The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way |
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $16.47
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Manufacturer: Amistad
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028092
EAN: 9780060763268
ISBN: 0060763264
Label: Amistad
Manufacturer: Amistad
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Publisher: Amistad
Release Date: 2008-09-30
Studio: Amistad
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Editorial Reviews:
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It's conventional wisdom that Hollywood has no use for a woman over forty. So it's a good thing that Diahann Carroll—whose winning, sometimes controversial career breached racial barriers—is anything but conventional. Shonda Rhimes, the creator and executive producer of the hit program Grey's Anatomy, developed a role just for her, and a recent show that's touring the United States, The Life and Times of Diahann Carroll, was enthusiastically embraced by the New York Times. And all this since Carroll turned seventy! Here she shares her life story with an admirable candidness of someone who has seen and done it all. With wisdom that only aging gracefully can bestow, she talks frankly about her four marriages as well as the other significant relationships in her life, including her courtship with Sidney Poitier; racial politics in Hollywood and on Broadway; and the personal cost, particularly to her family, of being a pioneer. Whether she's recalling an audition for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, reflecting on her marriage to Vic Damone, or talking about her experience with breast cancer, Carroll's storied history, blunt views, and notorious wit will be sure to entertain and inform.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Candid...
Comment: "The Legs Are The Last To Go - Aging, Acting, Marrying & Other Things I Learned The Hard Way" by Diahann Carroll (Amistad/Harper Collins, 271 pages) is a good read and the title holds true to the material in the book. I enjoy autobiographical type books, especially when the author truly shares a real inside peek into his or her life. Diahann Carroll shared more than what I feel the average fan would have expected in a very candid way and for that I give her five stars. The book is a close intimate look at her life from the beginning up to the present. She goes deep into relationship issues with her mother, father, sister, stepmother and daughter. She dissects each marriage and relationship to understand the good, the bad, the ugly and the lessons learned. She gives a witty account on plastic surgery. She speaks candidly about her fight with cancer. Best of all she analyzes herself and has finally gotten life figured out and is at a happy place which includes being a loving grandmother.
There were moments that I teared up as I read about the racism that was faced during her career. I know that all of the black performers experienced racism, but Diahann Carroll just had such a way of telling about her experience. There were moments when I laughed out loud such as the story involving Vic Damone and one of his females that kept calling which is on page 94. I could just envision Diahann Carroll asking this woman if she wanted information on, "The organization for women like you called ICVD. That stands for illegitimate children of Vic Damone..."
Then there was the moment when I was angry about how Sidney Poitier let her throw her marriage away during their affair, while keeping his marriage together, but leading her to believe that he was going to divorce his wife as well. Then later in the book she reveals that they are now on friendly terms. The affair with Sidney came at a high price and that was really a lesson learned the hard way!
There are about forty-eight pictures included in the book on glossy paper and additional photos on regular paper that give the book that added intimate appeal. Overall I was able to see past the classy and glamorous singer/actress mask and see that she is woman just like the rest of us everyday girls. My heart felt her following words, "But my marriages had been nothing but disastrous, and a successful marriage was still stuck in my head, my old-fashioned, proper-girl head, as the ultimate goal".
The book is well written, witty, funny, sad, and historical and comes across as an honest account of moments in time that span seventy years. I think the greatest lesson of all came out on page 247, "When you're forgiven, it makes you understand just how much you are loved. And when you forgive? The whole world opens up to you and you make yourself available to the highest form of happiness."
I highly recommend this book! It is a page turner and a quick read. I in no way have even accounted for half of the seventy years worth of stories, tidbits, and personal life accounts that are shared in this book on aging, acting, marriage and family relationships. This is still a worthy read even if you have read her previous book because it deals with topics not shared in the other book.
Review by:
Pamela Jarmon-Wade
Customer Rating:
Summary: Strutting like a Diva
Comment: While I did find this a very entertaining read and while I enjoyed getting the background on Richard Rogers, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the like, I can see how some readers see these very interesting stories as only a backdrop to many self congratulatory statements. At times the descriptions contained so much self flattery that they seemed a little comical (I do not think that was the intention). That being said I was shocked at the racial discrimination that Miss Carroll had to endure right up to and including the 90's. What is truly amazing is how Miss Carroll came through those experiences with poise, grace, class and style. I think Diahann used her very detailed descriptions of clothing, hair and makeup to demonstrate how she was always rising above her situation and not caving to it. She was and is an excellent student of refinement and was able to transcend racial stereotypes and class. Hollywood and Broadway have certainly been slow in giving this lady her full due so at this age and stage of life if this Diva wants to toot her own horn she has certainly earned the right. Go ahead and strut Diahann, you do it beautifully!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gracious Diva. . . .
Comment: Diahann Carroll's "The Legs Are the Last To Go" is a thoughtful, provocative review of the star's life, times and loves. Looking back with a wizened, wistful eye, she muses on family, stardom, marriage, show business and race. Carroll may have a diva's outsized ego (she is still unabashedly strutting her stuff--even at age 73!), but she is also remarkably candid, funny and gracious. Boasting an astonishingly long and successful career that stretches all the way back to the mid-fifties, Carroll was extraordinarily blessed with attentive parents, cover-girl looks and considerable talent as a singing actress. To be sure, Carroll savors her good fortune. In the 1960's, she was the first black woman to have her own successful sitcom, "Julia"--a watershed moment for black performers in America. Other accomplishments included a well-deserved academy award nomination (for "Claudine,' in 1974) and a seamless career in television and high-end nightclubs that was virtually uninterrupted. Perhaps most delicious of all is her star turn on the 1980's hit series, "Dynasty"--at the ripe old age of 49! On the other hand, Carroll makes clear that she is no stranger to the school of hard knocks. Her high-wattage career came at great costs that included four failed marriages and periodic estrangement from her only daughter, father and sister. But this book is far less a dish about other people than a means of evaluating and coming to terms with the path she has chosen and the effects on her loved ones. As such, "The Legs Are The Last To Go" is definitely a cut above the usual kiss-and-tell memoir !
Customer Rating:
Summary: Any comprehensive film library needs this
Comment: Hollywood has no use for a woman over forty - but actress Diahann Carroll isn't conventional and her career defied the norm. Any who have followed her films will find her autobiography The Legs Are the Last to Go is a gripping story of her career, her professional and personal relationships, the lessons she's learned from Hollywood and life, and racial politics in Hollywood. Any comprehensive film library needs this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The ego is the last thing to go::
Comment: I must say I really enjoyed reading this book. I reaaly love the way she tells a story.I guess all Hollywood divas have BIG ego's,how could you not(smile).great book,love her,love her. I hope she brings her one women show to Dallas
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