Emmy Award-Winning Journalist, Reba Merrill, Chronicles Her 30 Year Career

After a successful 30 year career as an entertainment journalist, Reba Merrill, has published her tell all Hollywood memoir Nearly Famous: Secrets, Lies and Addiction. Merrill’s book details the diary of a 50’s era good girl who decided to to break free from the constraints of the time, and how she found her way from being a single mother from the wrong side of the tracks to a Tinsletown success story. Having made a career as a celebrity expert and entertainment journalist, Reba masterfully mixes in personal accounts of her most memorable A-list celebrity interviews.

Reba Merrill grew up in a time with a family whose values said girls were expected to do little more than marry well. She was pressured by her mother to find a wealthy suitor who could support her financially for the rest of her life. Following her mother’s dreams, she did just that.  Reba’s experience with high society was short lived as her husband left her during a time when there was no protection for women. Reba was left destitute with two young girls to support and had to start her life over again. It was at this point she had no other options but to move forward.

Reba knew she wanted be a journalist and spent the next several years honing in on the “how to” of having her own talk show. Reba has since hosted four talk shows: two in Phoenix (“Reba” and “Good Morning Arizona” on ABC) and two in San Diego (“Sunup San Diego” on CBS and “That’s Life” on Cox Cable). Her work on “That’s Life” won her an Emmy Award as well as a Cable Ace Nomination. After being fired for being “too old” and being replaced with a girl half her age, Reba made her way to Hollywood where she again took the bull by the horns, and learned to package her interviews with Hollywood stars. “She [Reba] filled a void in film promotion that the rest of us weren’t even aware existed and gave us important new ways of presenting our movies to the film-going public,” said Former chairman-CEO of PMK/HBH, Patricia Kingsley. Reba also learned the true price of fame, battling an addiction that had overcome her. Finding her way to recovery, balance and success, Reba Merrill has continued to work as an in demand celebrity journalist for three decades. A long way from her humble beginnings, Reba has traveled all over the world and has interviewed nearly a thousand Hollywood movie stars and legends. Merrill’s celebrity interviews have been syndicated in over 60 countries and she continues to be a relevant journalist, speaker, and Hollywood insider, even as a woman of a certain age.

Nearly Famous: Secrets, Lies, and Addiction is now available online through Amazon in paperback or kindle download.

“An intriguing, honest look at the hidden side of Hollywood. She tells it all with a drive that will leave readers with little doubt about how she became successful.” – Kirkus Reviews

About Reba Merrill

While interviewing many of Hollywood’s top stars for more than three decades, Reba has made her name as an interviewer who never delves into gossip. Rather, Reba draws out powerful and intimate moments from these very public celebrities. She has hosted four talk shows: two in Phoenix (“Reba” and “Good Morning Arizona” on ABC) and two in San Diego (“Sunup San Diego” on CBS and “That’s Life” on Cox Cable, which garnered her an Emmy Award as well as a Cable Ace Nomination).