Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles - Hardcover

Kathleen Turner

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446581127 ISBN 13: 9780446581127

Publisher: Springboard Press, 2008

Synopsis

From her film debut as the sultry schemer in Body Heat to her award-winning role as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, actress Kathleen Turner's unique blend of beauty, intelligence, and raw sexuality has driven her personal and professional life. Now, in this gutsy memoir, the screen icon tells us of the risks she's taken and the lessons she's learned-sometimes the hard way.


For the first time, Turner shares her childhood challenges-a life lived in countries around the world until her father, a State Department official whom she so admired, died suddenly when she was a teenager. She talks about her twenty year marriage, and why she and her husband recently separated, her close relationship with her daughter, her commitment to service, and how activism in controversial causes has bolstered her beliefs. And Turner reveals the pain and heartbreak of her struggle with rheumatoid arthritis, and how, in spite of it, she made a daring decision: to take a break from the movies and relaunch her stage career.


Along the way, Turner describes what it's like to work with legends like Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, William Hurt, Steve Martin, Francis Ford Coppola, John Huston, John Waters, Edward Albee...and, with characteristic irreverent humor, shares her behind-the-screen stories of dealing with all types of creative, intimidating, and inspiring characters.


Kathleen Turner has always known that she would play the lead in the story of her life. It's impossible not to take her lessons on living, love, and leading roles to heart. And it won't be long until you'll be sending yourself roses!

About this title

About the Author

Kathleen Turner is an award-winning actress who has starred in over twenty-five films including Prizzi's Honor, Romancing the Stone, and The War of the Roses, along with twelve Broadway shows including The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. She is active in Planned Parenthood, People For the American Way, and City Meals on Wheels. She lives in New York City.


Gloria Feldt is the author of The War on Choice and Behind Every Choice is a Story, a commentator for Huffington Post and Women's e-News, and the former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Her honors include being named Glamour's Woman of the Year and one of Vanity Fair's Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers. She lives in New York City and Arizona.

Reviews

Turner has starred in films as diverse as Body Heat and Romancing the Stone; she's had rave reviews for her stage performances in The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Now Turner, with the aid of Gloria Feldt, bares her heart to readers in an upbeat account of her life and work. Turner discovered the theater when she was a teenager living with her Foreign Service family in London; from then on, she took every opportunity to study acting and to perform. Eventually, she landed the steamy lead in Body Heat. Playing such a sexually voracious female role might have typecast her, so she followed it with a comedy, The Man with Two Brains. As she discusses the other acting roles she's chosen, she's emphatic that the selection of material and characters I play reflects my values. She's also been deliberate in her offstage life—her decision to marry, to have a child and to divorce. With great candor, she details some of her worst struggles, battling both rheumatoid arthritis and alcohol. In the end, she's realized it comes down to taking the lead role in her own life. While she may indulge in swear words a bit much for some readers, Turner's vision of life's many possibilities—even as she gets older—is surely inspiring. (Mar.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Springboard Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446581127
• ISBN 13: 9780446581127
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272