The part the reader misses is what finally made Carey turn over a new leaf, begin his road to recovery, and become a whole person again.
It is for someone who wants to examine one man's life, and how he spent most of it immersed in alcoholism. But this isn't a book for someone who wants to learn more about soaps. I've watched a few of them over the years, but never "Days of Our Lives." Its plots seemed always more outrageous and over the top than any of the other soaps (except those with bizarre story lines to begin with like "Port Charles" when it became a vampire soap). I've always been interested in soap operas and how they're made.
#DAYS OF MY LIFE SOAP OPERA PROFESSIONAL#
But the last 100 pages or so take up both the time spent on "Days of Our Lives" as well as his ongoing recovery from alcoholism, and one wonders why in that 100 or so pages Carey couldn't get more specific (or interesting) about what really are the most interesting aspects of his life.īut the book is fascinating in its detail of an actor who got along well with most of his colleagues, who was a chronic alcoholic for years but rarely if ever allowing it to creep into his professional life, and for that I gave it 4 stars. There is no insight into the 12-step process he went through or how difficult it may have been at the time.įor the books 300 or so pages, the first 200 are spent examining a working actor's professional and personal life, how he bounced around between mediums, even playing in a Broadway musical with the legendary Gertrude Lawrence. He never speaks about how hard it was for him to kick alcohol. Likewise, his recovery is hardly written of either. In comparing this to another autobiography by a famous soap opera actor, that of Ruth Warrick, her book was fascinating in its exhaustive detail of how soaps are filmed, directed, worked on.
In addition, his time spent on "Days of Our Lives" is written of only briefly. While Carey spends a lot of time looking back at his rampant alcoholism throughout his life, the focus is that of perspective - looking back now that he is clean and sober and constantly questioning himself as to why he didn't recognize that he had a problem until quite late in life. While the book is interesting and good to read, it is not really for those reasons. The book was touted ad an exploration of Carey's alcoholism and life as a soap opera actor. He remembers names, dates, running dates for plays, and seemingly recalls most people he crossed path with, even once or twice, during his long career. Considering that, it is quite surprising how detailed his book is. Frank Horton on DOOL.Ĭarey suffered from years (decades, really) of alcoholism. In it, he traces his long career on stage, on radio, in films, and in television, most notably as the "tent pole" character, Dr. He remembers names, dates, running dates for plays, and seemingly recalls m Macdonald Carey, long time patriarchal character from "Days of Our Lives" wrote a detailed and memorable autobiography about 7 years before he died. Carey suffered from years (decades, really) of alcoholism. Macdonald Carey, long time patriarchal character from "Days of Our Lives" wrote a detailed and memorable autobiography about 7 years before he died.