[.ca] Angels & Demons: One Actor's Hollywood Journey (ISBN 096496354X)

Unrelentingly Sad...:
I've been a fan of movies and theatre all my life. I had never heard of Ray Stricklyn until I bought this autobiography in a used book store for fifty cents. It's not an 'intellectual' read and can be accomplished in an evening. It is a moderately interesting tale of a man whose greatest initial asset seems to have been his pretty, youthful looks and some sort of unexplained desire to be an actor. The narrative reads like a 'true confessions' article with less excitement and his early-on revelation of his homosexuality is, frankly, bland. There is a vague inference that his sexuality somehow affected his career and prevented him from becoming James Dean or Marlon Brando. I think it had more to do with a marginal ability and talent, and a tendency to disappation, than with his sexuality. And there are repeated indications in Mr. Stricklyn's own words that he thought so as well. That is sad. The best writing in the book is the dedication: 'For all the fine actors who didn't get the opportunities their talents deserved.' Rest in peace, Mr. Stricklyn.

Lite Reading:
If someone is going to go to the trouble of writing an autobiography-especially one in which the author announces his homosexuality then the reader would expect some insights and truth seeking. This read more like the author was sitting in the seat next to you on a cross country plane trip. He just keeps talking to make the trip go faster but only lightly touches on various subjects. The fact that I was able to complete this book in one two hour sitting says more about the content than anything else. At the end the main question I had was "why did he bother"?