One Life: The Autobiography of an African American Actress
- ISBN-10
- 1568361580
- ISBN-13
- 9781568361581
- Series
- One Life
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts
- Pages
- 275
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1996
- Publisher
- Kodansha International
- Author
- Ellen Holly
Description
Known to millions as Carla Benari Hall on One Life to Live, Ellen Holly has led a life filled with fairy-tale glitter and profound personal tragedy. From her earliest childhood Holly was primed with the idea that she was to be useful to her race. Through acting she aspired to rewrite the script not only for herself, but also on behalf of all black people. In 1956 she made her debut on Broadway in a play by the South African Alan Paton. What neither the ecstatic reviewers nor spellbound audience realized was that when Ellen Holly stepped onto the stage for the first time, her pale skin had been stained black with a dye concocted by her chemist father. Despite the rave notices, in audition after audition Holly would be told that she was too fair-skinned and "too elegant" to play a "real" black woman. In her story of the on-again, off-again affair with Harry Belafonte, Holly is unsparing about what his love meant to her, and what it meant to lose him to a white woman. With unflinching poise, she documents her raw descent into alcoholism and depression. Holly captures the heady excitement of the glamorous, upwardly mobile Harlem of the 1950s. During the volatile 1960s she worked with James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, and Roscoe Lee Browne as well as those talents who never made it to major stardom. Her damning expose of the racist underside of the entertainment industry reveals how studio executives maneuvered to keep black actors in what they considered their place.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Lady Sings the Blues
By Billie Holiday, William DuftyIn a poignant, dramatic memoir, Billie Holiday tells not only of her rise to fame as a blues singer, but also of the exploitation and racial prejudice she encountered as well as of her struggle with heroin addiction.
-
The Great American Popular Singers
By Henry Pleasants... Judy , 343 Knight , Fuzzy , 283 Koehler , Ted , 28 Kristofferson , Kris , 354 , 369 , 370 Krupa , Gene , 146 Jackson , Jeanette , 200 Jackson , Mahalia , 30 , 75 , 198 , 199– 203 , 205–12 , 265 , 276 , 320 , 325 , 326 , 364 Jagger ...
-
A Biographical Handbook of Hispanics and United States Film
By Gary D. Keller... II , 93 Kolb , Keith , I , 198 Korda , Alexander , II , 69 Kosloff , Theodore , I , 76 ; II , 76 Kotero , Apollonia , II , 93 Kramer , Stanley , I , 128 , 136 , 187 ; II , 161 Krantz , Jacob , see Cortez , Ricardo Kristofferson ...
-
Bogey: The Films of Humphrey Bogart
By Clifford McCartyNorman Holdsworth Charles Drake Dr. Grant Grant Mitchell Detective Lt. Egan Patrick O'Moore Nora Grant Ann Shoemaker Robert Freston Frank Wilcox Phillips Edwin Stanley Detective Lt. Workman James Flavin Mrs. Allman Mary Servoss With ...
-
Robert Altman: Interviews
By Robert Altman... 98 Gods Must Be Crazy , The ( Uys ) , 174 Goldberg , Whoopi , 165 , 174 Goldblum , Jeff , 186 Golden Globe Awards ... 58 , 183 Hale , Alan , 3 Hall , Angela , 165 Hammett , Dashiell , 199 Hand That Rocks the Cradle , The ( Hanson ) ...
-
Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time
By Stephen TeoThis, the first book-length study of Hong Kong cult director Wong Kar-wai, provides an overview of his career and in-depth analyses of his seven feature films to date.
-
An Actor, and a Rare One: Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes
By Tony EarnshawAfter the inquest , Holmes speaks with Inspector Lanner and Miss Turner . Lanner sees no hope for McCarthy , but Holmes thinks differently . He quizzes Miss Turner on her relationship with McCarthy , and she reveals they had hoped to ...
-
The Complete Films of Marlene Dietrich
By Homer DickensThrough a clever bit of business , the boys put over a big deal with a steel tycoon named Morgan Prentiss ( Samuel S. Hinds ) , and soon Pittsburgh has gone highbrow by marrying the boss's daughter Shannon ( Louise Allbritton ) .
-
Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey
By Brian SibleyWritten with Jackson's full participation, this extensive biography, illustrated with never-before-seen photos from Jackson's personal collection, tells the inside story of how a New Zealander became Hollywood's hottest property?from the ...
-
卓别林
By 孙鹏著本书主要内容包括：童年时光；初次登台；不安定的日子；舞蹈班的一员；艰难时日；初露锋芒；奔波在卡诺；第一次出国等。