Helen Hayes, acclaimed First Lady of the American Theatre, has been on stage, screen
and television for more than fifty years. In that time she moved among the worlds most famous and
talented: actors, film stars, writers, businessmen. She speaks with wit, wisdom, and candor on topics
both public and private. She offers deft behind-the-sceens portraits of such personalities as Joan Crawford,
William Randolph Hearst, Charlie Chaplin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Burton, Lillian Gish, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, and Gloria Swanson. She tells of the advice older actors gave her and of how she in turn gave
advice, continuing the tradition. She treats us to delightful anecdotes about Ethel Barrymore, John Ford,
Al Capone. At the same time she reflects more seriouslyand with great honestyon the painful parts of
her life: the alcoholism of those close to her; the guilt of having not spent more time with her young children;
the remorse about the fact that her success overshadowed her playwright-screenwriter husband, Charles
MacArthur; the difficulty of being alone after the deaths of her daughter and husband. She tells about the
pleasures and discomforts that go with being a celebrity, about her retirement in Mexico, about her sense
of responsibility to support causes, to help others. And, finally, she expresses her strong views on what
is wrong with the American theatre today and what has always been wrong with Hollywood. An engrossing
account of a rich and productive life.