Book Recommendation – The Show Won’t Go On

This is one of those books that I found fascinating. It is written by Jeff Abraham, who I follow I Facebook. He has a lot of interesting Hollywood stories and an amazing vinyl record collection. The Show Won’t Go On, as morbid as it might seem, was very interesting.

Before I tell you my thoughts, here is the short Goodreads synopsis:

There has never been a show business book quite like The Show Won’t Go On , the first comprehensive study of a bizarre performers who died onstage. The Show Won’t Go On covers almost every genre of entertainment, and is full of unearthed anecdotes, exclusive interviews, colorful characters, and ironic twists. With dozens of heart-stopping stories, it’s the perfect book to dip into on any page.

Prior to reading this book, I was only familiar with one celebrity who died on stage – Dick Shawn. He was known for his roles as Sylvester in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the Snow Miser in The Year Without a Santa Claus, and his role in Mel Brook’s The Producers. He was also a very popular comedian who was known for doing insane things during his act. A search of YouTube will bring you many clips of him on variety shows and such.

In April of 1987, he was in the middle of his act when he fell face first to the stage after having a heart attack. The audience initially assumed that it was part of his act. After he had remained motionless for several minutes, a stage hand examined him and asked if a physician was present. He died on stage at age 63.

I had no idea that there were plenty of other performers who had also died while performing. This book is loaded with those stories. The book is very well written and researched. It is full of names that you’ve heard of and some you don’t know, but the stories will intrigue you.

4 out of 5 stars