Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker

This book spotlights the career of Sherry Lansing, a very powerful and successful Hollywood executive. And her power continues. This book is a full-on puff piece, everything set up as an homage. It sets off those alarm bells for authenticity. I could feel her breathing down the author’s neck, banging on the desk. Just kidding...almost. And the details don’t always seem to support the vision. She rallies the call for trailblazing women, but there were few in her career orbit. She has a wonderful innate ability to gravitate to human-issue-based films, yet was a proponent of Porky’s. There are a slew of contradictions, which are normal and fine in regular normal-land life, but are totally ignored in this book because they don’t fit the designated image, the re-write. It’s also not an engaging read. The book splits itself into three parts. There is Lansing’s early childhood, and her sense of self. The second part is a review of her studio’s best movie projects - this section has interesting backstories on stars and directors. The last section is focused on Lansing’s charity and foundation work, and really completes the hero build. Even in charity work, there is a sense of resume-building. The movie anecdotes are by far the most interesting, but they don’t carry the book’s 400 pages. And I would not recommend the audio book. The narrator’s emphasize on the superlative adjectives makes for an awkward delivery. The book also switches points of view a lot, and then there is the mountainous number of names. For these reasons, (and an opportunity to skim to the good parts), it’s a better book in print.

I am very interested in Hollywood history, but only vaguely knowledgeable about Sherry Lansing. Therefore, for me, I needed to be sold from the first chapters that Ms. Lansing was someone I should want to read about. The book does not really succeed in its first three chapters, and the writing style is less than compelling: somewhat breezy and prone to relying on clichés or stale images.For example: "The freeway whisked them through an avenue of skyscrapers and along a collection of urban arteries before spitting them into the streets of the city, where Lansing still believed unknowns such as Lana Turner had been spotted at a soda fountain, and where Schwab’s Pharmacy was a real place, not just a metaphor for every hopeful wanting to be made a star."So the first few chapters, which are standard biography stuff, are a bit of a slog. The book becomes much more compelling starting at Chapter 4, where Lansing begins working with Howard Hawks. Beginning at that point, the author’s style works much better with the subject matter and level of detail available, and Ms. Lansing’s story and personality become much more real and compelling. The author, in particular, does a great job of mixing interesting quotes from other people with little details to make a scene memorable.For example, here is the author’s description of Lansing’s interactions with David Begelman, the president of Columbia Pictures, who was eventually fired for embezzling from the company:“[Begelman] carried himself like a gentleman,” [Lansing] said. “He dressed in tailored suits and drove a Rolls-Royce and lived by appearances. One day Danny Melnick and I went to a party and sat next to him. Danny said, “God, aren’t you lucky? You have the best person to sit next to,’ because everybody loved him. But I said, ‘He has strange eyes.’ There was something about him that made me nervous, something off."Lansing’s second career as a philanthropist is naturally not as compelling, but the author keeps that part of the story brief and focuses on some very interesting incidents. For the most part, the book succeeds in delivering amazing and interesting stories about the business of making movies, and in painting a memorable picture of Sherry Lansing as an ethical and driven businesswoman succeeding in a sexist environment

What a story! Good account of a woman’s rise to the top of an “all men’s club”! Lots of good Hollywood inside info too.

I am so happy this book was written. I have, no joke, been waiting for this bio of Sherry Lansing for the last 12 years, ever since I read Rachel Abramowitz's book "Is that a Gun in your Pocket" back in 2005 and discovered who Sherry was. I thought, "I have got to learn more about this woman.""Leading Lady" is very well-written and gives us a detailed look at Sherry's very interesting life. As a young woman, I empathize and relate to Sherry's personality traits, thoughts, dreams, and goals. I believe she is someone who looks at her life and thinks, "Wow, I had a really amazing run. I created movies that will last long after I've gone, I have a wonderful marriage, and I am doing impactful cancer research work. I have made my mark on the world."The older I get, the more I realize how few people can say that. This makes Sherry's life even more astonishing to me. I sincerely, SINCERELY hope that I can achieve at least half of what she has achieved in my lifetime.Thanks to Stephen Galloway for persuading Sherry to let him write this. Everyone needs to read it!

Liked the way the author interviewed multiple people about the same events It gave a broader perspective and a clearer understanding of those events.However, I did not enjoy the exploration of Ms Lansing philanthropic activities. Perhaps it was because I was predominately interested in her business dealings.

Sherry Lansing is one of the last great Hollywood producers. Rising up through the ranks, from actress to script reader to head of Paramount pictures, her career spans the time when Hollywood went from stodgy and insular to wild and brash and into corporate-run risk-averse number counters. Through her time in charge, she led projects near to her, stepped down on her own terms, and led a life of philanthropy. Definitely worth the read.

I’ve read this book twice in two years. The stories are so insane and entertaining.

The section dealing with her rise to studio executive is very interesting.The section about her as a studio executive is of interest but maybe lacks objectivity.The last part charting her charitable ventures is totally uninteresting.

I am still reading this book but enjoying it so far. Very enlightening insight into big business in Hollywood.

Really good insight into Hollywood. Amazing lady who saw opportunities and acted upon them