My West Side Story: A Memoir with George Chakiris (04/11/2021)

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HARDBACK BOOK: https://smile.amazon.com/My-West-Side-Story-Memoir/dp/149305547X/

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George Chakiris' reclusive reputation has made him highly sought for interviews. Now, as he prepare to release his memoirs, entitled "MY WEST SIDE STORY," he opens up about life in and out of the spotlight. Natalie Wood and “lovely” Richard Beymer, to the mercurial Jerome Robbins and “passionate” Rita Moreno, with whom Chakiris remains friends. “I know exactly where my gratitude belongs,” Chakiris writes, “and I still marvel at how, unbeknownst to me at the time, the joyful path of my life was paved one night in 1949 when Jerome Robbins sat Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents down in his apartment and announced, 'I have an idea.'" In 1947, Chakiris made his film debut in the chorus of Song of Love. He was one of the dancers in Marilyn Monroe's “Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend” number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes released in 1953. He again appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in “White Christmas” in “Love, You Didn't Do Right by Me.” In 1961, George's biggest success came with the film West Side Story, for which he won the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks.  He had also appeared as Riff, leader of the Jets, in the West End in London.