Broken Promises and Shattered Dreams: The Tragic Ending of One Entertainer's Career, Based on a True Life Story

Growing up happy in a big family in Maryland gave Earl Brockell a taste for something bigger: Fame and fortune, Hollywood-style. So in 1963, he left home to pursue his dream. Brief success elated him, but a cruel twist of fate cut him down in a matter of minutes. How could one man's life be so promising, but get shattered so quickly? It is a story that could only happen in Hollywood. In his autobiography Brockell, whose stage name was Steve Randall, writes from the heart and tells his fascinating rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Spending 20 years in show business and performing in hundreds of nightclubs as a singer and bit part player in television and the movies, Brockell aka Randall had a hit song called "You're Treating Me Like a Stranger." The song catapulted him to a new stratosphere of fame, where he mingled with the famous and hung with the rich. But in 1983, tragedy struck and he lost it all. And though his health and career followed the same trajectory, Brockell's faith in himself and his loved ones stayed true to course. Part maddening, part inspiring, Broken Promises and Shattered Dreams is one man's ode to what could have been and how he, were it not for a cruel twist of fate, "coulda been a contenda." Brockell shows a side of Hollywood never seen before in his book.