Overview

This is the riveting, brutally honest story of a man's struggle to make something of himself in the theater. Coming from meager circumstances in the Ozark Mountains, he fights his way up the shaky ladder toward fame. He makes mistakes, goes down blind alleys, fails and succeeds, again and again. But he never quits. Rising from family alcoholism and dysfunction, Luckinbill takes us on an unforgettable journey from poverty, rejection, and sexual abuse to success on Broadway and in Hollywood. He writes candidly of his part in the social justice revolution of the original hit play and film Boys in the Band, his roles in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Cocktail, and his TV series The Delphi Bureau. This award-winning actor also tells the story of his four-decade marriage to actress/singer Lucie Arnaz, his journalism, and his Great Americans plays. Through it all, he gains acceptance and forgiveness of his past, and peace and happiness for his future. It's a captivating portrait of the life of every person who ever fought for an impossible dream, and finally won it. It's a story brimming with fierce empathy for all those who strive to rise, to become better, and who never stop reaching for a goal that is more authentic and finer even than dreams. A triumphant read!

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9781620065921

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Reviews

"""Actor, playwright, author Laurence Luckinbill's riveting memoir traces his unlikely journey from rural Arkansas to New York, Broadway and Hollywood. With wit, introspection and a storyteller's eye for detail, he brings to life a time in America when this was possible, not to mention the colorful people, some extremely famous, some not, in his orbit. Truly a delightful read.""-David Zippel, Tony Award-winning lyricist and director ""Laurence Luckinbill has shared his life story with complete transparency. He grew up in a traumatic family system. Acting saved his life. He took on the roles of others in an attempt to escape himself. The comedy and tragedy of others enabled him to free himself to find love and forgiveness. He is living proof that while we can't change our history, we can change the way we attach ourselves to it."" -Pat Colucci-Coritt, PhD and family therapist ""A remarkable life story. This brilliant actor and writer shares his insightful thoughts about the way of the world. It's riveting - I only wish it were longer!""-Mark D. Sendroff, entertainment attorney ""Honesty. The rarest gem when you find it from any human being, but it pours off every page of Laurence Luckinbill's ""Affective Memories"" confessional. Every word seeps inside your blood, curls around your bones and never lets you go - and voil�! Laurence Luckinbill has taken the art of autobiography of his extraordinary life to a whole new stratosphere."" -Ronald Rand, actor and publisher of Soul of the American Actor ""Laurence Luckinbill revisits pivotal scenes from his Ozark childhood and life - his 'affective memories' - which he will eventually use to navigate a career in the theater, films and television. It's an intriguing mix of trauma and cathartic revelations. A banquet of rich stories and personal lessons celebrate what it means to be a multi-dimensional human and to live in gratitude."" -Laura Graham Fetters, Hospice Spiritual Care Counselor ""I absolutely loved this book. I've always admired Laurence Luckinbill as an artist and human being and now he reveals himself to be an outstanding writer as well. His wondrous new autobiography, Affective Memories, is like reading a historical fiction by Faulkner. His writing is so gorgeous that you hang on every word. Part autobiography, part morality tale, part alchemy, we follow Luckinbill through his punishing, yet fascinating life, through terrible bouts of depression & self doubt until he gradually blossoms into the brilliant artist we all know today. I was completely swept away!""-Danny Burstein, actor and Tony Award winner (Best Featured Actor in a Musical) ""Your book could qualify as The Great American Novel. It's a national sensation!""-Lois Whitman-Hess, President, HWH PR, Miami Beach ""Larry Luckinbill is one of the world's finest actors. His stream-of-consciousness autobiography is filled with unique, funny, touching, and even dishy anecdotes about acting and theater and famous and interesting people that only an actor of his caliber and renown could tell. And he makes the deeper point that every challenge, every joy, every experience informs us-is universal to us all. It makes us grateful for everything that's ever ""happened"" in our own lives. I couldn't put the book down...""-David Friedman, composer, conductor, author"

Author Information

LAURENCE LUCKINBILL awoke in 1934, as he had planned, on planet earth, in a place called Arkansas, the town of Fort Smith, near the legendary Ozark Mountains. It was a dark and stormy night. What to do? His parents decreed: Catholic School. He was fine there as self-appointed class clown and self-styled slacker. Then the University of Arkansas, where he failed pre-med spectacularly. The U.S. Army and Catholic University of America followed as the night the day. Obviously, there was nothing to do but become an actor. Five beans in his jeans, he hit New York to seek his fortune. At the foot of a skyscraping beanstalk, like Jack, he climbed. What giants did he find? Tee-Vee, The-ater, Picture Shows. From soap opera to Boys In The Band to Star Trek V. Climbed higher. Built and performed four solo plays of Great Americans: Lyndon Johnson, Clarence Darrow, Teddy Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway. A sixty-three year climb for a harvest of beautiful beans: New York Critics Circle Award, Tony Nomination, Emmy Award, ABA Silver Gavel Award, Dramatists Guild Nomination, Children's Book Award, Arkansas Entertainers Hall Of Fame. Meanwhile, back on earth, love and marriage with Lucie Arnaz. She, 28. He, 45. They worked it out. Happily. Raised five children. Now three grandchildren. Learn more at www.laurenceluckinbill.com. Vita Bona Est. Don't let anybody tell you different.

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