Dropped Names
Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them

I generally am not much of a fan of celebrity memoirs. A little too much "Chapter one: I am born" for me. Frank Langella bypasses all of that by writing an episodic memoir composed solely of his interactions with the famous (some of whom he met fleetingly and a few not at all.) As the subtitle says......more

I came to this book not as die-hard "fan" of Mr. Langella's work--I have liked some of his performances, and others not so much, he was never "the deciding factor" for me in seeing a film or play. He has played Dracula and Nixon, as well as Skeletor and Dog the Bad Pirate. His career has spanned fiv......more

It was AN UTTER DELIGHT to read this book. It lived fully up to its billing as advertised recently in USA Today. With clarity, insight, and an unflinching truthfulness and candor, Langella provides the reader with penetrating and well-crafted vignettes throughout his 50-year acting career of the man......more

Langella's huge ego gets in the way of this guarded book, which tells stories about dead famous people he supposedly knew. He rarely gives enough details in any story to make it interesting and uses much of it to look down upon names much bigger than his. He is downright mean at times. How he thinks......more

This is the kind of book you read when you want your brain to veg a bit with some really useless gossip. Like when you are in the dentists office or in the waiting room for your colonoscopy. Except it was a bit better than that. Mainly because Langella is so honest about himself. I guess he was kind o......more