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Book Description
A behind-the-scenes account of the pursuit and perils of fame
Product Description
Hollywood Undercover is a rollicking, name-dropping, often hilarious insider's chronicle by a man who accidentally became a movie star.
Ian Halperin is no stranger to undercover investigations. When he posed as a model in 2001 to expose the fashion industry, his resulting book, Shut Up and Smile, sent shockwaves through the trade and became an international bestseller.
In Hollywood Undercover, he gives us a unique and scandalous glimpse behind the scenes of the movie business. This time he poses as an aspiring actor and soon finds himself with an agent, a job offer (admittedly in a hardcore porn film) and ultimately a part in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese. In the interim, he is surprised to uncover anti-Semitism in Hollywood; infiltrates the Church of Scientology, whose celebrity stable includes Tom Cruise and John Travolta; and meets numerous A-listers, including Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand and Leonardo DiCaprio, who give him the inside track on what life in Hollywood is really like.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ian Halperin is commisioned to film a documentary by Canadian TV about aspiring Canadian actors trying to make it in Hollywood. But while interviewing many luckless actors he realises how cliched it all is, so he decides to do something different - he will go undercover as a gay actor called 'His Highness Halperin, the King of the Jews', and try to make it into the movies himself. Some of his adventures include a poker game with the 'Queers of the Round Table', a short affair with the ill-fated Anna Nicole Smith, hearing sordid secrets of the stars, a course at the Scientology Church where they attempt to turn gays straight, and many more.
I'm not really sure why I picked up this library book as it is definitely not my usual genre, but I thought I'd try something different.
Ian Halperin comes across as a likeable enough person though a little egocentric. I thought there were too many coincidencs, for instance, he met so many Hollywood stars who wanted to tell him all their secrets.
Also, all the people he met who were working in Hollywood were only too happy to start telling him secrets about this or about that actor (no names were mentioned in the book, unless they were deceased), who was gay, took drugs, had an affair with them, etc etc. Even one elderly woman walked up to him one day and told him all about her affair with Charlie Chaplin. I felt it was maybe a bit too exaggerated.
Maybe I'm doubting Ian Halperin too much, I don't know, it was just the way I felt. Another story that I found hard to swallow was the story from when he lived in London in the 1980's, he had been busking and was sitting on a bench when an elderly lady came by and started talking to him. It turned out that she was Ava Gardner, and he was invited to her apartment where she proceeded to tell him stories about Frank Sinatra. Again, it just seemed too unbelievable.
But, having said all this, I did enjoy the book, it was well-written, fast flowing and kept my interest throughout, it was never boring. It is a book for people who enjoy magazines like Heat with lots of gossip. There was so much name-dropping involved!
There were some colour photos in the middle of the book corroborating some of his stories and there were also links on You Tube as well.
I'm not really sure why I picked up this library book as it is definitely not my usual genre, but I thought I'd try something different.
Ian Halperin comes across as a likeable enough person though a little egocentric. I thought there were too many coincidencs, for instance, he met so many Hollywood stars who wanted to tell him all their secrets.
Also, all the people he met who were working in Hollywood were only too happy to start telling him secrets about this or about that actor (no names were mentioned in the book, unless they were deceased), who was gay, took drugs, had an affair with them, etc etc. Even one elderly woman walked up to him one day and told him all about her affair with Charlie Chaplin. I felt it was maybe a bit too exaggerated.
Maybe I'm doubting Ian Halperin too much, I don't know, it was just the way I felt. Another story that I found hard to swallow was the story from when he lived in London in the 1980's, he had been busking and was sitting on a bench when an elderly lady came by and started talking to him. It turned out that she was Ava Gardner, and he was invited to her apartment where she proceeded to tell him stories about Frank Sinatra. Again, it just seemed too unbelievable.
But, having said all this, I did enjoy the book, it was well-written, fast flowing and kept my interest throughout, it was never boring. It is a book for people who enjoy magazines like Heat with lots of gossip. There was so much name-dropping involved!
There were some colour photos in the middle of the book corroborating some of his stories and there were also links on You Tube as well.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Readers with a penchant for losing themselves in glitz and glamour will revel in Halperin's Hollywood Undercover. The greatest strengths in his story is going undercover as His Highness to get the story behind the story of America's big money making film and "phony" institution, Hollywood. Recommend this one, you won't be disappointed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is hilariously funny and I couldn't put it down. Ian Halperin shamelessly infiltrates the hollywood elite by pretending to be an aspiring actor- "His Highness Halperin"- a direct descendent of the "israeli royal family" heh heh. Whats more, he gets himself and agent, a publicist and even manages to blag himself a couple of minor film roles despite the fact that he has never acted in his life. All the while he is digging for the real dirt behind the hollywood gloss and glamour. I must be really naive because I was shocked by how much goes on under the surface- major married stars who are closet homosexuals, affairs, drugs, prostitution, blackmail, murder etc.. He also poses as a rich, gay actor and is told by the scientology cult that they can "cure" him- (as long as the price is right, of course) Hollywood is rife with homophobia apparently. Throughout this journey he frequently goes off on bizarre tangents and I was never quite sure if he was telling the truth or if he was pulling the reader's collective leg- eg. would you beleive that anna nicole smith had sex with him at marilyn monroe's grave??
Halperin is a very comedic writer and this book thoroughly entertained me. The funny thing is, despite the fact that he was exposing the grotty, seedy side of Hollywood, he manages to do it totally without malice or sensationalism. He does it in such a charming, comic and at times, random way that it comes across as being perfectly reasonable to hang everyone's dirty washing out for all to see.
Loved it.
Halperin is a very comedic writer and this book thoroughly entertained me. The funny thing is, despite the fact that he was exposing the grotty, seedy side of Hollywood, he manages to do it totally without malice or sensationalism. He does it in such a charming, comic and at times, random way that it comes across as being perfectly reasonable to hang everyone's dirty washing out for all to see.
Loved it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Facinating Insight
I enjoyed this book, I started reading it from the library on a cruise ship and only had time to read half of it before the end of the holiday. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Brenda Roseblade
Hollywood yawn...!
This is a dissapointment to say the least, and as a matter of fact, the authors situations were at the very least quite boring, and at most faintly interesting. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Supergormas
great hollywood book
delighted with this book, just what I was looking for, my friend, who is mad on all hollywood gossip, past and present..very interesting.. fast delivery...
Published on 29 Aug 2009 by Julie Kueck
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