Charlie & Me: A Memoir

Charlie & Me is a Hollywood memoir written by Harriett Bronson, the first wife of the international super star, actor Charles Bronson. The book details their 16-year high profile marriage and divorce, and Harriett's life afterward as the "ex" Mrs. Famous who reinvents herself as a talk radio host. In a publishing environment where celebrity tell-all and tell-on books seem to flourish, Charlie & Me reads more like a Hollywood love story than a revenge tale. The book details Bronson's rise from Pennsylvania coal miner to iconic movie star, and how their seemingly solid union that produced two children, disintegrated after Charlie fell under the spell - and into the bed - of the also-married English actress, Jill Ireland. Despite the set-up for what could have been a bitter book, this is no CHARLIE DEAREST. Bronson fans will learn that while their idol had feet of clay, he was also a loving father, a talented painter, and an astute business man with a solid work ethic -- a good lesson in how one succeeds in Hollywood.
The Author was born Harriett Tendler in Philadelphia. Her mother died horseback riding when Harriett was two and she was brought up by her father,a successful, Jewish dairy farmer. She was an 18-year-old virgin when she met the 26-year-old Charlie Buchinsky at a Philadelphia acting school in 1947. Two years later, with the grudging consent of her father, she wed the Catholic Lithuanian and former coal miner; supporting them both while Charlie pursued their acting dream. On their first date, he had four cents in his pocket - and went on, now renamed Charles Bronson, to become one of the highest paid actors in the country. In 1975, he was considered the #1 box office draw in the world with such blockbusters as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE DIRTY DOZEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE and DEATH WISH. He died in 2003.
Harriett's journey parallels that of so many women, not because she was married to a famous man and had all the trappings, but because somewhere along the way she lost herself. This story also shows how money and success can exert a corrupting and pervasive influence upon marriage and family. Women, especially, will identify with her dilemma in discovering the philandering ways of an errant spouse. They will hopefully learn from her experience of walking through the pain, surviving it, and re-discovering herself to become someone in her own right - a fairly successful radio interviewer and talk show host in Los Angeles.