, he was featured in THE WONDERFUL WORD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM, WEST SIDE STORY, and “Twin Peaks.” What we have here is an offbeat, unvarnished reflection on a life well lived. This audiobook is worth the listener’s time and attention as it goes far beyond trading on the predictable draw of star power.
AudioFile
So much fun! What a life! I’ve read many a Hollywood memoir, but never one more joyous, a life more adventurous. Russ Tamblyn is one of a kind. Never a bad word for anybody, unusual in memoir. The unwritten part of this is the man’s charisma–we only see it in his descriptions of his deep friendships and many romances–and his commitment to whatever he decides to do. His relative lack of ego is startling–he actually enjoyed his work on B films and dinner theater necessary to keep an income going once he turned his back on a major career as a Hollywood star in favor of visual art and the counterculture. Enjoyment and a gift for friendship seems to have been Tamblyn’s great art form, right along with his explosive acrobatic dance in such films as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and West Side Story.
The book is propulsive, fantastic story after fantastic story, leading to a larger picture of a life well and thoroughly lived. Props to his cowriter, Sarah Tomlinson, who managed to edit and assemble such rich material into a compelling, linear narrative. I could not stop until it was done. Tamblyn went his own way, deciding not to center his life in the increasingly joyless Hollywood scene, but to step off into something more experimental and chancy and self-created, along with some of the most interesting artists of our time. Great photos illustrate every chapter.
Janet Fitch
Writer
First of all GO GET THIS BOOK NOW. RIGHT NOW. DO NOT WALK BUT RUN.
Now, with that said I picked up my book yesterday and I had a fun encounter with people while buying this book. They were impressed I knew this amazing family and they were huge fans. They went to get the book and it was sold out. I got the last one. I explained how I knew the family and they stood in awe.
I love this family deeply. Pick up this book and all of Amber’s as well. Thank you guys for letting this southern old chic love y’all.
Tiffany Taylor Huff (family friend)
I Just finished listening to the audio version of Dancing on the Edge yesterday. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more, didn’t want it to end. There was such a void on my commute home today without it to fill the time with joy!
Rick Whitmore
Even though I read a version of the book 4 years ago!!, this one was a Great Trip with the Real Russ Tamblyn. You’ve done such a good job writing it then bringing in the right people to polish it to a shiny gem.
It’s so honest and lively but also never shies away from the sad and tough times life serves up. You’ve dug deep and reached high and I was so glad to be a small part of it. I loved reading about our filming at Puye and so glad to see that that sacred spot affected you as it did me. We’ve been lucky to be in great moments of art and life.
One thing came to mind as I was reading and it was that I would see you and Dean, child actors who worked from such a young age and who both took that bold turn in another direction in Topanga. The Hippie life but I also thought that you chose to grab that childhood bliss you’d missed out on because you were working on films, helping the family make ends meet. You played, got high, had friends and loved being in the Canyon. Just like a couple of kids. Of course, important art came out of it too!
I hope your book brings the same joy to lots of readers that it has brought to me. xxojeanne
Jeanne Field
Windfall Management
