“Animal House” star Tim Matheson loves reading nonfiction — especially when it comes to the history of Hollywood.
“I love reading about real people, real events in history, and how real people coped with difficulties and overcame obstacles,” the “Virgin River” actor tells Page Six.
“Perhaps my love for this comes from doing research on acting and directing jobs, to help me learn more about the reality of the part I was going to play or the background of the story I was going to direct,” he explains, adding, “Also, I love reading about the pioneers of the entertainment industry that I adopted as a youth, and an industry that also adopted me and became my family.”
Matheson’s own memoir, “Damn Glad to Meet You,” which came out in November, details his almost seven decades in Hollywood — including his behind-the-scenes adventures filming “Animal House,” his wild 33rd birthday sexcapades and playing lovable doctors on “Hart of Dixie” and “Virgin River.”
“Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother” by Barry Sonnenfeld
“A delightful look inside how Barry became a cinematographer and then film director; survived an overbearing and neurotic mother; a deviant uncle; and a fortuitous friendship with the Coen Brothers when they started making films, starting with ‘Blood Simple.’ Hilarious, ironic and poignant at the same time!”
“Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades In The Hollywood Trenches” by Tim Matheson
“Overcoming long odds, starting as a child actor, this is the story of how I grew up, hit dead ends, aged up, and rebelled at the limitations continuously placed on me by Hollywood’s typecasting executives. I also included a series of “Film School Boot Camp’ passages, for actors and directors, filled with hard learned lessons from the set, which no one even knows about in film schools.
“I hope readers will find my first hand stories of working with Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Mel Brooks, Ann Bancroft, Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell both entertaining and instructive. This is the story of a man who made mistakes in work and in life, but admits them and shares the lessons that he learned from them to become a better actor, man and parent.”
“The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood” by Sam Wasson
“A fascinating deep dive into the making of this epic Hollywood masterpiece. Wasson delves into the tragedy of director Roman Polanski’s wife Sharon Tate’s murder, the impact on his life and work; the struggle of Robert Evans at Paramount Pictures to get the film into production and the battle of getting Robert Towne to finally finish the script; plus the story of the day-to-day production and how important this film was to legendary actor Jack Nicholson’s career.”
“Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford” by Scott Eyman
“The life story of one of the greatest of all Hollywood film directors. His films include ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,’ ‘The Searchers,’ ‘Young Mr. Lincoln,’ ‘Stagecoach’ and ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ among countless others. He was winner of a total of six Oscars for directing his films and his WWII documentaries, the most for any director ever. His favorite actress was Maureen O’Hara, and favorite actor was John Wayne.
“Ford started directing silent films in 1913 and continued his work through the mid-1960s. He directed 10 different actors to Oscar-nominated performances, five of whom won their Oscars. This book provides great insight into the film industry throughout its history with a vivid picture of how the great studios were run and how smart directors worked around their limitations.”
“Over the Influence: A Memoir” by Joanna “JoJo” Levesque
“The story of a teenage pop superstar who became the youngest solo artist to ever have a No. 1 single in the US. Her first album went platinum with over four million copies sold. Her singing career seemed to have been snatched from her grasp by a greedy and selfish record label. She was forced into silence by lawsuits with the record label which continued for years until she emerged victorious. Despite this obstacle, JoJo began appearing as an actress in major TV and motion picture roles.
“I was lucky enough to direct her when she starred in ‘True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet,’ the story of a spoiled movie star who must go into rehab and is sent to stay with her wholesome aunt who lives in a small midwest town. She was a delight to be around, and such a wonderful actor. I was awed by her talent. Since her victory against the record label, she’s won a Grammy award in 2020 for best R&B song “Say So” and in 2023 she starred as Satine in Broadway’s Tony Award-winning ‘Moulin Rouge!’ This is the story of a strong young woman overcoming adversity in her early years, her personal struggles of rebellion and self-betrayal, and finally realizing the career she had always dreamed of and fought for since she began to perform as a young child who had a dream.”
“Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years” by Carl Sandburg
“A lengthy, authoritative personal account of the almost daily life of Abraham Lincoln from his early years growing up, and his later years as president of the United States. It delves into the humanity, devotion, and sympathy he had for all Americans, even those who were fighting against the Union and for the Confederacy during the Civil War. It documents his life in these situations, and we come to see how he was a giant of a man, and the only man who could have handled the hardship, trials and ordeal of his job leading the country through the worst hardships that it has ever endured.
“As Sandburg said: ‘For he was a mountain in grandeur of soul. He was a sea in deep under voice of mystic loneliness. He was a star in steadfast purity of purpose and service. And he abides.’ I am thankful for this recounting of a tenure when a giant of a man served our country in a time of need. Without this person and his special nature at the helm of our republic, I fear what would have become our future.”