Book Log 2015 #2: You Might Remember Me by Mike Thomas

I don't have strong memories of many celebrity deaths, but I can still remember clearly when I heard about the killing of Phil Hartman. I was at work, and got an email from a friend about it. I spent the rest of the afternoon surfing the Web, reading stories and trying to make sense of what happened to one of my favorite actors. I didn't know much about Hartman other than his performances, which I universally enjoyed, and the news didn't fill too many gaps other than those specific to his death.

Filling many of these gaps is this biography, which paints a picture of Phil as someone, from a relatively early age, used humor and a laid back attitude to get attention and forge relationships (in some way, I think, to compensate for parents who were distracted by a large family and financial insecurity). As an adult, he used these talents to work his way into improv, where his work with the Groundlings set the stage for his work on SNL and The Simpsons.

And while Phil didn't have what you could call a dark side, there is the suggestion that he had a kind of a veneer, that what you saw from Phil was a persona cultivated for public use. Whether he used that to keep a distance from others, or to mask insecurities lingering from his past, it seems like there were few, if any, people who could claim to know Phil. There was also the part of this persona that manifested itself in having nice things and keeping the company of beautiful women. You can see where this would lead to his ultimately fatal choice for a third wife.

There are places where I'd have liked more - the section about his time on NewsRadio seemed especially short - but I do feel like I have much more complete understanding of Phil's life and death, and what made him such a unique performer.

(Popsugar Reading Challenge: A book by an author you've never read before)