Scott Eyman

Robert J. Wagner

The popular actor describes his relationships with such contemporaries as Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, and Elizabeth Taylor; remembers his two marriages to Natalie Wood; and shares his observations on Hollywood throughout the past half-century.

A Life

Pieces of My Heart

A New York Times bestseller and a “charming tribute” (Kirkus) to Hollywood’s most beloved era Film and television star Robert Wagner has been delighting audiences for more than sixty years, and his many fans flocked to bookstores when he began to record his memories on the page. In his second New York Times bestseller, Wagner shares stories of Hollywood life behind the scenes from the 1930s through the 1950s. As poignant as it is revealing—and filled with magical moments like Judy Garland singing Gershwin at a dinner party thrown by Clifton Webb and golf games with Fred Astaire—You Must Remember This is Wagner’s tender farewell to a legendary era.

Life and Style in Hollywood's Golden Age

You Must Remember This

Robert J. Wagner opens his heart to share the romances, the drama, and the humor of an incredible life. When he was a young boy growing up in Bel Air next door to a golf course, Robert Wagner saw Fred Astaire, Clark Gable, Randolph Scott, and Cary Grant playing golf together one morning—and it fueled his dream of becoming a movie star. In Pieces of My Heart, Wagner offers a candid and deeply personal look at his life and career—his rise to stardom in the studiodominated Hollywood era of the 1950s; his relationship with mentors like Spencer Tracy and David Niven, and with friends like Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis; his decline and his resurrection. And he speaks from the heart of the women he loved: Barbara Stanwyck, a glamorous star twice his age; Marion Marshall, Jill St. John . . . and Natalie Wood. For the very first time he chronicles in great depth their extraordinary romance and bares his pain as he openly recounts its tragic end. With color photographs and fascinating never-before-told tales and anecdotes, Pieces of My Heart is the heartfelt, remarkably revealing, and quintessentially American story of one of the great sons of Hollywood.

The Hollywood icon tells about his rise to Hollywood stardom among legends like Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck and his troubled marriage, divorce, and remarriage to starlet Natalie Wood. In the revelation-filled memoir from one of Hollywood’s most talented actors, readers have a candid and deeply personal look at the life and career of Robert Wagner. Wagner’s long career began in the Hollywood of the 1950s, when studios were dominant and even the love lives of actors were dictated by what benefited the studio. His memoirs will chronicle in a very personal way his rise to stardom, his decline, and his resurrection. Wagner will talk candidly about his famous relationship with Natalie Wood and the circumstances surrounding her tragic death. His friendships and stories include major Hollywood personalities in the last half of the 20th century. When his family moved to Los Angeles, a young Wagner held a variety of jobs (including one as a caddy for Clark Gable) while pursuing his goal, but it was while dining with his parents at a restaurant in Beverly Hills that he was “discovered” by a talent scout. Known as much for his on-screen abilities as his off-screen personal heartbreak, Wagner will discuss for the first time his complicated and ultimately tragic relationship with Hollywood sweetheart Natalie Wood. It was implied that Wagner played a role in Natalie Wood’s tragic drowning off the coast of Catalina Island in 1981 and Wagner, for the first time ever, will set the record straight. With at least two dozen photos to illustrate his real Hollywood-style tell-all, this will be the extremely candid autobiography of Robert Wagner.

The legendary actor offers a nostalgic look at Hollywood's golden age, touring favorite hotspots and exploring period business practices before the advent of paparazzi culture and high-powered agents.

Robert J. Wagner

Books

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