I just got this first edition autographed memoir of Carroll Baker’s titled Baby Doll. I was interested in Carroll because she costarred with James Dean in Giant. But come to find out, Baker also starred in the controversial movies Baby Doll and The Carpetbaggers and had quite an interesting life story.

Carroll’s memoir was a great book! It was the perfect mix of her personal and professional lives. Carroll not only costarred with James Dean in Giant, but they were friends before and during filming. Baker devoted almost three chapters to her friendship with James Dean. Carroll also knew Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe and was friends with Marlene Dietrich and Debbie Reynolds. This is a great memoir for anyone interested in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. I did find it ironic that Carroll hated being known as “Baby Doll,” and spent her life trying to live down that nickname and character of “Baby Doll,” yet that is what she titled her memoir.