Book review by Miriam Stone
Last year was the year of the celebrity autobiography. Everyone had something to say and it may have been wise for them to say it about themselves rather than have someone else say it about them. Sissy Spacek got a late start on her story. It just recently came out. She didn’t have to hurry because she has no axe to grind and no behavior to defend.
She considers her acting career to be extraordinary only in the fact that she has been lucky to receive movie roles that allowed her to work with wonderful actors and directors. She starts with her first film role and takes the reader through each film talking about what she learned from her co-stars and her directors and relating some anecdotes that are dear to her.
The film industry considers her extraordinary in a different way. She has been nominated for six academy awards and won one; nominated four times for the British Academy Award for Film and Television Arts; nominated for Critics Choice Awards, Cable ACE Awards, Emmy awards; nominated for seven Golden Globe awards and won three. The list is incredibly long. But, you won’t find this list in her book. She never mentions the fact that she won any awards.
The ordinary part of her life is also extraordinary. She married her husband Jack in 1974 and they remain married to this day. The witness signature on her marriage license is the paw print of their pet dog, Five. When Coal Miner’s Daughter was released and she won the Academy Award, she couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. She received all kinds of offers. At that time in her life, she could have done almost anything she wanted. What she did do was to buy a farm in Virginia with her husband and wait.
She and Jack had two daughters and she worked only sporadically. They threw themselves into life on a farm. They put down roots. They became farmers, neighbors, friends. They became known in the community, not as show business people, but as parents, as people that could be relied upon. They went to and held potluck dinners and their daughters grew up to become young women with careers of their own.
She doesn’t ever speak of sacrificing anything or giving up anything to do this for her family. She speaks only in terms of the opportunities that she was given and the strong sense of family that was instilled in her by her own parents.
So, if you want to read a nice book by someone who is grateful for what she has been given in life, this is the book. She says that one of the greatest gifts that has been given to her is this: she can be out somewhere and someone will recognize her and all she has to do is smile at them and say hello and that little gesture can help them to have a happier day.
