One Life: The Autobiography of an African American ActressKnown 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. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
African Americans Agnes Nixon asked astonishment audience Barry Sullivan became began black actresses black middle class black story line black women Blanche brilliant Broadway called career cast character child Chris Cicely Tyson color dark daytime decades director dream dress Ellen Holly Erika Slezak eyes face father felt film friends Funnyhouse gifted girl given hair Harry Harry's head James Earl James Earl Jones Joe Papp Joe Stuart knew later Lillian Hayman live Llanview looked marriage marry Michael Michael Kahn mother movie never once passion Paul Rauch performance person Phalarope play players producer race Rauch rehearsal Richmond Hill role Sadie Gray scene script sister star started struggle talent television theater things thought told took turned voice walked wanted watched weeks woman wonder writing York young
References to this book
When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire" Sam Staggs No preview available - 2005 |