# Whose Biographies have You Read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649 "2016-09-23T15:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/1 "2016-09-23T15:35:17Z")
Currently, I’m reading a nice one called _Eliot Ness: The Rise and Fall of an American Hero_. It’s lightly written, and very enjoyable. I didn’t realize that Ness was more Cleveland’s hero than Chicago’s. Or that he had a squad called the Unknowns in Cleveland as opposed to the Untouchables in Chicago. Other people whose biographies I’ve read include: Davy Crockett Chicago Mayor Big Bill Thompson Vlad the Impaler George Washington More Abraham Lincoln ones than any other biography. Ulysses S. Grant James K. Polk Al Capone Dean O’Banion Livia, wife of Augustus of Rome Ignaz Semmelweis, the guy who noticed that washing hands was a good thing for doctors to do before delivering babies. Aaaaand others that I can’t think of right now. Whose biographies have you read? Feel free to name a specific book if it was a particularly good one. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/2 "2016-09-23T15:47:30Z")
Hmmmmm… Galileo Leonardo da Vinci Peter the Great Russian empresses Anna and Elizabeth Catherine the Great Thomas Edison Wilbur and Orville Wright Robert Goddard Adolf Hitler Hermann Goering Dwight Eisenhower Do \*\*\*I, Claudius \*\*\*and _ **Claudius the God** _ count as biography? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/3 "2016-09-23T15:54:11Z")
I suppose I could add Donald “Tony the Greek” Frankos, Mafia hit man and author of _ **Contract Killer** _. I know lots of other biographies from reading history. But I guess reading actual \*dedicated \*biographies is another matter. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/4 "2016-09-23T15:56:47Z")
Truman Andrew Jackson John Adams George Washington (not quite done) Florence Harding Frances Perkins Gen. George Thomas Einstein (my grandfather and I are mentioned in it). Benjamin Britten (my grandfather and father are mentioned in it; Britten was for a brief time in love with my father) Churchill and Gandhi (a joint biography; the two men’s lives were intertwined in many ways). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/5 "2016-09-23T16:01:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Do \*\*\*I, Claudius \*\*\*and _ **Claudius the God** _ count as biography? I’ve read both and I didn’t count it. That’s more of a fictionalized history written by an author posing as an auto-biographer. Both excellent books though. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/6 "2016-09-23T16:03:29Z")
I am hopelessly addicted to celebrity biographies, autobiographies, and tell-alls. Hopelessly. Whether weighty tomes on the lives of Montgomery Cliff or Bette Davis, or ‘My Husband, Rock Hudson’ by arranged marriage dummy Phyllis Gates. Frank Sinatra’s butler wrote a book. Stewart Granger has a good one. Eddie Fisher, Tony Curtis, Peter Lawford - quite similar lifestyles of the rich and famous are revealed in these last three. Doris Day led quite a sad life, as so many others. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/7 "2016-09-23T16:06:34Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > I’ve read both and I didn’t count it. That’s more of a fictionalized history written by an author posing as an auto-biographer. Both excellent books though. Well, they’re heavily based on the works of Suetonius, which I guess is the closest we’ll ever come to a contemporary history of Rome, though they were written long after the Julio-Claudians ruled and were somewhat biased. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/8 "2016-09-23T16:08:41Z")
Robert Ripley (“Believe it or Not!”) Jim Henson I seem to be an autobiography/memoir type: Stephen Fry David Mitchell Tina Fey Amy Poehler Penny Marshall Mindy Kaling ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/9 "2016-09-23T16:11:15Z")
Robert Oppenheimer’s was one of my favourites. As was Richard Feynman’s. Einstein. Joseph Stalin’s was interesting. Caravaggio’s was quite good as well. I’ve been meaning to start reading: Paul Dirac - The strangest man. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/10 "2016-09-23T16:11:37Z")
Dean Martin and Tony Curtis can be added to my list. Nick Tosches’ _ **Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams** _ is almost impossible to put down. I also loved David Niven’s autobiography _ **The Moon’s a Balloon** _. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/11 "2016-09-23T16:14:30Z")
Theodore Roosevelt (many, many) Humphrey Bogart Winston Churchill FDR Andrew Jackson I’m really more of a history reader than a biography reader. Except for Teddy, the most interesting man ever to occupy the Oval Office. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/12 "2016-09-23T16:19:12Z")
_ **Creator** _, Gene Roddenberry’s biography. I have Volkogonov’s biography of Stalin, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. _ **The Autobiography of Malcolm X** _ is fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/13 "2016-09-23T16:28:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Benjamin Britten (my grandfather and father are mentioned in it; Britten was for a brief time in love with my father) Um, your father was all grown up, I hope? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/14 "2016-09-23T16:31:50Z")
_ **Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince** _. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/15 "2016-09-23T16:34:36Z")
Lincoln John Adams Thomas Jefferson Both Roosevelt presidents Eleanor Roosevelt John Speke Richard Francis Burton (explorer, not actor) Stanley Livingston Mungo Park Percy Fawcett (explorer) Edmund Hillary Patton Roy Orbison Cynthia Twist (John Lennon’s first wife, autobiography) Storm Large (singer, autobiography) King Leopold William Dampier Captain James Cook Magellan Richard and John Lander (explorers) Gordon Laing (explorer) Solomon Northrup George Custer John Wesley Powell Shackleton ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/16 "2016-09-23T17:01:01Z")
This far down and no one has mentioned _ **The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin** _, one of the most enjoyable books ever? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/17 "2016-09-23T17:02:48Z")
I’m in the process of reading BLM’s memoir. No, not “Black Lives Matter” or “Bureau of Land Management”, but “Bernard Law Montgomery”. He’s pretty insufferable. I understand why so many Americans hated him during the war. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/18 "2016-09-23T17:04:05Z")
I read mostly historical biographies. I just finished one about Victoria’s childhood, beginning with the death of Princess Charlotte and the mad dash to produce another heir for the throne, and ending with Victoria’s marriage to Albert. There is apparently a sequel by the same author about the early years of the V&A marriage I want to get hold of. At Chatsworth this spring, I picked up a nice, big biography of Arbella Stuart. I have Antonia Fraser’s biographies of Mary Queen of Scots, the wives of Henry VIII, and Charles II. Also an older book about life of the [Duchess of Hamilton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hamilton,_3rd_Duchess_of_Hamilton). ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/19 "2016-09-23T17:09:02Z")
As a space buff, virtually every astronaut biography/autobiography available. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649/20 "2016-09-23T17:14:31Z")
Good lord, so many I couldn’t possibly remember them, let alone list them all here. Across genres, etc. I was on a kick a few months ago spending my Holiday Amazon gift cards on various rock bios - here is a link to one review which links to a bunch of others: [Rock Bio: Hunger Makes me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=779995) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-biographies-have-you-read/766649.md?page=2)