Book Tour/Giveaway - Sub-Lebrity by Leon Acord

Sub-lebrity by Leon Acord 

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GENRE: Memoir 

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BLURB: A droll, oddly inspirational memoir from the actor Breitbart once called "a gay leftist activist," SUB-LEBRITY by Leon Acord (Old Dogs & New Tricks) is an honest, sometimes bitchy but always sincere story about growing up (very) gay in rural Indiana, achieving acting success outside the closet, and generating headlines with his very-public smackdown with Trump-loving Susan Olsen (Cindy, The Brady Bunch)

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 Excerpt: One of my nemeses from the jock clique, Rick Sisson, was slumming, playing the bit part of an “Old Man” about to be poisoned by two murderous old ladies in Arsenic & Old Lace. As Mortimer, I was to rush on stage, see the Old Man about to drink a glass of poisoned elderberry wine, grab him by the jacket, and shove him out of my crazy aunts’ house. That was how we’d been playing it. For closing night, he and his jock buddies thought of a hilarious prank. Instead of setting his glass of fake wine on the table before I grabbed him, he’d throw the full glass of Hawaiian Punch into my face! It was closing night, why not? Smear the queer! The sizable high-school auditorium was packed with a rowdy closing-night crowd of parents, faculty and friends, unaware they were about to witness my humiliation. The moment arrived. I entered, rushed to the Old Man with the glass near his lips, and SPLASH! I was stunned. Rick rushed through the door and off stage before I could do a thing. The audience erupted with laughter. Erupted! And didn’t stop! I’d seen it on sitcoms all my short life. Actors forced to hold for a laugh. I lived for the moments on the Carol Burnett Show when something went wrong or when the actors tried not to laugh. And now, I was experiencing that myself. It felt wonderful! Rick wanted me to feel like Carrie White. Instead, I felt like Cary Grant. The two teenaged actresses playing my aunts just watched, trying not to laugh themselves. I felt myself about to smile. I turned my back to the audience and fumbled through a desk on stage, pretending to blindly look for a handkerchief – a cover until I could wipe the now-gigantic smile off my face. The audience found this hilarious and continued howling. Back in character, I gave up at the desk and turned to face the audience just as the laugh was softening. I instinctively yanked off my clip-on tie and began dabbing my wet face with it. The audience screamed with laughter again – this time, the laughter morphed into applause. The song from the Broadway musical Applause is right – it’s better than pot, it’s better than booze. Waiting out a long laugh break, instinctively finding ways to prolong it, riding it like a surfer on a wave, then crashing against the shore in a loud burst of applause, is the best feeling in the world. I had flirted with the idea of being an actor, among other creative pursuits, all though childhood. But in this moment, I knew. I’d spend the rest of my life chasing that feeling. 

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From The Author:

I’ve really enjoyed getting feedback from folks who’ve read SUB-LEBRITY*. Their messages have exceeded my wildest expectations. It’s very gratifying and humbling to know my readers are enjoying my story of the trials and tribulations an almost-but-not-quite-famous gay actor (me).

Probably the biggest surprise has been how many readers have told me my book would make a great movie or mini-series.

God love ‘em, but I couldn’t disagree more!

Maybe its because I’m an actor, producer and sometimes screenwriter (of the series Old Dogs & New Tricks on Amazon Prime). I know only too well the basic cinematic rules of “show don’t tell” and “less is more.”

How can anyone, even the most talented filmmaker, possibly boil a life story down to ninety minutes? It was hard enough whittling my rambling tales down to 300 pages!

But then, I consider The Naked Civil Servant, Quentin Crisp’s autobiography. (I played Mr. Crisp in two productions of the play Carved in Stone by Jeffrey Hartgraves and found a “brother by a different mother” in the notorious British gay raconteur.)

When you read Crisp’s book, you can’t imagine how it could possibly be translated into a film. But it was, brilliantly, in the 1975 TV-movie starring John Hurt.

The opening scene, of a young Quentin dancing in front of a full-length mirror in his mother’s clothes, is a perfect image that sums up his early childhood in a single moment.

Anything is possible.

I suppose much of my childhood could be summarized by an image of a six-year-old toe-headed boy, laying on his stomach in front the of the TV, enraptured.

But beyond that, my brain short-circuits.

Then there’s the fear of seeing someone else playing you! Its something I’ve never even thought about. Its not that I think I’m all that unique. I just imagine seeing only all the things the actor-in-question got wrong.

Or even worse, imagine if the actor got everything right?! The horror!

And besides, who would play me? Andy Dick is too old, thank God!

So, no thank you. I’m happy to keep my story on the page, and to allow my readers to “see” the movie of my life in their mind’s eye as they read SUB-LEBRITY*.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: Leon Acord is an award-winning actor and writer who has appeared in over 35 films you've never seen and 30 plays you've never heard of. Possible exceptions include the digital TV series Old Dogs & New Tricks on Amazon Prime Video (which he created, wrote & co-produced), and the stage hit Carved in Stone (in which he played Quentin Crisp in both SF and LA productions). His memoir, SUB-LEBRITY: The Queer Life of a Show-Biz Footnote, is now available in paperback & e-book on Amazon. He wrote his one-man show Last Sunday in June (1996) and co-authored the 2014 play Setting the Record Gay. He was a "Take Five" columnist for Back Stage West throughout 2009 and a former contributor to Huffington Post. He has also written for San Francisco Examiner and the journal Human Prospect. He currently lives in West LA with husband Laurence Whiting & their cat Toby. 

Learn more at www.LeonAcord.com 

www.facebook.com/LeonAcordActor  

www.instagram.com/leonacord 

www.twitter.com/Sub_lebrityLeon 

Blog: www.LeonAcord.com/blog 

Amazon: www.bit.ly/SUBpaperback 

Old Dogs & New Tricks website: www.odnt.tv 

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 Leon Acord will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway