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When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead
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When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead (2010) (edit title/settings)

Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man

by Jerry Weintraub (Author) (edit contributors)

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Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars.

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No matter where nature has placed him--the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood--he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. "All life was a theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage," he... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

No matter where nature has placed him--the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood--he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door. "All life was a theater and I wanted to put it up on a stage," he writes."I wanted to set the world under a marquee that read: 'Jerry Weintraub Presents.'" In WHEN I STOP TALKING, YOU'LL KNOW I'M DEAD, we follow Weintraub from his first great success at age twenty-six with Elvis Presley, whom he took on the road with the help of Colonel Tom Parker; to the immortal days with Sinatra and Rat Pack glory; to his crowning hits as a movie producer, starting with Robert Altman and Nashville , continuing with Oh, God! , The Karate Kid movies, and Diner , among others, and summiting with Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's Eleven , Twelve , and Thirteen . Along the way, we'll watch as Jerry moves from the poker tables of Palm Springs (the games went on for days), to the power rooms of Hollywood, to the halls of the White House, to Red Square in Moscow and the Great Palace in Beijing-all the while counseling potentates, poets, and kings, with clients and confidants like George Clooney, Bruce Willis, George H. W. Bush, Armand Hammer, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, John Denver, Bobby Fischer . . .well, the list goes on forever. And of course, the story is not yet over . . .as the old-timers say, "The best is yet to come." As Weintraub says, "When I stop talking, you'll know I'm dead." With wit, wisdom, and the cool confidence that has colored his remarkable career, Jerry chronicles a quintessentially American journey, one marked by luck, love, and improvisation. The stories he tells and the lessons we learn are essential, not just for those who love movies and music, but for businessmen, entrepreneurs, artists . . . everyone.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “If asked my philosophy, it would be simply this: Savor life, don’t press too hard, don’t worry too much. Or as the old-timers say, “Enjoy.” But, as I said, I never could live by this philosophy and was, in fact, out working, hustling, trading, scheming, and making a buck as soon as I was old enough to leave my parents’ house.”
    Jerry Weintraub
  • “Protecting us, keeping us from the suffering of the world, that was her task. She did not want us to know about the existence of hospitals, let alone mortuaries. If I had a relative who suddenly stopped coming to the apartment and I asked, “Where is Uncle Dave?” She would say, “Dave went on a trip.” Then, three years would go by and I would ask, “What happened to Uncle Dave?” And she’d say, “Oh, Uncle Dave died years ago.”
  • “I can’t write a novel. I can’t write a play. I can’t write a song. But I can help the artist get that book or song or play noticed by the public. And that’s packaging. When you dig through all the craziness of my life, you’ll see that I’m just a guy from the Bronx who knows how to attract a crowd. I can get people to notice the sapphire, so it’s not lying in a cellar where it might be found in a hundred years, long after the man who mined it has died. That is my talent. If I had been around with Van Gogh or Melville, they would not have had to wait so long for fame.”
  • “Years later, when I met some of these people again, I showed them the book. And they laughed. Betty Grable wanted to take a pen and add, “You’re welcome for the belch, Jerry.” I told her not to do it. You really shouldn’t tamper with a historical document.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • The person who makes it is the person who keeps on going after everyone else has quit. This is more important than intelligence, pedigree, even connections. Be dogged! Keep hitting that door until you bust it down! I have accomplished almost nothing on the first or second or even the third try—the breakthrough usually comes late, when everyone else has left the field.
    Highlighted by 169 Kindle customers
  • The point is, do not get attached to the world as it is, because the world is changing, something new is coming, every ten years a big hand comes down and sweeps the dishes off the table.
    Highlighted by 143 Kindle customers
  • I learned lessons from this business that I still follow today: People will pay you to make their lives easier; always take the time to make the pitch; personal service is the name of the game; never get paid once for doing something twice.
    Highlighted by 140 Kindle customers
  • When the game changes, you have to change with it. The more you change, the more you risk in order to survive—and it gets harder and scarier as you get older.
    Highlighted by 115 Kindle customers
  • I don’t care if you get flattened a thousand times. As long as you get up that thousand-and-first time, you win. As Hemingway said, “You can never tell the quality of a bullfighter until that bullfighter has been gored.”
    Highlighted by 113 Kindle customers
  • This much I knew: As soon as you feel comfortable, that’s when it’s time to start over.
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  • People judge on first sight, so make those surfaces shine. If you want to be seen as a major, look like a major. As a great man said, perception is reality. As another great man said, You grow into the suit. As a philosophy this means operating on confidence, in the belief that something will happen, that the trick will work, that the backup will arrive with the heavy guns. It’s how America has operated from the beginning.
    Highlighted by 110 Kindle customers
  • There is a lesson in this: Let the other guy save face with his people, but keep score.
    Highlighted by 97 Kindle customers
  • Relationships are the only thing that really matters, in business and in life. That’s what I learned from Abraham Levitt.
    Highlighted by 93 Kindle customers
  • I’ll tell you my biggest talent. When I believe in something, it’s going to get done. When people say, “No,” I don’t hear it. When people say, “That’s a bad idea,” I don’t believe them. When people say, “It won’t happen,” I pretend they’re joking.
    Highlighted by 92 Kindle customers
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First Sentence edit see section history

I have a philosophy of life, but I don’t live by it and never could practice it.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jerry Weintraub (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Twelve
Country: USA
Publication Date: April 2010
ISBN: 978-0446548151
Page Count: 304

Classification edit see section history

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

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