Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell

Although the author has written several other biographies, this look at Rosalind Russell, the film star best known for playing Auntie Mame, offers very little revelation about her life, her times, or even her personality. Dick's research is very skimpy, relying heavily on Russell's memoir and various film archives. While the plot of every movie and play in which Russell performed is impressively recounted, there is virtually no insight into her major relationships, nor what drove her to become a movie star. Worse yet, the narrative proves hard to follow, full of repetition, awkward phrasings and obvious filler. It's easy to tell that many of the facts and anecdotes told here come from other sources, but the author rarely acknowledges them, and the odd way he paraphrases leaves some stories too convoluted to follow. Russell, who turned in skilled performances in His Gal Friday and Wonderful Town, appears to have been a woman of interesting contradictions: she was a devout Catholic, married for 35 years, but enjoyed making risque films and befriending men of ill repute like Frank Sinatra. Readers will be left wishing Dick had put more effort and skill into bringing that woman to life.