Raymond Strait has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators. The most-rated is The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield.
Lou's on First
Summary
A biography of Lou Costello of the popular comedy team of Abbott and Costello, including his rise to fame and the tragedy of losing his only son. His story is told with candor and affection by those who knew and worked with him. A touching and affectionate look at a man who only wanted to make people laugh.
©1981 Chris Costello (P)2020 Chris Costello
Alan Alda: The 1983 Biography
Summary
This biography was originally published in 1983 and has not been updated. Any events after 1983 are not included. Best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the award-winning TV series M*A*S*H, Alan Alda has made his way into Hollywood's spotlight while keeping remarkably free of its whirlwind parties and endless gossip. He remains a private man - an actor whose personal life and politics are far different from the character of the womanizing, side-cracking army doctor that brought him international fame. In Alan Alda: The 1983 Biography, biographer Raymond Strait succeeds in presenting Alda's life and career with illuminating, and sometimes surprising, details. Tracing Alda's theater credits, from his early experience as a struggling New York actor to his starring roles in films like Same Time Next Year, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, and The Four Seasons, Strait also reports on Alda's work as a screenwriter and director. A comprehensive look at Alda's immense popularity, this biography contains revealing insights from friends, childhood sweethearts, and fellow actors. But this is not a sugar-coated star portrait, and Strait gives us Alda's traumas as well as his triumphs: his childhood battle with polio, his parents' divorce, and the tense moments that Alda's personal convictions have caused, both on the set and off. With unexpected revelations about Alda's views on women, his work, and the future, this fascinating biography promises to show new dimensions of this talented enigmatic man.
©1983 Raymond Strait (P)2016 David N. Wilson
The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield
Summary
Having spent 10 years as Jayne Mansfield's press secretary, Raymond Strait knows intimately both the public image and the private person that was Jayne Mansfield. Sitting through hundreds of hours of interviews and private conversations - not only with Jayne but also with her husbands, her lovers, and her children - gave Ray the opportunity to present a revealing portrait of the woman. He records her drive for fame and success and her overpowering need to be loved and to love, needs that led her into numerous affairs with rich and powerful men - including President John F. Kennedy - and with younger men from all walks of life. And he discusses frankly Jayne's ultimately successful plan to become pregnant by Nelson Sardelli because she wanted to have an Italian child. Known to millions as the consummate sex symbol who rivaled Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield received more press coverage than anyone else in Hollywood. The headlines were often sensational, causing society matrons and Baptist ministers to shake their heads and point their fingers. But under those sensational headlines there was a woman of greater complexity than any reporter could hope to understand. Strait goes below the surface to examine Jayne's emotions and motivations, revealing the truth about her many lovers, her three unsuccessful marriages, her love affair with Mickey Hargitay that lasted to the end, and her battle against and her surrender to alcohol and drugs.
©1974 Raymond Strait (P)2016 David N. Wilson