I first met Ray Bennett way back when I could barely spell, which is why I started out in the art department at TV Guide Canada. When I lucked into living in LA in the mid-’80s as the magazine’s photo editor, Ray was there, well established and writing many of our cover stories. I sought him out and asked for notes on a couple of short pieces I had written for the Guide. He took out a pen, crossed out all the adjectives, and I’ve been feeding my family ever since.
My first impulse was to begin this sentence with the word “so” but that is a no-no, as editor Ray has made clear over the ensuing years. If you read his very entertaining new book “Mystery Train to Hollywood – A Memoir of Life Among the Stars”, you can scour all 364 pages without finding one sentence that begins with that word. You will find many other words carefully arranged in such a way that leave you eager to turn every page.
Here is what else you will find: an astonishing, true-life tale of a young lad from rural England, the son of a railwayman, who, in the bleak years following World War II, sought refuge in cinemas, fell in love with Roy Rogers, and dreamt of becoming a journalist. He did just that, with distinction, in London, Toronto, Los Angeles and mainly on that mystery train to Hollywood.
Whenever I start thinking I’m special because I once interviewed Razzle Dazzle host Alan Hamel or Billy Van from The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, I need only to remind myself of Ray’s Life Among the Stars. He used to exchange birthday cards every year with another guy born on the same day: Gregory Peck. He once sipped Scotch whisky with Sean Connery on the terrace of Elton John’s house in the south of France. His back must ache from dropping and picking up the names of the Hollywood icons he’s met and interviewed, including Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn, James Stewart, Bette Davis, David Niven, Jeanne Moreau, Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Trevor Howard and Paul Newman.
Save Ray’s back and buy this book. Other names dropped include James Garner, Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, George Clooney and Patrick Swayze. He’s got a great story involving Steve Martin and Martin Short that I’m not going to spoil here. He’s reviewed rock concerts headlined by the likes of Led Zeppelin. He even got to interview Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night, one of the hardest TV interviews to get. The closest I got was having lunch with Frank Barron at Mahoney Wasserman, Carson’s publicist, who just wanted to meet the kid from Canada green enough to think that landing Carson was any easier than landing on the moon.
Ray, however, the son of that railwayman, knew there was always a way to get from here to there. It didn’t hurt that he brings charm and class and a zest for life to these adventures. Sometimes the stars even come to him. Many years ago I’m with Ray and his then wife Renée at a long gone Chinese restaurant in the Hollywood hills behind the Chinese theatre. Up to our table walks the unmistakable and very friendly Dolly Parton. This never happened when I was at a restaurant without Ray Bennett.
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Those of us who know and love Ray have been waiting years to read this book. I just got my copy and want to get back to it, so do yourself a favour and grab your own copy now on Amazon. Ray brings all the storytelling tools he honed over years writing and editing for The Hollywood Reporter, TV Guide Canada, The Windsor Star and many other publications. He was always really journaling his own adventures aboard this very magical, “Mystery Train to Hollywood.” I can’t risk using “so” at the start of a sentence, but after you read Ray’s memoir, remember I told you so.
