Born with Teeth

Starred review from February 9, 2015
In Mulgrew’s assured gem of a memoir, fans of the actress (Star Trek: Voyager, Orange is the New Black) will delight in discovering her writing chops are as accomplished as her award-winning acting. Growing up, she lived in Derby Grange, a massive 1850s house in Dubuque, Iowa, where Mulgrew and her seven siblings enjoyed magical childhoods. Her eccentric artist mother, whose best friend was Jean Kennedy Smith, sent the budding actress to New York at 18, where she studied with the legendary Stella Adler. Mulgrew’s career took off quickly when she landed the lead in the soap Ryan’s Hope in 1975. Her unplanned pregnancy during that time was written into the script, although only a handful knew the baby girl was placed for adoption at birth. The events devastated Mulgrew, as did the early deaths of two beloved siblings and a rape she survived near her Manhattan apartment. But she kept moving forward, powerfully devoted to her life through broken romantic relationships, the joy of getting the lucrative starring role in Star Trek: Voyager, and finding her daughter at last in 2007. Mulgrew’s mother was her muse and true confidante, until the first signs of Alzheimer’s appeared. Readers will savor Mulgrew’s gift for erudite, honest writing and want to read more about her mesmerizing life.

March 1, 2015
Solidly literate but gushy memoir from the actress known for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager and Orange Is the New Black. Mulgrew recounts her rise from a bucolic Iowa upbringing to much-in-demand thespian on the New York stage to iconic TV roles on Ryan's Hope and Voyager. The memoir immediately sets itself apart from most other actors' life stories, as the author's prose can occasionally be self-consciously lapidary, the overall effect of which can alternate between stuffiness and evocative elegance. Unlike the Sisyphean plight of 99 percent of aspiring actors and actresses, Mulgrew's rise to prominence in the acting field in the 1970s seems comparatively less fraught. She studied with Stella Adler (who told her that it would "be so easy for you to take your eye off the prize and skate into Hollywood") in New York;for a short time and performed in a few amateur productions. She then strode confidently into the office of a talent agent, and the rest was history. By her early 20s, Mulgrew had assumed the high-profile role of Mary Ryan on the much-beloved TV soap Ryan's Hope. But it was also around this time that she became pregnant with her first child; being young and wary of her burgeoning career, she gave her daughter up for adoption. It would prove to be a decision that would haunt her for years, even though she would go on to have other children. The author also plows methodically and somewhat coldly through the many romances and marriages that did not survive her busy career and mercurial lifestyle as a stage and TV actress. But while her career is reaching its peak with her portrayal of Capt. Kathryn Janeway on Voyager, she also closed an important and long chapter in her life when she was unexpectedly reunited with her adopted daughter. Compellingly introspective and revealing, despite the tendency toward overwriting.

April 15, 2015
Mulgrew, best known as Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, reflects on her life with the wisdom of hindsight. She was brought up Irish Catholic in a large, midwestern family, had extremely eccentric parents, and fell in love with acting at an early age. Eager to begin her career, Mulgrew dropped out of the Stella Adler school at 18, began acting on both stage and screen, and quickly matriculated into Hollywood. The stereotype of an actor living with abandon, seeking emotional intensity, obtains here, but Mulgrew's sincerity and introspection make her entirely sympathetic as she describes passionate romances that taxed her sense of self, sitcoms that no producer could save, an unwanted pregnancy she chose not to terminate, and the reunion with her daughter nearly 20 years later. Mulgrew recalls that after she read a poem for her school's poetry contest, her mother told her she could either be a mediocre poet or a great actress. Given that her writing is as rich as her life experiences, Mulgrew's evocative memoir attests to her success as both an actor and a writer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2014

You'll know Mulgrew as Red on Orange Is the New Black, Capt. Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, and maybe (for oldsters) Mary Ryan on Ryan's Hope. This memoir ranges from her bold leap into theater to her long hunt for the daughter she gave up at age 19. Plenty of media coverage anticipated.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2015

Actress Mulgrew's (Star Trek: Voyager; Orange Is the New Black) autobiography is an intriguing look at a very interesting life. She left her home in Iowa at 18 in the Seventies and studied with Stella Adler in New York, determined to become an actress. She quickly earned stardom on the TV soap opera Ryan's Hope and her life changed forever. Despite her public success with acting, behind the scenes Mulgrew went through many emotional traumas with her children and in her personal life. She describes her deep sorrow when she gave a daughter up for adoption and how she eventually reconciled with her. This well-written book has great stories, as Mulgrew is a fantastic storyteller. It also is a very honest recollection of some of the experiences she has had and how, through it all, acting has remained her passion. VERDICT Mulgrew's enjoyable narrative is compelling as she portrays her decades of acting work, personal triumphs and heartbreaks, and her mesmerizing life. [See Prepub Alert, 10/20/14.]--Sally Bryant, Pepperdine Univ. Lib., Malibu, CA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.