Luckier Than Most is an autobiography by David Tomlinson, the stage and screen actor. Although I felt handicapped as an American reading this because I wasn’t familiar with many of the names he mentioned, I found it a pleasant read, and Tomlinson comes across as a good and patient person. Americans are probably most familiar with his comic work for Disney Studios, particularly in Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Although often a comic performer, he had serious stage roles as well.
Although some of his theater stories are interesting (and I noted that he rarely said a bad thing about anyone and was just as likely to say nice things about a crew member or understudy as he is about a star), I found most interesting his recollections of his childhood. Although fond of his mother, he and his brothers were terrified of their father, who was not affectionate and had a terrible temper. His father disliked David and told him he wasn’t going to amount to anything. He was hiding a big secret, hinted at from near the beginning of the book but not hard to guess, even though David and his brothers didn’t discover it until they were adults.
Later on, with David’s success and again with his discovery to CST (what the brothers called their father) that they knew his secret, David’s relationship to his father improved. CST even admitted that he had misjudged him.
The book is also interesting because of its light, well-intentioned stories about well-known figures. It was surprising, for example, to learn that Peter Sellers needed people around him all the times because he was an insomniac and had no hobbies or other resources for his spare time. The only person Tomlinson said anything negative about was the actor Jack Lord, who played in the original Hawaii Five-O.
If you want a book that dishes the dirt, this isn’t it, but if you want a nice, light read, it is.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and fair review.
What? Me Read? 