During his acting career of small roles in the 1950s, Carlyle became acquainted with successful performers like Judy Garland and Joan Fontaine (to whom he wrote many letters before she agreed to see him). But he had a special obsession with Garland. "I was like a dog with a bone to become a part of Judy's life." While playing a small part in A Star Is Born
, he offered Garland her favorite brand of cigarette, Spud. That brief introduction eventually gained him entrance to her inner circle, and this starry-eyed book reveals his intimacy with Garland during the late 1960s, the declining, drug-fueled period of her life. Unfortunately, any hint of Hollywood debauchery is preceded by a tedious account of his childhood. The narrative is bogged down with details of every acquaintance, roommate and neighbor he encountered. A gay man's life during a homophobic era, coupled with his sycophantic experiences of stardom, might have been interesting in the right hands; instead, the spotlight is on his failed relationships and petty quarrels. Unfortunately, there is little here to attract even the most dedicated film historian. (Oct.)
