FAMOUS IN THEIR OWN WRITE
Ready for the next chapter? MARION McMULLEN looks at this year’s celebrity autobiographies
1
Dave Grohl, left, brought out his memoir The Storyteller charting his childhood in Washington DC to his rise to fame as the drummer in Nirvana, the tragic death of singer Kurt Cobain and his own continuing success with stadium rockers Foo Fighters. The 52-year-old said: “Smashing a guitar or jumping into the drumset could be a celebration – or a sign of crisis.”
2
Beloved comedian sir Billy connolly said he was forced to record his autobiography Windswept and Interesting because he can no longer write due to the effects of parkinson’s disease. the 79-year-old told the Graham Norton show: “the rules of being ‘windswept and interesting’ are doing as you please and not taking lessons from anyone.”
3
Rob Beckett, below right, talks about how he’s managed his mental health as a working class comedian in a middle class world in his memoir A Class Act. He said: “At the beginning of lockdown I felt I’d lost my identity because I couldn’t gig any more and I couldn’t get that drug of self-worth. It was only then that I started to work out what my identity was.”
4
Jimmy carr, inset, also wrote his first book, Before And Laughter, during the pandemic and it is both a memoir and a self-help book littered with one-liners. the book came about when comedian and ex-doctor Adam Kay asked Jimmy to help with a fundraiser in which people wrote about their NHs experiences.
5
Bob Mortimer’s memoir And Away … spans his life from his childhood in Middlesbrough to unexpected heart surgery in 2015. the Gone Fishing tV favourite trained as a solicitor but turned to comedy after meeting Jim Moir (aka Vic reeves) in a pub in the 1980s.
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Watching Neighbours Twice A Day is the title of comedian Josh Widdicombe’s memoir. The Last Leg regular recalls his formative years in the 90s watching an inordinate amount of TV. He says: “If people ask me for my childhood memories, the truth is the scenes in Neighbours or events in Gladiators are far more vivid to me than bike rides.”
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Film star Will smith brought out his autobiography simply called Will. the 53-year-old said he had chosen to write a memoir now because he felt he had life lessons to teach others and that he felt “freed” following the death of his father.
8 canadian comedian Katherine ryan’s autobiography Audacity covers everything from toxic relationships to botched cosmetic surgery and miscarriage. the 38-year-old says: “I have definitely mellowed. there’s nothing that gives me anxiety or makes me stressed. “It’s because I have perspective and I know how lucky I am.”
9
Hollywood comedy star Mel Brooks has brought out his first autobiography at the age of 95. All About Me! was written during the first lockdown and is packed with anecdotes about his hit films like Young Frankenstein, the producers and spaceballs.
10
From Rags To Ricky by Sid Owen looks at how the actor became known to millions as hapless mechanic Ricky Butcher, one half of stormy EastEnders couple Ricky and Bianca. The BBC soap was part of his life for 24 years and he says: “EastEnders has opened doors and helped me experience many things in life that I wouldn’t have experienced if I hadn’t been in the show.”