This meticulously researched book explores the concept of fame in all its fleeting glory and confounding inconsistency. Why do so many entertainers do so much better financially than peers who have comparable resumes? Author Donald Jeffries also examines a subject he is quite familiar with; the myriad of unnatural deaths which have plagued the entertainment industry since the dawn of Hollywood. The deaths of John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and many others are scrutinized in exacting detail. Jeffries communicated with many older entertainers during the course of researching the book, and their perspectives are included here. On Borrowed Fame will be of great interest to fans, celebrities, and anyone with even a cursory affinity for the world of show business.


If you’re anything like me, and have a hard time not looking at the car crash as you drive by: You will love this book. I’m dyslexic and have difficulty reading but found it even more difficult stopping. The book showed me how very lucky I’ve been, pursuing my passions; Acting, Class A Speedway Racing and Inventing.
- Billy Gray, Father Knows Best, The Day the Earth Stood Still

Donald Jeffries’ On Borrowed Fame is indeed a revelatory and painful experience. It paints the big picture of the price of Fame in Hollywood. One that mercilessly illustrates through fact and story the real price paid by many of my colleagues and myself. Fame is not a blessing, it’s a curse. This book is a witness to the carnage and horrible truth of the matter. Fame is not what it appears to be on the outside. Fame is a glamorous car wreck. Fame sucks. This is an important book that tells us all as fellow human beings that attention must be paid.
I congratulate Mr. Jeffries for having had the courage to write it.
- Nick Mancuso, Paris 2020

“It’s possible to be a musician in the biggest band imaginable, and within a few years be forced to work a regular job.” That ominous statement is echoed throughout Donald Jeffries’ whirlwind of woe in the world of entertainment, On Borrowed Time. Those household name actors in your favourite TV shows you assumed were well paid and would surely always have a firm foothold in show business? Not so much it turns out, as stated here: “A regular on a television series is at least as likely to have their acting career end when their show does.” The arbitrary payment structures that seem to have been made up on the spot, the blatant rip offs and the sheer number of early and often suspicious Hollywood deaths that were rarely investigated would make anyone think twice about being an actor. What an eye opener this book is!
- Graham Parker, singer-songwriter

If you’ve ever dreamed of being famous--and who hasn’t--then Donald Jeffries offers a shocking literary vaccine--so you might avoid those pitfalls. Just maybe! “On Borrowed Fame,” his juicy and richly detailed fast moving dossier, catalogues the long and winding and perilous road trod by some of the most famous names in showbiz. Those talented celebs had one thing in common: They inevitably discovered that fame does not guarantee fortune-- but is often a prescription for bankruptcy and early death. I have reported on Hollywood for nearly half a century but can attest that Jeffries has entertainingly laid out the most detailed compendium of horror stories experienced by some of tinsel town’s biggest names. No one is spared--from Stan Laurel to Marlon Brando to Michael Jackson. And so, so many more. His research is formidable. This is the most fascinating chronicle of show business malfeasance, mayhem and misery I have ever read. The Beatles sang “Can’t Buy Me Love,” They should have added “happiness” as well!
- Ivor Davis