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Me, Cheeta : my life in Hollywood.
From Publishers' Weekly:
This pseudo-autobiography of Cheeta, Tarzan star and the world's oldest living chimp at 76, lacks the substance the chimp's unique life and career demand. Taken from a Liberian jungle in 1932, Cheeta-known as Jiggs prior to his Tarzan role-arrived in New York before eventually making his way to MGM Studios in Hollywood. Along with Johnny Weissmuller, who would become a lifelong friend, Cheeta starred in 11 Tarzan films, from 1934's Tarzan and His Mate to 1948's Tarzan and the Mermaids. After being branded "too old," Cheeta retired until his role alongside Rex Harrison in 1967's Doctor Doolittle, his final film appearance. The chimp currently resides in Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes (C.H.E.E.T.A.) in Palm Springs, Calif., where he is cared for by Dan Westfall, the nephew of one of his original trainers. Peppered with cliched scenes of Old Hollywood-from the brash Dietrich to the hard-drinking Bogart-this fictionalized memoir misses an opportunity to educate readers on the history of Hollywood's animal performers. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
It's amazing enough when a celebrity doesn't use or attribute a ghostwriter, but it's even more amazing when that celebrity is a chimpanzee. Cheeta (aka Jiggs), costar of countless Tarzan movies, appears to have written this autobiography all by himself. At 75, Cheeta is the oldest living chimpanzee ever recorded. Taken from the jungle of Liberia in 1932 by an animal importer, Cheeta describes his ordeal and his big break, when his abilities were noted by an MGM trainer and he was cast in his first Tarzan movie, Tarzan and His Mate. His last film was Doctor Doolittle (1967), and he now resides in Palm Springs, FL. Cheeta's reminiscences of old Hollywood have a fun, sardonic side, and he dishes the dirt on everyone from Mickey Rooney (didn't like him) to Rex Harrison (didn't like him) to Johnny Weissmuller (liked him). Readers who enjoy stories narrated by animals might be drawn to this, but it's no Black Beauty or Watership Down. And humorous and dishy though this may be, it is over-the-top for even the most hard-core celebrity bio maven. A marginal purchase.-Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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From Publishers' Weekly:
This pseudo-autobiography of Cheeta, Tarzan star and the world's oldest living chimp at 76, lacks the substance the chimp's unique life and career demand. Taken from a Liberian jungle in 1932, Cheeta-known as Jiggs prior to his Tarzan role-arrived in New York before eventually making his way to MGM Studios in Hollywood. Along with Johnny Weissmuller, who would become a lifelong friend, Cheeta starred in 11 Tarzan films, from 1934's Tarzan and His Mate to 1948's Tarzan and the Mermaids. After being branded "too old," Cheeta retired until his role alongside Rex Harrison in 1967's Doctor Doolittle, his final film appearance. The chimp currently resides in Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes (C.H.E.E.T.A.) in Palm Springs, Calif., where he is cared for by Dan Westfall, the nephew of one of his original trainers. Peppered with cliched scenes of Old Hollywood-from the brash Dietrich to the hard-drinking Bogart-this fictionalized memoir misses an opportunity to educate readers on the history of Hollywood's animal performers. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
It's amazing enough when a celebrity doesn't use or attribute a ghostwriter, but it's even more amazing when that celebrity is a chimpanzee. Cheeta (aka Jiggs), costar of countless Tarzan movies, appears to have written this autobiography all by himself. At 75, Cheeta is the oldest living chimpanzee ever recorded. Taken from the jungle of Liberia in 1932 by an animal importer, Cheeta describes his ordeal and his big break, when his abilities were noted by an MGM trainer and he was cast in his first Tarzan movie, Tarzan and His Mate. His last film was Doctor Doolittle (1967), and he now resides in Palm Springs, FL. Cheeta's reminiscences of old Hollywood have a fun, sardonic side, and he dishes the dirt on everyone from Mickey Rooney (didn't like him) to Rex Harrison (didn't like him) to Johnny Weissmuller (liked him). Readers who enjoy stories narrated by animals might be drawn to this, but it's no Black Beauty or Watership Down. And humorous and dishy though this may be, it is over-the-top for even the most hard-core celebrity bio maven. A marginal purchase.-Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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