Reviews
Review Excerpts
The Washington Post – Tuesday, June 28, 2005
[This memoir] conveys nothing so much as the sheer delight Wallach derives from playing a part, whether onstage or on film… Wallach himself obviously is a decent sort but a bit of an odd duck as well… At 89 he’s still going strong… The prose he writes in this Anecdotage is as lively as he is. He’s had ‘a golden career,’ and the pleasure it has given him is evident on every page of this book.”
The Hollywood Reporter – June 13, 2005
“[A] pleasing self-portrait… Wallach is an amiable observer of his own life and work. Anecdotal and humorous, his memoir contains some nicely drawn portraits of such actors as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Katherine Cornell, and of such directors as Elia Kazan, Henry Hathaway, Emilio Fernandez, and, as always, Leone. Admirers of Wallach’s work will find much to enjoy here, two-cent residual checks and all, while students of acting can learn a few useful tricks from a master of disappearing into a role – and enjoying every minute of it.”
— Gregory McNamee
New York Time Book Review – May 22, 2005
[A] straightforward and charming memoir… There is nothing brooding, solipsistic… His self-portrait is of a hard-working actor who learns his lines easily and is a genial presence backstage or on the set… It was always his openness, the concentrated force and energy of his playing, that distinguished him… and The Good, the Bad, and Me partakes of that spirit… By this late point in his book, Wallach has you right where he wants you – in the palm of his hand, taking the same pleasure in this performance that you’ve taken in his others.”
— Richard Schickel
Kirkus Review – March 15, 2005
“A genial raconteur, Wallach comes up with a good story for every play or film he recalls… His portrait of John Huston directing The Misfits is far less negative than other accounts of that production, and the actor’s vivid sketch of Sergio Leone also bolsters a directorial reputation… Selective but not sketchy, with vivid, valuable recollections of Broadway during its golden age.”
