In this very private diary, Rutanya Alda ("Carol Ann") delves into the art, the business, and the wild milieu of American cinema by taking you behind the scenes of Mommie Dearest to tell her story of drama and disarray on and off the set. Rutanya frames her diary with anecdotes of Robert Altman, Joan Crawford, Brian De Palma, Bob Dylan, Elia Kazan, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Lee Strasberg, Barbra Streisand, and John Wayne, among others—a rich cast of her life's characters, who in turn entertain, illuminate, and ultimately weave Rutanya's life into Carol Ann's, setting the stage for you to vicariously live through the making of this cult classic, from her audition in the living room of director Frank Perry to the wrap party on the last day of shooting. In more than five decades of acting, Rutanya Alda has appeared in a multitude of film, television, and theatre roles before and after Mommie Dearest, including The Deer Hunter (Oscar for Best Picture, 1978) and Amityville II: The Possession (1982). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and lives primarily in Manhattan.