I have strong memories of Vincent from the early 80s appearing in The Winds of War and Airwolf. I can't say he was a favourite of mine - he always looked so dour, slightly constipated. But he had a fascinating career and life and this book was a grand read... I pretty much finished it in one session.
For someone who never really wanted to be an actor, Vincent had a great run at it. He was a bit of a drifter, his main ambition seems to have been to surf as much as possible. But he was good looking - he had an androgynous quality that suited the late 60s, and if he couldn't act that well he was skilled at memorising dialogue. He made a fist of acting quite quickly, doing lots of TV and carving out a niche as the "sensitive young man" in support of a crusty elder type, such as The Undefeated. He was also in Adventure Island as part of the Banana Splits.
The 70s were Vincent's heyday - he was in a superior TV movie, Tribes; he supported Robert Mitchum in Going Home and Charles Bronson in The Mechanic; his physique was used to good effect in Disney's World's Greatest Athlete; and he found a champion in Peter Guber of Columbia Pictures who wanted to turn him into a star - Buster and Billie, White Line Fever, ˆBite the Bullet, Baby Blue Marine. It didn't happen - Vincent was too passive, I feel, too ethereal... He was also in some films that were box office disappointments - Vigilante Force, Big Wednesday. But he remained in demand a long time. In particular Winds of War reignited interest, and Airwolf was quite popular.
But he had demons - alcohol and drugs. For a time he could work, drifting into the straight to video market, but eventually he became just too unprofessional, turning into a wreck. He eventually lost a leg. However, he's still alive at time of writing.
I was sometimes reminded of Barbara Payton while reading this - another person who got by a long time on looks and natural gifts but who didn't really respect the craft of acting and eventually succumbed to addictions.
Grove's done a really excellent job - it's well researched, talking to his old classmates and neighbours, including better known people like Jonathan Kaplan and Robert Englund. His analysis of Vincent's talents seems spot on and very insightful. He gets very exasperated with his subject - and no wonder because Vincent really was given so much on a platter and threw it away.
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