Sal Mineo: A Biography Review

Sal Mineo: A Biography
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Sal Mineo: A Biography ReviewJames Dean? YES. Sal Mineo? NO. I was never a huge fan of Sal's and really didn't get why he attracted much attention for anything other than his unfortunate and confusing death. One might say I was not in the target group for people buying this book. When I walked into the big box bookstore that I frequent when I am not on this site, I opened this book and read three random pages. From there I plunked down my $$$, took the book home, and read---read---read. When I don't take breaks I know what I am reading is great. And GREAT is what this book is from my pov.
Sal's story starts simply enough. The third of four kids from a warm but financially challenged family from the Bronx, Sal's mother enrolls Sal in a dance class to keep him off the mean streets that they call home. Sal has talent, hits the boards, and gets noticed. Eventually, he shares the stage with Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence as one of the King's children in THE KING AND I. Brynner turns out to be an uncharacteristically good guy and mentors Sal. Movies come calling and after an uneventful start, Sal catches some luck and gets cast in Rebel Without A Cause. The rest is history, sort of. A quick study, Sal is an instinctive actor who works hard, strives to improve as an actor, and sees his star ascend through a series of mostly under appreciated movies and a short-lived recording career. Back on the home front, his mother mismanages his hefty earnings and spends it faster than he can earn it with the exception of a mandatory trust fund. When Sal turned 21, his trust fund matured. Because his mother had access to his assets, the proceeds from the trust was disipated quickly. Eventually Sal distances himself from his family and his relationship with them becomes impossible. The only family members who get off easy in this book are Sal's father and his younger sister. Sal apparently is an easy touch and has little skill re: financial management or career decisions. While he scores in EXODUS, his career continues to plummet as he matures. He is plagued by financial problems for the rest of his life and manages by taking on mediocre parts and tv appearances and living off his former celebrity.
By definition Mineo might be considered bi-sexual, but by pure number and preference he pursues a gay lifestyle which influences his behavior as well as career path to a certain extent. Fighting the tide, he pushes buttons and ventures into unfamiliar water as a producer/director trying to launch projects that invariably fail before they actually together. The typical blurb re: Mineo's professional status at the time of his death was that his career was on a recent upswing. After reading this book, I doubt that he would have recovered his former success or would have managed to reinvent himself.
His murder, as discussed by the author, doesn't seem to be easily explained. The pure viciousness of the attack and the wounds sustained are consistent with a hit and not a random act of violence.
This book was well-researched/written and yielded a lot of information compiled in chronological order. It is one of the best celebrity biographies that I've read and I highly recommend it.
SPOILER ALERT----
While this book is loaded with information and really digs deeply into Sal's life and mindset, it is also crammed with a lot of information relating to Sal's sexual relationships. Things that may have been alluded to previously are stated clearly and the names that pop up are revelatory to say the least. While actresses Tuesday Weld and Jill Hayworth pop up as girlfriends, his relationships with former teen idol Bobby Sherman and other current or past celebrities such as Don Johnson, Jay North (Dennis the Menace), David Cassidy, Jon Provost (Timmy of Lassie fame), border of the strange and, in some cases, frightening. Those interviewed for this book exhibited a lot of candor.Sal Mineo: A Biography Overview

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