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Don't Mind If I Do | 
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| Authors: George Hamilton, William Stadiem
Publisher: Touchstone
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $15.49
You Save: $10.51 (40%)
New (38) Used (14) Collectible (2) from $12.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1609
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 1416545026
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.43028092
EAN: 9781416545026
ASIN: 1416545026
Publication Date: October 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081116115540T
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Product Description
Spend a few hours with George Hamilton?Don't Mind If I Do Don't let that tanned, handsome, charming surface fool you. Beneath the bronzed façade is a mischievous mind with a wicked wit. George Hamilton doesn't miss a thing. With a front row seat for classic Hollywood's biggest secrets and scandals, George has the intelligence, heart, and unflappable spirit to tell his story, and the story of Tinseltown's heyday, with great good humor and delicious candor -- as only he can. From Where the Boys Are to Dancing with the Stars; from Mary Pickford to Elizabeth Taylor; from smalltown Arkansas to the capitals of Europe -- it's all here, and George has lived to tell and to laugh about it. As the child of a Dartmouth-educated bandleader father and a glamorous Southern debutante mother whose marriage crumbled early on, George had a childhood filled with misadventures and challenges that his mother always seemed able to turn from tragedy to comedy. Her idea of changing the family's fortunes involved a trip cross-country with three sons and a poodle in a Lincoln Continental, making stops along the way to search for husband/father number three. And she was quick to recognize that George's potential success lay in Hollywood. George starved nobly for his art in the late 1950s, but was soon starring in major motion pictures directed by the likes of Vincente Minnelli and Louis Malle. He has forgotten more about Hollywood than most movie experts will ever know and shares intimate and hugely entertaining stories of his friendships with Cary Grant; Brigitte Bardot; Robert Mitchum; Merle Oberon; Mae West; Sammy Davis, Jr.; and Judy Garland -- not to mention Lyndon B. Johnson and Elvis's Colonel Tom Parker as well as the King himself -- among others. The world is Hamilton's oyster, and this ultimate insider is ready to share it with us. So fasten your seat belt. We'll tell you when it's safe to move about the cabin again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 What a DELIGHTFUL Book! George Hamilton is still Mr. Charming! November 18, 2008
This was a delightful book to read! I inherited my love of George Hamilton from my mother who was a young fan in the early 60's when I was born. While "All the Fine Young Cannibals" may be listed as one of the worst films, she loved it and I learned to love it and his other films.
I was expecting a standard movie star autobiography and was pleasantly surprised. With his wit and candor, Hamilton tells of his dysfuctional childhood and does not blame it for everything that happened in his life. How refreshing! The tales of his family moving from pillar to post on the whims of his Auntie Mame-like mother are told as precious family stories, not dwelling on the pain or sadness. It takes a strong person to see humor in adversity. Hamilton has not led a "charmed" life by any means. One begins to like the man behind the persona as well as the persona itself.
Hamilton's stories of being a movie star amuse and can shock, but are classy and never told in a "kiss and tell" fashion. The co-stars of the book are treated kindly and sometimes get more kindness than they deserve.
Hopefully, Hamilton has another book in store for us. One gets the sense that there are so many more delightful stories left for the telling in his self-depreciating and witty style. Please, George, I want MORE!!!
 Don't mind that I read it November 17, 2008
I only bought George Hamilton's memoir, DON'T MIND IF IF I DO, because I had finished Tony Curtis' new memoir and I was shocked at how distasteful Tony seemed. I was curious, then, to compare his report with a report by one of his cohorts, though Hamilton is about 15 years younger than Curtis.
I knew next to nothing about George Hamilton when I started this book, other than that during those times I had seen him on television, he had appeared to be clever and charming, self-deprecating and funny. It turns out that Hamilton is all of these things and more.
Though he never complains, he has had a sad life, albeit in a very luxurious way. His mother was so involved in her own hedonistic pleasures that George and his brother David barely managed to get conventional educations; George never even graduated from high school.
Yet his mother connived to live in America's finest communities, including Beverly Hills, Beacon Hill in Boston, Beekman Place and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and, most of all, Palm Beach. Being raised in these environments gave George an outlook that can only be termed exotic.
George sounds, amazingly, like a loving and unquestioning son. As soon as he was able, he took over the support of his mother and his older half-brother. He views his life with humor and his family with obvious affection, though he probably would have been better served to have hidden from them and not left a forwarding address.
Most of his life has been a series of near-misses, from his romance with Lynda Bird Johnson (which, even all of these years later, still strikes a chord of implausibility) to his single attempt at marriage. Yet he examines all of his adventures with acceptance and good humor.
This is not a typical Hollywood biography, in that it is not as peopled with movie stars as it might have been if he had had a larger career. At the same time, it is filled with folks with whom mere movie stars don't get to hobnob: English nobility, dethroned royalty, Arab gunrunners, Southern gentlemen, Mafia dons, everyday billionaires, leading American military men, Presidents (plural) and Senators, best-selling authors, Asian dictators....
All in all, George Hamilton has led quite a life.
The pacing of this book is not as tight as it could be and the flow of the narrative often is choppy. His father barely is mentioned after the details of his parents' divorce, other than for his death, and there is a brother who is mentioned even less. While there probably was a surfeit of material from which to choose, these faults lie with his co-writer, rather than with George.
George seems to be a man whose generosity of spirit and loving attitudes add up to a genuinely nice person--a genuinely nice person who has led a distinctive and fascinating existence. His story is well worth reading.
Class act, George November 14, 2008
If I wasn't exactly a fan of George Hamilton before, I definitely am now! The first chapter, relating his stint on Dancing with the Stars, was worth the price of the book, alone. I was laughing out loud. And I kept on laughing throughout the rest of this well-written story. What a great outlook on life and family he has, with no apologies to anyone. A thoroughly enjoyable read. And, I agree, the only downside was that it wasn't long enough. I could have gone on forever reading about his exploits and adventures!
Good, By George ! November 11, 2008
It's just downright hard not to like George Hamilton. I've been a fan for years, and was anxious to read his book. It's very entertaining and I learned a lot more about him. Since I'd never read much about his childhood, I had thought he was probably raised in the Hamptons, or at least someplace rich. But I was surprised to learn that he was born in Blythville, Ark. and all through the book, he kept coming back to the fact that he was just a southern boy. I like that about him. He is proud of his southern heritage. His family was interesting, and it's easy to see where he got his talent. And he must know everyone in the world. Lots of stories about his encounters with other famous people. I enjoyed that. A very good and entertaining read.
 Famous for what? November 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had read excerpts from this book in Vanity Fair and other publications and eagerly looked forward to it. I was quite disappointed. Although his life was certainly interesting his writing style was more like a list of events rather than an engaging story.
In real life he never quite achieved stardom so his book reads like "Little Me" by Patrick Dennis. A fictional autobiography of a female actress who's career never quite took off but writes as if she were a star. Mr. Hamilton seems to have the same affliction but his, unfortunately, is not a witty work of fiction but more a satire of his life.
His mother and brother seem like interesting characters. His mother especially who seemed to have refined the art of sponging off of friends. An art that as one reads through this tome it is obvious that George has learned as well.
Was it interesting? Portions surely were but on the whole not. The portions that were best had already been excerpted. Not unlike the best bits of a movie being in the previews.
Would I read it again? No
Would I recommend it? Probably not.
I went in to this book with a good feeling about Mr. Hamilton. I didn't feel as warmly toward him when I'd finished it. Some things are better left unsaid.
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