Putting One's Head Above the Parapet

Paris-born David Bret is one of Britain's foremost show business biographers and has spent 30 years writing about the famous and infamous. Now, he dishes the dirt on himself. He speaks affectionately about his long-suffering mother and eccentric family. He recalls celebrities who became mutual confidants: French singer Barbara, Dorothy Squires, Marlene Dietrich. He remembers show business friends with fondness: Damia, Serge Reggiani, Alice Sapritch, Melina Mercouri, Joey Stefano, and recalls his meeting with Greta Garbo. He writes of his friendship with Peter Sutcliffe in pre-Yorkshire Ripper days. But while speaking of these people with affection, he takes no prisoners when discussing his enemies, especially the physically and mentally abusive adoptive father who made his childhood and youth a misery. Also he does not hold back when discussing his many love affairs. David Bret has never been less than honest in sticking his head above the parapet in his best-selling books and when expressing his opinions on a myriad of topics, and he is wholly unsparing when writing about himself...