Authors: Mark Bego

Cher

BOOKS BY MARK BEGO

The Captain & Tennille
(1977)

Barry Manilow
(1977)

The Doobie Brothers
(1980)

Michael!
[Jackson] (1984)

On the Road with Michael!
[Jackson] (1984)

Rock Hudson: Public & Private
(1986)

Sade!
(1986)

Julian Lennon!
(1986)

The Best of “Modern Screen”
(1986)

Whitney!
[Houston] (1986)

Bette Midler: Outrageously Divine
(1987)

The Linda Gray Story
(1988)

TV Rock
[The History of Rock & Roll on Television] (1988)

Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul
(1989, 2001)

Between the Lines
[with D
EBBIE
G
IBSON
] (1990)

Linda Ronstadt: It’s So Easy
(1990)

Ice Ice Ice: The Extraordinary Vanilla Ice Story
(1991)

One Is the Loneliest Number
[with J
IMMY
G
REENSPOON OF
T
HREE
D
OG
N
IGHT
] (1991, 1998)

I’m a Believer: My Life of Music, Monkees and Madness
[with M
ICKY
D
OLENZ OF THE
M
ONKEES
] (1993)

Country Hunks
(1994)

Country Gals
(1994)

Dancing in the Street: Confessions of a Motown Diva
[with M
ARTHA
R
EEVES OF
M
ARTHA
&
THE
V
ANDELLAS
] (1994)

I Fall to Pieces: The Music & Life of Patsy Cline
(1995)

Bonnie Raitt: Just in the Nick of Time
(1995)

Rock & Roll Almanac
(1996)

Alan Jackson: Gone Country
(1996)

Raised on Rock: The Autobiography of Elvis Presley’s Stepbrother
[with D
AVID
S
TANLEY
] (1996)

George Strait: The Story of Country’s Living Legend
(1997, 1998, & 1999)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Romantic Hero
(1998)

LeAnn Rimes
(1998)

Jewel
(1998)

Matt Damon: Chasing a Dream
(1998)

Will Smith: The Freshest Prince
(1998)

Vince Gill
(2000)

Madonna: Blonde Ambition
[Updated Edition] (Cooper Square Press 1992, 2000)

Cher: If You Believe
(Cooper Square Press 2001)

Cher

IF YOU BELIEVE

MARK BEGO

Foreword by

Mary Wilson

First Cooper Square Press edition 2001

First Taylor Trade Publishing edition 2004

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200

Lanham, Maryland 20706

Distributed by National Book Network

A previous edition of this book was catalogued by the Library of Congress as follows:

Bego, Mark.

Cher : if you believe / Mark Bego.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

Discography: p.

Filmography: p.

1. Cher, 1946– 2. Singers—United States—Biography. 3. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. I. Title.

ML420.C472 B44 2001

782.42164 ‘092—dc21

[B]	2001017206

ISBN 1-58979-135-5 (pbk. : alk paper)

ISBN: 978-1-58979-135-0

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

To Mary Wilson
,

My most “Supreme” friend!

XXX

Bego

CONTENTS

Foreword
by Mary Wilson

Acknowledgments

Preface
Take Me Home

1
If You Believe in Life after Life

2
Cherilyn Sarkisian

3
I Got You Babe

4
Good Times/Bad Times

5 The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

6
Dark Lady

7
Disco Diva to Broadway Baby

8
Cher: Movie Star

9
Removing the Mask

10 Witches of Eastwick

11 Moonstruck

12
I Found Someone

13
Love Hurts

14
Chastity’s Song

15
It’s Cher’s World

16
Farewell to Sonny

17 Believe

18
If I Could Turn Back Time

Sources of Quoted Material

Albums and Singles Certified “Gold” and “Platinum” in the United States

Awards

Boyfriendography

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, Episode-by-Episode

Costume Changes on the 1999–2000 “Believe” Tour

Index

About the Author

FOREWORD

I have known Cher since the very beginning of her career. The first time we met, the Supremes and Sonny & Cher were both performing at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. This was around 1965, when “I Got You Babe” was still on the charts. It was one of those multi-act shows. That was the only time we performed with them in concert, other than appearing on their TV show.

The next time we worked with Sonny & Cher, it was 1966 and we were all on the television series
Hullabaloo
, which we taped in New York City, with Sammy Davis Jr. as the host. Cher, for me, has always been the same sincere person. She was always very down-to-earth. I would say that she is—and always has been—very much outgoing, no pretense, very warm, and genuine. She was always “real.”

Then, in the 1970s, the Supremes were guests on
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
several times. It was a different era then. Cher was different than she was when we first met her. At that point, she had attained more of a high-profile position, and a demeanor about her. Still, on the sidelines, after the cameras stopped rolling, she was the same Cher I had always known, greeting me warmly. To her friends she was still a real and very down-to-earth person. On the stage she was more in control, but offstage—she was totally herself. She didn’t carry her onstage persona into her offstage life. Some people are “on” when they’re “off” and “on” when they’re “on.” When she was offstage, she was not “on,” she was just herself—the Cher I’d always known.

One of the things that has always impressed me the most about Cher is the fact that she’s always been like “one of the girls”—like an advocate for “the girls.” I identify with her, because I think I’m the same way. I think she was definitely a “girl’s girl.” Whenever she sees me, she always says, “Hey Mare! How you doing, MARY?” and she gives me a big hug. All the time. It never fails, no matter where we are in the universe, if it’s in England, or wherever it is, she’s always the same. She
never lets protocol get in the way of saying, “Hey MARY! Girl, it’s so nice to see you!”

No one is happier than I am about her big comeback with the album
Believe
. In my mind, Cher and Tina Turner are the only two who’ve come across and showed the industry that what show business executives think is “it” is not always correct. They have both proven them wrong—Tina and Cher. Tina broke down age barriers, and Cher trailblazed the way for all of us by doing the Broadway play, and then all the movies—she’s proven them all wrong about her talent.

When the industry has labeled Cher as being “too this” or “too that,” she’s come out and shown everyone that the individual can overcome those labels. The same things that she has done are things that I thought that I should strive to do. I’ve not been able to do it on the same scale—but she has, and she’s done it bigger. I applaud her for that. Prior to
Believe
a lot of people didn’t think she could come back, bigger than ever—but she pulled it off. I think that’s the brilliance of Cher.

—M
ARY
W
ILSON

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank the following people for their help, insight, and assistance: