30 review for Hattie : The Authorised Biography of Hattie Jacques

1. 

   4 out of 5

   Louise – Oct 31, 2019

   This was an excellent book about a very well loved and admired actress. I didn't know much about Hattie Jacques as a person before reading this book. Best known from her roles in the Carry On films, we learn about her childhood and how she got into acting. It was interesting to learn not just about her professional career, but her personal life too. She seemed to be admired and loved by everyone she met. I thought the author went into a lot of detail in telling us about Hattie, and did a lot of r This was an excellent book about a very well loved and admired actress. I didn't know much about Hattie Jacques as a person before reading this book. Best known from her roles in the Carry On films, we learn about her childhood and how she got into acting. It was interesting to learn not just about her professional career, but her personal life too. She seemed to be admired and loved by everyone she met. I thought the author went into a lot of detail in telling us about Hattie, and did a lot of research on her. She was certainly very much loved and admired by everyone. Andy Merriman

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Shar – Jun 16, 2019

   Absolutely loved this book - I have always been interested in Hattie Jacques but didn't know much about her personal life - in the book there are a lot of details about her films, stage work etc which I could have done without - and I did skim read those bits - but despite that I think this book is totally worth 5* it was an easy and fascinating read - and I admire Hattie even more so now! Absolutely loved this book - I have always been interested in Hattie Jacques but didn't know much about her personal life - in the book there are a lot of details about her films, stage work etc which I could have done without - and I did skim read those bits - but despite that I think this book is totally worth 5* it was an easy and fascinating read - and I admire Hattie even more so now!

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Brenda – Jan 19, 2018

   Far too much like a Wikipedia listing. Didn't really learn much about who she was. Far too much like a Wikipedia listing. Didn't really learn much about who she was.

4. 

   5 out of 5

   Geevee – Oct 18, 2012

   This was a pleasure to read and I came away understanding more about Hattie's personality, her career, family and how her size and weight affected her life in both good and bad ways. The author's style is easy and I felt he had done consderable research to provide the picture of his subject. At times his personal interjections interupted and in some cases irritated me, but these are few and like some basic editing errors do not detract from the book. I have read a few biographies/auto-biographies This was a pleasure to read and I came away understanding more about Hattie's personality, her career, family and how her size and weight affected her life in both good and bad ways. The author's style is easy and I felt he had done consderable research to provide the picture of his subject. At times his personal interjections interupted and in some cases irritated me, but these are few and like some basic editing errors do not detract from the book. I have read a few biographies/auto-biographies with people involved in entertainment and, as another reviewer says this one can at times read like a list of television programmes and films - but then biogs on sports or say music personalities do this too with gigs, albums or matches. In the case of Mr Merriman's book I thought he tackled the subject well and provided the right mix of detail to interweave the stories around Hattie's work. Where I felt he was particularly strong was in telling the story of Hattie's charity work - long before it was a must do PR photo event for celebs - and her personal relationships including her generosity to friends. Her relationship with Eric Sykes was also revealing although here more could have been explored or others interviewed. For me this was a good read about an actress whose work on Sykes and the Carry on films I enjoyed as a child. I came away feeling she was a talented lady with a kind heart who longed for love and more challenging acting roles.

5. 

   4 out of 5

   Julie Haigh – Oct 10, 2013

   A lovely nostalgic read. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It really took me back as I have watched carry on films from an early age and still watch them over and over again on Gold tv channel, I practically know the scripts now. I love the characters in these films; this book mentions lots of them and provides a real insight into their relationships with Hattie. I won't give away any of the happenings so I don't spoil it for those not read it yet but there are surprising facts about her marriage to Joh A lovely nostalgic read. I thoroughly enjoyed this. It really took me back as I have watched carry on films from an early age and still watch them over and over again on Gold tv channel, I practically know the scripts now. I love the characters in these films; this book mentions lots of them and provides a real insight into their relationships with Hattie. I won't give away any of the happenings so I don't spoil it for those not read it yet but there are surprising facts about her marriage to John Le Mesurier- not what I thought or had heard at all and this book tells it like it was because Hattie' s son has been involved in giving info for the book. I've given this 4 stars because I would have liked some photos, there aren't any. Ok I know what Hattie looks like but I would have liked to have seen pics from shows and films also, there are numerous actors mentioned and some didn't seem familiar but when I looked up on computer and saw their photos I did know who they were, just not by name so if pictures in the book I wouldn't have had to interrupt the reading flow. Also it's 4stars because there's just one area where the book lags a bit. It was easy reading from the start- very easy to get into then it seemed to just list this film and that film she had been in so I thought it was going to get a bit boring and repetitive but it soon picked up momentum again. There's lots of amazing facts in here, it's very well written. This was a wonderful read.

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Jade Dermody – Nov 03, 2011

   As a biography goes this book is OK. Its more of a list of the many different jobs that Hattie did, which although shows her range as an actress, can get a bit boring. However when information regarding the actress life comes into play you get a real sense of how kind and sexy the woman was. A real bohemian with a very open mind for the time

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Karen – Oct 05, 2016

   What an utterly silly woman Hattie was. She had the love of a good man and threw it all away for sex with her chauffer.

8. 

   4 out of 5

   Kelly – Aug 12, 2011

   Really enjoyed this bio of a great comedienne. Quite a few grammatical errors though (sorry that kind of thing bothers me!)

9. 

   5 out of 5

   David Highton – Nov 07, 2015

   Mildly interesting read, having caught part of the BBC4 play based on this book, and reflects the entertainment media of the times, very different from now, and has a 50s feel

10. 

    4 out of 5

    Elizabeth Blows – Jul 07, 2013

    Loved it I really shouldn't have to say more ! Loved it I really shouldn't have to say more !

11. 

    4 out of 5

    Mike Jennings – Aug 12, 2013

    Interesting, informative, easy to read but ultimately very sad.

12. 

    5 out of 5

    adele brannan –

13. 

    5 out of 5

    Rebecca Louise –

14. 

    5 out of 5

    fidelma vahey –

15. 

    5 out of 5

    Janine –

16. 

    5 out of 5

    Jackie –

17. 

    5 out of 5

    Nikki –

18. 

    5 out of 5

    julia forbes nish –

19. 

    4 out of 5

    Dave Dutton –

20. 

    5 out of 5

    Suzanne M Jardine –

21. 

    5 out of 5

    Maureen leeming –

22. 

    5 out of 5

    Kerry Miller –

23. 

    4 out of 5

    mr colin pollard –

24. 

    5 out of 5

    freda chapman –

25. 

    4 out of 5

    Charlie Lindores –

26. 

    5 out of 5

    Neil Williams –

27. 

    4 out of 5

    Sandra Gamblen –

28. 

    4 out of 5

    Rich –

29. 

    5 out of 5

    Jeffrey Blackband –

30. 

    5 out of 5

    Gary Groves –