If you remember who Liz Renay was, and are interested in cult personalities, you may be interested in this review. If you don't, and aren't, this book is not for you!
You'll never read it!
Liz Renay has been called "The Most Beautiful Girl Of Our Time" - don't know who by, but that's her publicity. John Waters fans might remember her best from his movie "Desperate Living".
She wrote an earlier book, My Face For The World To See, which is now a cult classic and one of the most entertaining memoirs I have ever read.
In that book she chronicles her ups and downs from being a model and winner of a Marilyn look-alike contest, to showgirl and actress, to girlfriend of mob boss Mickey Cohen, to jailbird in Terminal Island for 27 months, to headlining stripper in Hollywood, and much more. All the time she is the center of the Universe. Men are powerless under her charms, giving her gifts of homes, furs, cars, money. She is the most glamourous and talented actress. When Mickey Cohen was on trial, she was charged with perjury and sent to prison, where she became the head of the group and got the girls into painting. When she got out, her talent was in galleries. Take any situation she presents and she was at the center of it, dining with a string of handsome suitors. She reminds me (in the best sense) of a fabulous drag queen, with the bravado that everyone is following in your wake. It's an entertaining view of the world.
My First 2,000 Men is partly a profile of every type of man, outlining the good and the bad. It also follows My Face with more love affairs with dynamic men - Joe Dimaggio, Cary Grant and Regis Philbin included. Whenever she was in a jam, there was always a man over her shoulder, offering a house, a car, whatever she needed.
Of course, there is another side of the fabulous life of Liz Renay. You could say she was a single mother who was married to a string of seven husbands while carrying on multiple affairs. When there wasn't a husband there were several men who were happy to pay her bills, but usually otherwise engaged. She was involved with various mob members, sometimes a few at the same time. She went to prison, and ended up stripping with her daughter in a mother-daughter act, until her daughter ended up a suicide on her 39th birthday.
Whether she really was the most beautiful girl of our time or not, she lead an incredible life and reading her story is always entertaining. If you have read My Face but not 2,000, this is a book you will really enjoy. You should check it out.
1992 / Hardcover / 347 pages
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