Starstruck

My Unlikely Road to Hollywood

By: Leonard Maltin

Narrated by: Leonard Maltin

Hollywood historian and film reviewer Leonard Maltin invites listeners to pull up a chair as he tells stories, many of them hilarious, from 50-plus years of interacting with legendary movie stars, writers, directors, producers, and cartoonists.

Maltin grew up in the first decade of television, immersing himself in TV programs and the 1930s and ’40s movies hitting the small screen. His fan letters to admired performers led to unexpected correspondences, then to interviews and the publication of his own fan magazine. Maltin’s career as a freelance writer and New York Times best-selling author, as well as his 30-year run on Entertainment Tonight, gave him access to Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Connery, Shirley Temple, and Jimmy Stewart, among hundreds of other Golden Age stars, his interviews cutting through the Hollywood veneer and revealing the human behind each legend.

Starstruck also offers a fascinating glimpse inside the Disney empire, and Maltin’s tenure teaching USC’s popular film course reveals insights into moviemaking along with access to past, current, and future stars of film, such as George Lucas, Kevin Feige, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo del Toro.

©2021 Leonard Maltin (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Fantastic!

Absolutely fantastic! Maltin's stories are captivating and his performance takes you where he goes. 10/10!

Too rose colored

Was hoping to get into the weeds on the film business but instead it was a lot more of how charmed his life has been made by the film business. Wish there was more meat and less gushing.

amazing

A great audio book by a great film critic I have admired for many years

Leonard Maltin is a treasure that he shares in this book

You may know him from :0 years on Entertainment Tonight or from his excellent guides to movies and wonderful boos on animation, radio , jazz, Disney and much more. For the first time in this autobiographical book he shows that he is much more as a critic , historian, celebrity interviewer and as a person or in the Jewish parlance, a real mensch. He shares his own improbable rise and with warmth and wit insightful stories about numerous stars from Brad Pitt to Jimmy Stewart to Buster Keaton and many others. He is nice but still honest and a lovely storyteller. For movie lovers of all ages this is a treasure chest filled with memories of himself, his loving family and friends and most importantly the stars and artists who have delighted movie lovers for generations.

Thoroughly Entertaining!

So wonderful to hear all of these Hollywood stories directly from the author, Leonard Maltin. What a fantastic journey through the life of a true film fan and historian.

A nice trip down old school memory lane

If you’re a fan of old hollywood or TCM channels then you’re going to enjoy this book

Star

An old saying goes "never meet your heroes."
Leonard Maltin didn't get the memo.
Maltin's STARSTRUCK is equal parts autobiography and a collection of meet cute stories. (Okay, they're not ALL meet cutes, I just like the term. BTW, did you know that Burt Reynolds had one-sided beef with Leonard? He did! Sometimes. Occasionally.)
This new book from the prolific film critic, preservation advocate, and historian made me realize that he truly is just a regular fan who works really hard, knows his stuff, and has had a pretty visible career that puts him in the orbit of Hollywood's elite.
Hearing his stories about meeting film professionals he admired, and geeking out about those experiences, was so much fun to read. Especially since I've had the chance to meet Leonard myself, I too have a fun story about it, and I geek out about it to anyone who will let me.
Leonard also avoids being a rumor mill tattle reporter, and avoids spilling gossip and scandal. You can almost hear his reassuring voice saying from the page "yeah, there was scandal, but this isn't that story."

Overall...

Overall, this is okay. I know Leonard through his work with Disney. I loved reading his anecdotes on some of my favorites like: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis. The last half is better. Some of his early chapters can get better and at time it reads like a newspaper column which is understandable given Matlin's experience. But I did enjoy reading about his teaching at USC and interviews he's conducted with some real heavy hitters.

At the same time, I wanted more! Could this book have a second volume? I think yes! Leonard Matlin is clearly a well of so many Hollywood stories with the best that ever walked earth and graced the Silver Screen!