Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood

“A dazzling performance….An incisive, hilarious study of Hollywood folkways.”

—Wall Street Journal

The tell-all memoir of all tell-all memoirs, Me Cheeta is the unexpurgated true life story of the  granddaddy of all Hollywood animals, Cheeta the Chimp, star of the Tarzan films. The Washington Post calls this insider’s tale from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen, “Hilarious, catty, melancholy and, occasionally, deep,” and it was nominated for Great Britain’s prestigious Man Booker Prize (though Chimp Booker Prize would be more appropriate). As told to James Lever, Me Cheeta is one ape’s story of his on-and-off screen interactions with the likes of Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rex Harrison, and Bela Lugosi. Tinkerbell, Paris Hilton’s dog, had her literary day, as did Socks the First Cat. Now it’s Cheeta’s turn!

For the first time, the granddaddy of all Hollywood animals tells his remarkable story, from the golden age of the silver screen to the lounge chairs of palm springs. Cheeta the Chimp, star of the Tarzan films, bares all—as only a primate can.

In 1984 Johnny Weissmuller, Hollywood's true Tarzan, passed away. His coffin was lowered into the ground to the recorded sounds of his famous jungle call. Maureen O'Sullivan, his Jane, followed him in 1998. But their co-star, Cheeta the chimpanzee, the greatest animal actor in the history of the silver screen, lives on. At seventy-six, he is by some distance the oldest chimp ever recorded.

Now, in his own words, Cheeta finally tells his extra-ordinary story.

Plucked from millions of swinging hopefuls in the jungles of Liberia, Cheeta became an international screen icon from the moment of his debut in 1934's Tarzan and His Mate. He went on to star in a further nine Tarzan pictures and later in Doctor Dolittle, with the supercilious Rex Harrison, until finally his battles with substance abuse forced him into early retirement. But back in the day, this magnificent star cavorted (and occasionally snorted) with all the Hollywood greats.

We are privileged, indeed, that such a legendary entertainer should grant us intimate access to the lives of the most glittering stars. Well aware that no animal has ever been successfully sued for libel, Cheeta shares fascinating revelations about a lost Hollywood.

Funny, moving, and searingly honest, this is unquestionably the greatest celebrity autobiography of our time.

‘A book that makes you guffaw out loud.’ - Evening Standard

“Funny, scandalous and moving.” - Mail on Sunday

‘It’s a funny year in which the most successful showbusiness autobiography, the funniest, cleverest and most insightful, the one that says the most about the art of memoir-writing and the human condition, is the one that was written by a chimp.’ - The Independent

‘The most rollicking showbiz memoir since David Niven’s Bring on the Empty Horses. . . . Me Cheeta is a satirical masterpiece.’ - The Telegraph

‘Why is everyone not raving about Me Cheeta: The Autobiography? It really is one of the smartest comic novels of recent years.’ - The Guardian

“A rude, hilarious and infectious memoir of Hollywood’s golden age. . . . The Hollywood spoofing is certainly entertaining, but Me, Cheeta evolves into something grander: a broad, cutting satire on the differences between man and beast.” - Chicago Sun-Times

A “lyrical and profane memoir-cum-love-story. The book is hilarious, catty, melancholy and, occasionally, deep.” - Washington Post

“As a premise, Me Cheeta is glorious. What wouldn’t be entertaining about the memoir of a chimpanzee, ghostwritten by James Lever, who witnessed Hollywood’s Golden Age and is more than willing to spill? Cheeta is one articulate primate, and he’s not afraid to dish.” - Denver Post

“Pretty good, considering it was written by a monkey who has been eligible for AARP membership since the first Reagan Administration.” - Florida Times-Union

‘Me Cheeta: undoubtedly the year’s best not-a-memoir-at-all. It’s hard to conceive of anyone who’d like a biography who wouldn’t like a copy of this truly, horribly funny book.’ - Daily Telegraph