Synopses & Reviews
Shirley MacLaineandrsquo;s only child shares shocking stories from her out-of-this-world childhood with the famously eccentric actress
Shirley MacLaine is an Academy Award winning actress who has graced Hollywood with her talent for decades, known for her roles in The Apartment, Terms of Endearment, and recently the BBC/PBS smash Downton Abbey. Yetandmdash;as her daughter Sachi Parker can attestandmdash;growing up with the movie star was far from picture perfect.
The only child of MacLaine and her husband ofand#160;thirty years, Steve Parker, Sachiandrsquo;s surreal childhood began when she was sent to Japan at the age of twoandmdash;though her mother would sometimes claim Sachi was sixandmdash;to live with her mercurial father and his mistress. She divides her time being raised by a Japanese governess and going back and forth to L.A. to be with her mother, hamming it up on movie sets, in photo shoots, and Hollywood parties, even winningandmdash;and then abruptly losingandmdash;the role of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. As she gets older and attends boarding school in England and Switzerland, becomes a Qantas stewardess, andand#160;becomes involved inand#160;a series of abusive relationships she tries to unravel the mysteries of her childhood and her parentsandrsquo; unconventional marriage.
Including twenty never-before-seen personal photos,and#160;Lucky Meand#160;is a fascinating look at Hollywood and what it takes to succeed there, the incredible ambition of Shilrey MacLaine and the fallout it had on her only child, as well as a womanandrsquo;s attempt to understand and connect with her extremely complicated parents.
Synopsis
Sachi Parker opens up about her unconventional childhood and shares stories from her past as the only child of famed actress Shirley MacLaine.
Shirley MacLaine has graced Hollywood with her talent for decades. Yet, as Sachi Parker can attest, being the daughter of a movie star was far from picture-perfect. In Lucky Me, the only child of the Academy Awardwinning actress opens up about her unique experiences of growing up with a mother who believed in reincarnation and extraterrestrialsbut not necessarily parenthood.
Lucky Me is not only Sachis personal story but also a compelling snapshot of America in the second half of the twentieth century, from the Rat Pack world of the 60s through the free-love 70s to the new-age self-absorption of the present. It offers a compelling insight into the politics of Hollywood, where the fight for the spotlight never ends and your fiercest rivals are closer than you think. There are Sachis warm and admiring remembrances of legendary actorsJack Nicholson, Jack Lemmon, Robert Mitchum, her uncle Warren Beattyas well as acid-sharp portraits of the schemers and buffoons who roam the hills of La-La Land.
Ultimately Lucky Me is a bittersweet love letter to a mother who is at once a universally beloved and larger-than-life figure and yet always seems beyond reach.
About the Author
Sachi Parker is the only child of actress Shirley MacLaine and producer Steve Parker. An accomplished actress herself, Sachi has appeared in theater and films throughout the world. These appearances including Stick, directed by Burt Reynolds, Back to the Future, About Last Night, Peggy Sue Got Married, Riders to the Sea, and Scrooged, and TV shows such as Star Trek: the Next Generation and Equal Justice. Her theater work includes Ladies in Waiting, Pastorale, and The Lulu Plays, which she won a Daramalogue Best Actress award. Parker recently collaborated with co-author Frederick Stroppel (A Brooklyn State of Mind) on a one-woman show about her life, also titled Lucky Me.