Ruta Lee’s memoir is a treasure trove of wonderful personal stories and anecdotes with rare firsthand and authentic memories of the entertainment industry.

Ruta Lee is Hollywood! She tells the fascinating stories of her life as a rising star in the golden years of Hollywood, a career that spans seven decades. You will meet the famous actors, dancers, and singers who are now legends that Ruta worked with and whose stories of life behind the scenes intertwined with Ruta’s. The stories of Ruta’s life are told here with truth, with humor, and with an honesty that is Ruta Lee.

In Consider Your Ass Kissed, Ruta discusses her starring roles in films such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Bullet for a Badman, Witness for the Prosecution, and Sergeants 3.

Ruta has worked with Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Johnny Carson, Fred Astaire, Robin Williams, Howard Keel, Bob Crane, Frank Sinatra, and the rest of the Rat Pack—the list goes on! The iconic ladies she called friends include Rona Barrett, Phyllis Diller, Julie Newmar, Lucille Ball, Sally Fields, Gypsy Rose Lee (no relation), and her best friend and founder of Thalians, Debbie Reynolds.

During Ruta’s thriving film career, she launched into television success with more than 2,000 appearances, starring and guest starring in shows like Perry Mason, the George Burns and Gracie Allen show, the Andy Griffith show, Dragnet, Peter Gun, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Marcus Welby MD, The Twilight Zone, Ironside, The Flying Nun, Hogan’s Heroes, Mork & Mindy, Benson, The Love Boat, Murder She Wrote, Roseanne, Days of Our Lives, Power Rangers, and, of course, 77 Sunset Strip and The Lucy Show. She even auditioned for the role of Ginger on Gilligan’s Island.

Lee was also cohost on NBC’s High Rollers with Alex Trebek, a regular on Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall, and made several television movies. She had series leads in CBS’ Coming of Age and HBO’s 1st and Ten. Her stints on the Bonnie Hunt Show remain among her favorites.

Thalians founder Debbie Reynolds and Ruta were the Leading Ladies of “Hollywood for Mental Health” and raised millions for The Thalians Mental Health Center with star-studded events.