Veronica: The Autobiography Of Veronica Lake

"Thank god for film. It can capture a performance and hold it right there forever. And if anyone says to you, 'Who was he or who was she or what made them so good?' I think a piece of film answers that question better than any words I know of." – Liza Minnelli in "That's Entertainment."

When "That's Entertainment" was being filmed in 1973 by a star-studded list of motion picture stars, it also marked the year of Veronica Lake's death at age 50. Tragically, she died of alcoholism much too soon. Four years earlier, in 1969, Lake released her story "Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake." Lake's autobiography has been out of print for decades – until now, as Dean Street Press presents, in paperback, her life in her own words. She was a woman who lighted up the silver screen of the 1940s in box-office hits and now classic film examples of film noir. Go watch "The Glass Key," "This Gun For Hire," or "The Blue Dahlia," and recognize that her sultry allure, beauty and that notorious "peek-a-boo" hairstyle caught the cinema public by storm as a Paramount Studios motion picture star of the first magnitude. Even when she was chosen for a comedic and social spin in films such as "Sullivan's Travels" or "I Married A Witch," Veronica Lake excelled.

Lake has a unique voice in her writing that is never too grandiose in the telling of her life. Honest, introspective of her time in Hollywood, and forthcoming in who she was then and at the time of her penning this book. Think of the times, the places, and the girl. Her book gives a clear understanding of life choices, happiness, and the three times when love goes wrong because the man you married and had children with... or just married... just didn't work out for the long haul. Veronica Lake was just as happy cooking up a storm in the kitchen, and she was definitely not your typical Hollywood dame; she disliked the grand staircase of nightclubbing and probably would have made more motion pictures in the late 1940s had her then-husband felt the scripts were not to her standard and declined them. Without even her knowledge of them in the first place!

Lake was definitely not the "poor, poor pitiful me" type, and her words carry a strength of viewpoint even regarding her honesty about drinking too much for her own good – and this was after her career in motion pictures was a memory on the late, late show on television. Author and film historian of film noir Eddie Muller provides his introduction and fascination with Veronica Lake. His tribute leads the way to a remarkable, tough and tender talented actress and woman's life story.

"Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake"
by Veronica Lake with Donald Bain
Dean Street Press