The veteran actress recounts her rise from her Brooklyn childhood (as Shirley Schrift) to Hollywood and Broadway stardom, her startling affairs with leading men, her associations with writers and politicians, and her tormented marriages.

Spanning her career during the 1950s and 1960s, the actress describes her marriages to Vittorio Gassman and Tony Franciosa, her Oscar-winning role, the maturation of her political consciousness, and famous friends and lovers