My Face for the World To See
Liz Renay
1971; Lyle Stuart
This fast and easy read is an absorbing autobiography from starlet Liz Renay, once a winner of the Marilyn Monroe lookalike contest, who perhaps seemed destined to be the next big thing in the 1960s. However, her career was cut short when she was imprisoned for perjuring herself in a trial against gangster Mickey Cohen. In the book’s humble beginnings, she rebelled against her God-fearing mother by being sexually adventurous at such a young age. After two kids and numerous marriages, and a career as a stripper, one is astounded by her strength to withstand so many hardships. Also, because of her beauty, she had little problem being taken care of by so many men. Sometimes her life story reads like a giddy swirl of champagne, as she is romanced by socialites and New York gangsters, and she somehow always managed to be in the right place at the right time. Alongside her budding career as an actress, she discovered a talent for painting. Even though her first starring role in the thriller A Date with Death (remembered for its “subliminal advertising”) was a disaster, the future nonetheless seemed bright for Liz Renay. Then her luck ran out.
Her friendships with denizens of the mob proved to be her undoing. Her seemingly innocent gesture of lending money to Mickey Cohen turned out to be a huge issue, in Bobby Kennedy’s attempt to bring down Cohen. She managed to get out of the trial merely on probation, but a silly mishap in a hotel room during her probation time (in which a modelling job turned into a potential prostitution scandal) landed her back in court and ultimately, in jail. How much more can a woman take? Well, in the final quarter of the book, Ms. Renay heartbreakingly documents the rancid conditions of prison life at Terminal Island. Not only does she discuss the lesbianism in the women’s prison as a means to get favours, but also the strange clashes with the warden over having a Mormon ceremony! Plus, her own daughter became a mother while she was behind bars.
Sadly, after her stint in prison ends, the next few years up to the date of publication are breezed through. Her first gig out of prison (working with our main man Ray Dennis Steckler on The Thrill Killers) is not discussed. And because this was published in 1971, we of course don’t get her memories of working for John Waters and Ted V. Mikels. Perhaps today she is best remembered for her comeback period in the 1970s, after the publication of this book.
Ms. Renay’s writing is lucid and engrossing. Hers is an incredible and somewhat inspiring life story, during which she faced and overcame many obstacles.