Henry Darrow – Lightning in the Bottle
By Jan Pippins
Copyright 2012
BearManor Media Publishing
Book Review
By: Gary Ledoux / Author: Nantan: The Life and Times of John P. Clum Part 1 and 2 and Tombstone Tales
I will start with a confession; I only saw snippets of The High Chaparral when it was on television in prime time. I don’t think I ever saw a complete episode. Thank goodness for You Tube. Otherwise I would have missed completely the acting ability and strong stage presence of actor Henry Darrow, aka Manolito Montoya.
Manolito was Darrow’s character in High Chaparral, his first real break in the acting business. It was a character that not only put him on everyone’s radar screen, including Hollywood luminaries, it kept him there long after the show ended, ever-continuing to spur has career forward.
Henry Darrow’s story, told lovingly, and in great detail by author Jan Pippins, starts on the streets of New York. It follows a young Puerto Rican kid, Henry Delgado full of fears and ambitions, to the Pasadena Playhouse in California and then on to Hollywood. The story follows Darrow to an Arizona movie set, through family and other loves in his life, through his name change (from Delgado to Darrow) and his interaction with so many actors and actresses. The story reads like an “A” list of television stars of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. The tale is rich, not only with Darrow’s trials and triumphs, but gives an up-close and personal look at the Hollywood television and movie business of those times, and what it was like to be a Latino actor during that period.
Sometimes, the reader finds the book leaning a little towards hagiography. But after reading the book and discovering, despite his human frailty, what a kind and generous man – and what a strong actor Darrow is, it becomes plain that author Jan Pippins wrote this book from the heart. Later discovering that Pippins has known Darrow personally for years, the admiration she has for Henry Darrow is more than warranted, and flows through the pages.
I walked away from this book with an greater appreciation of Henry Darrow, the man and actor, and a better understanding of the world of TV and movies in the 60’s – 80’s.
I would recommend this book to any student of acting, and anyone interested in the classic TV westerns of American television.
If a reader of this book is not already a fan of Henry Darrow’s, they will be by the time they reach the last page.
This story rates a “Six-Gun Salute!”
The Official Henry Darrow Book Website
http://www.henrydarrowbook.com/
