Ecstasy and Me
{{Short description|1966 alleged autobiography of Hedy Lamarr}}
{{italic title}}
{{infobox book |
| name = Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = File:Hedy_Lamarr_in_The_Heavenly_Body_1944.jpg
| caption = Actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr
| author = Hedy Lamarr
(Leo Guild and Cy Rice)
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Autobiography
| publisher = Bartholomew House
| pages = 318
| isbn =
| oclc = 412157
| release_date = 1966
}}
Ecstasy and Me: My Life as a Woman is the alleged tell-all style autobiography of Austrian-born actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, ghostwritten by Leo Guild and Cy Rice and first published in 1966. The book spent four weeks at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in 1966.{{Cite book |last=Justice |first=Keith L. |url=http://archive.org/details/bestsellerindexa00just |title=Bestseller index : all books, by author, on the lists of Publishers weekly and the New York times through 1990 |date=1998 |publisher=Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-7864-0422-3 |pages=183}}
In 1966 Lamarr's lawsuit to overturn the book was refused by a Los Angeles judge.{{Cite news |title=Hedy Lamarr Loses Suit to Halt Book | work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/09/27/82512104.html?pageNumber=74 |access-date=2022-04-24 |language=en}} When the book was published, she filed for $21 million in damages.{{Cite news |title=Hedy Lamarr Is Suing Nine For $21-Million Over Book | work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/02/18/79947183.html?pageNumber=12 |access-date=2022-04-24 |language=en}} Lamarr condemned the book's contents as "fictional, false, vulgar, scandalous, libelous and obscene".{{cite web |url=https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/news-and-views/celebrity/a/5877676/hedy-lamarr-tarnished-star/ |title=Hedy Lamarr: Tarnished Star – Yahoo7 |access-date=2015-05-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721064936/https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-claire/news-and-views/celebrity/a/5877676/hedy-lamarr-tarnished-star/ |archive-date=2015-07-21 }}{{Cite news |last=Kakutcad |first=Michiko |date=1979-03-18 |title=It Pays to Be A Ghost |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/18/archives/it-pays-to-be-aghost-more-and-more-writers-are-ghosting.html |access-date=2022-04-24 |issn=0362-4331}} During a 1969 appearance on The Merv Griffin Show, she responded to a comment from host Merv Griffin regarding Ecstasy and Me by stating "Don't talk about that, that's not my book" and mentioned writing a book of her own called Hedy.{{cite web|url=https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/501202/s01-e13-episode-13|title=The Merv Griffin Show S01:E13 – Episode 13 (August 18, 1969)|publisher=Tubi|access-date=March 16, 2023}}
In a 1970 interview with The New York Times, Lamarr noted that her material was "misused and distorted" and that she did not receive any funds from the book.{{Cite news |last=Birmingham |first=Stephen |date=1970-08-23 |title='Would You Believe I Was Once a Famous Star? It's the Truth!' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/23/archives/would-you-believe-i-was-once-a-famous-star-its-the-truth-hedy.html |access-date=2022-04-24 |issn=0362-4331}}
When the book was published, it was reviewed in The New Republic by Larry L. King,{{Cite book |last=King |first=Larry L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcX2OL33Ow8C&q=ecstasy+and+me |title=Larry L. King: A Writer's Life in Letters, Or, Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye |date=1999 |publisher=TCU Press |isbn=978-0-87565-203-0 |pages=36–37 |language=en}} where King noted "If there is a sexual experience Miss Lamarr has not partaken of, it belongs in the future tense".{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Willie |date=1993-09-12 |title=Heady Days, Hedy Nights |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1993/09/12/heady-days-hedy-nights/bca59f73-310d-4ef8-b2aa-ef1f8b778e97/ |access-date=2022-04-24 |issn=0190-8286}}