I rarely ever read autobiographies; most are essentially auto-hagiographies which probably don't reflect anything like the actual life experiences of the author.... or, they whitewash essential elements of their lives, providing a distorted and biased picture of what they are all about.
So, what prompted me to read an autobiography of an actor, long dead, written nearly 50 years ago?
I got interested in Sterling Hayden by chance, after reviewing some historical stuff about the early 50's, the 'Red scare', and McCarthyism. Sterming Hayden was somewhat involved in this, as someone who was compelled to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee... and who named names... although he later said it was the greatest regret of his life.
Unbeknown to most people, Sterling Hayden was a lifelong sailor, committed to, and loving of, boats and the sea. His upbringing was not a happy one; after his father died when he was 9, his mother remarried, to a man who proved to be a grifter and con-artist, and the family was constantly on the move, living in boarding houses, one step ahead of creditors after leaving debt in their wake. He shipped out on a freighter at the age of 16, and throughout his life, had a nautical wanderlust which dominated his life. He hated acting, resorting to it only in order to make enough money to indulge his love of sailing, although he was indeed a good actor. He served in the Marines, and in WWII, served heroically in the OSS, helping the partisans in the Balkans oppose fascism.
This is really not a typical biography, at all. While lacking in an education beyond the tenth grade, Hayden was a remarkably gifted writer. While he wrote only two books in his life (this one, plus a novel called 'Voyage', which I read some years ago, and was a gripping tale of the voyage of a coal freighter), his writing was remarkably literary in style, and his autobiography reads at a vastly higher level than one would expect. Hayden attributed his education to the more than 500 books, many of them literary classics, which he kept aboard his various vessels.
The 'ruse' of the autobiography begins in 1959, when in the midst of a bitter, acrimoneous divorce, he ignores a court ruling and takes his four young children, plus another half dozen adventurers, on a voyage from Santa Barbara, California, to Tahiti. In the context of this rebellion, he details the story of his life, his adventures, the times he turned down significant money to star in numerous pictures, and the times he was bankrupt, or nearly so.
I'd recommend this book, for no other reason, than the nautical tales, although Hayden was a complex and fascinating character, in his own right.
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Reviews with images
The strange man
When you think of all the actors in history only Lee Marvin and Hayden are the ones that lead fascinating lives everyone else is just carbon paper
Top reviews from other countries
Alexandre Legault
A poignant portrayal of his life
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2022Steve
What a remarkable man and remarkable tale
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2024
