Don't Mind if I Do

Hamilton's acting image—a “rich, preppy, Eastern WASP” with a year-round suntan—is a far cry from his “just folks” childhood in the Arkansas town where he was born in 1939. Hamilton gives credit for this transformation, in this gossipy tell-all, to his charismatic divorced mother, Teeny, and inventive half-brother Bill, who taught him how to create the illusion of glamour on a budget. Hamilton also attended military and boarding schools, where a flair for comedy helped him adjust to his new surroundings. Once in Hollywood in 1959 and with a contract to star in Vincente Minnelli's Home from the Hill , Harrison acclimated to a life of jet-setting, detailing his risqué dating exploits and romances with Lynda Bird Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor. Hamilton is a witty raconteur and has a gift for capturing the flair of his mother, while exhibiting a genuine sense of humor about himself. (Oct.)