Two Great Show-Biz Autobiographies: "They Call Me Supermensch" and "When I Stop Talking You'll Know I'm Dead"

Over the past month I've listened to two autobiographies by two famous talent agents: Jerry Weintraub and Shep Gordon. These two books have a lot in common and these two men have a lot in common. They are both Jewish, they are both from New York, they both had careers that crossed-over many genres of show-business but mostly music and film. Furthermore, both books were read by the authors themselves, which is always a real treat. I don't know what either of these guys are (or were, in the case of Jerry Weintraub...R.I.P.) actually like as individuals, but after listening to these two books I feel like I'm best friends with both of them and I didn't want either book to end. 

They Call Me Supermensch (2016) - This book is a follow-on to the 2013 documentary Supermensch directed by Mike Meyers of SNL and Austin Powers fame. The documentary is spectacular and if you haven't seen it, I highly, highly recommend it. It's so good, you wonder why exactly there needed to be a follow-on book. However, if you are intrigued by Shep Gordon -- the subject of the of the documentary and the movie -- you will eagerly devour the book, as it sheds a lot of additional light on Shep's life and career.

To make a long story short, Shep Gordon is sort of like the Forrest Gump of show business, having stumbled his way into a career as a manager in an extremely accidental and almost haphazard way. Starting out as the manager for Alice Cooper in the late-60s, Shep Gordon ended up making millions as a talent agent, concert promoter, film producer, and even founded the "celebrity chef" phenomenon. How? Just by being a cool, friendly guy, and dealing with people fairly. Well...it should be noted that he got his start with musicians because he was also a marijuana and acid dealer. 

Not only Shep Gordon's life and career pretty extraordinary, but he himself has remained down-to-earth and friendly over the years, and even -- surprisingly, despite his success and riches -- is beset by many of the same questions and life-struggles as the rest of us, it would seem. Therefore, his book is rich with existential musings, encouraging thoughts, and much wisdom, delivered humbly and graciously, as though he's your wise uncle or grandfather, and not a famous celebrity who has done more drugs, made more money, and been around more celebrities than you or I could ever dream of. 

When I Stop Talking You'll Know I'm Dead (2010) - Legendary film producer Jerry Weintraub (d. 2015) is someone who had been rattling around my unconscious mind for years, for one reason or another. If you've ever done any reading about the film business, you almost can't help but run into his name here and there. Also, he's shown up on the silver screen a few times, such as in all of the Ocean's movies -- 11, 12, and 13 -- and The Firm, just to name a few. If anything, it was probably the Ocean's films that implanted him in my brain for the past 15-20 years...like, "who is that old dude who keeps making cameo's in these films?"

Well, that old dude is one of the most legendary film producers in history. As casual viewers of movies -- most of us out there -- we hear about film directors, even writers, but the producers and executive producers of films are rarely people we hear about for any good reason (Harvey Weinstein, Exhibit A). But people like Jerry Weintraub are the people behind the scenes who make the movie business run. And for every Jerry Weintraub there must be dozens of film producers we never hear about because either they failed or they just never became successful enough to make news on their own. 

Jerry Weintraub, on the other hand, has had about as illustrious a career as a manager/producer possibly could in show biz. Having started out in the legendary "mailroom" at the William Morris Agency, he essentially talked his way up the ladder to work alongside Hollywood legend Lew Wasserman, only to quit and end up taking Elvis Presley on his first national tour. Working with Elvis led him to work with Frank Sinatra, and from there Jerry Weintraub was plugged into the highest level of celebrity at the time. He went on to "break" John Denver -- which doesn't sound like much to us, now, but was a really big deal back in the 70s -- and produced films like Diner, The Karate Kid and the Ocean's films, among some mediocre films here and there. Along the way he was close friends with Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, billionaire businessman Armand Hammer, and others who enabled him to have nearly unlimited access to anyone or anything he needed. If you were looking to plan-out a career as a music-business/Hollywood mogul, you couldn't write a better story than Weintraub's.

And in the end, just like with Shep Gordon, somehow he maintained -- or remembered to always affect (who really knows) -- a down-to-earth, home-spun quality about him that translates well into the life of an everyday person. There is a lot of valuable wisdom to be found in his story of brash persistence, improvisation, and confidence even in the face of high adversity. There does seem to be a bit of a "sanitized" quality to the narrative, as in... although he does talk about his failures, he puts a high gloss on his life and career, and does not get into the darker side of fame and success, or reveal any "skeletons" from anyone's closet. I wonder if that's a generational thing, or just good PR. Who knows.