"JEANNIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE," by Barbara Eden with Wendy Leigh, Crown Publishers, $25, 262 pages (nf)
"Jeannie Out of the Bottle" is an interesting, albeit somewhat shallow, read, filled with anecdotes and tidbits of information about the surprising number of big stars and notables who crossed paths with "I Dream of Jeannie" star Barbara Eden.
For light reading, it's fine.
As anything deeper, look on because this is a little like skimming through the pages of People and The National Enquirer.
Almost every male Eden meets seems to want her, and she spends a lot of time turning down the likes of Tom Jones, Sen. John Kennedy and Tony Randall. (Does anyone get a rebuttal opportunity here?)
The other men seem to think she's their daughter, protecting her virtue and physical being as they tour, shoot and run from a lion with her (Bob Hope, Elvis Presley and Red Buttons).
Eden plucks through her career, which includes a long list of made-for-TV and second-run movies as well as a number of stage shows and live appearances, telling her story as a hard-working, serious actress often cast for her beauty and not so much for her acting ability.
She is fairly candid in her tales as she describes her marriages, her divorces (the tragic loss of her second son in the womb is probably the most real of all of her stories) and her entanglements with all kinds of celebrities, some of whom — Larry Hagman, her co-star in "I Dream of Jeannie," in particular — had mega egos and giant mood swings.
This book provides a little peek behind the scenes during an era when the censors were worried about showing or more specifically NOT showing Jeannie's navel and what audiences would think was going on when Jeannie and her astronaut were off-camera.
It's illuminating to see how far we've come in movie making in dollars spent and pushing the envelope.
It's easy reading, and there are plenty of juicy tidbits about everybody from Paul Newman to Audrey Hepburn to Sally Field, who was annoyed when Eden sang songs during makeup at 6 a.m. every morning.
It's clear that Eden has lots of stories, and they are entertaining.
It's also clear that she's telling the story to someone else and there's a bit of disconnect as it's translated from her to the writer. It rarely feels like Eden is in the room.
It's another in a series of autobiographies suggested by a publishing house because there's money to be made out there, but it's mostly a good book to take along to the beach.
Sharon Haddock is a professional writer with 30 years experience, 17 at the Deseret News. Her personal blog is at sharonhaddock.blogspot.com.
Email: haddoc@desnews.com