Shirley MacLaine Opens Up About 9 Decades of Hollywood & Life in New Memoir 'The Wall of Life

Shirley MacLaine is once again opening the book on her storied life. In her new memoir and photo album The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories from this Marvelous Lifetime (out Oct. 22 from Crown), the Oscar winner and Out on a Limb author takes readers on a nine-decade journey from her childhood in Virginia with her baby brother, Warren Beatty, through her Rat Pack run at the start of her movie career, to her exalted status as one of Hollywood's most-enduring stars. The idea to do a photo-driven book started at home. "One day, I was looking at my wall of pictures and just taking everything into consideration specifically, and I thought I should write about this — and that's what happened," MacLaine tells PEOPLE.
She was already a seasoned author who had written books on everything from 1972 Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern to her various past lives. So why was the time right to tell her story through previously unseen photos? "Because I've had an enchanted life," she says. "By looking at my wall that day, I realized the enchantment. I really have, and I really mean it; I felt that way. So it's something that comes out of appreciation." Although she's looking back, she says she isn't stuck in memories of the past. "I've always known I'd have a long life, so I was looking forward," she says. "I'm an optimist anyway. I look forward to the next day rather than — well, I must say, now I wonder how much longer." It would take several volumes to do her life story justice, but these exclusive photos are a good start.