North of Hollywood

Take a roller coaster ride through the life of a real Hollywood actor!

Rick Lenz is an actor who has made it in New York and Hollywood. You have seen him countless times on TV and in the movies. He has been a popular leading man as well as a character actor, consistently avoiding repetition in the roles he chooses. Lenz has played leads opposite some of entertainment's biggest names, and has had recurring or guest starring roles on many of your favorite TV shows.

Yet his book is more than just an ordinary Hollywood insider story. Lenz is a terrific writer with a wicked sense of humor. Also a gifted artist and widely produced playwright, he uses his extraordinary storytelling skills to take you into his personal experiences with actors and entertainers we normally only hear about through the rumor mills, and to reveal real-life experiences of heartbreak, suspense, discovery and joy.

His memoir is fascinating. He doesn't pull any punches. Along with plenty of showbiz anecdotes, he tells us about his marriages (especially his "final" one) and his journey from summer stock through New York, then to Hollywood. He offers us deep insights into an actor's life and living in general. Feeling the shock waves of his stormy family background, including the emotional tremors of nearly losing his daughter who struggled for years with drugs, Rick Lenz is a real life husband and dad-and the absorbing reality of that shines through his words.

Spending time with Rick Lenz is fun, enlightening and authentic. If this weren't a true story it would make a mesmerizing fictional adventure. Bottom line: North of Hollywood is edgy, way out of the ordinary, and, as a bonus, funny.

About the author:

Rick Lenz has been a working actor almost all his adult life. His acting ranges from the serious to the comedic, and he has been featured in both starring and supporting roles on TV and in film. In addition to acting opposite many of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars—Peter Sellers, Goldie Hawn and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few—Lenz is a playwright and artist. North of Hollywood is his first book. He lives there with his wife, and his favorite roles are husband, father and, recently, grandfather.

"I love the book! Insightful, honest, wise, and charming. A wonderful read!"

- BERNARD SLADE, PLAYWRIGHT, "SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR"

"North of Hollywood gave me more satisfaction than any celebrity memoir or Hollywood insider book I've ever read! Yes, as a pop-culture junkie I drooled over the movie and TV anecdotes, but the best parts, for me, are the introspective passages. Rick Lenz's book reads like a nonfiction novel. It is, by turns, fall-on-the floor funny and graveyard-serious, a page-turner with a brain. This is an excitingly original book overflowing with lyrical power that I can't compare to anything else I've ever read. His voice is endlessly thought provoking and entertaining. I LIKE THIS BOOK! in an over-the-top, Sally Field, kinda way. -KEVIN COOK, WRITER AND EDITOR

"North of Hollywood should be required reading for anyone who aspires to the acting life in New York and the City of Angels. Enchantingly written with a sure hand and a knowing eye, Rick Lenz reveals with enormous poignancy and gleeful insight what it has taken to make one real life work while pursuing the Hollywood dream." -ELIZABETH FORSYTHE HAILEY, AUTHOR OF A WOMAN OF INDEPENDENT MEANS