The Legs Are the Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying, and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way | 
 enlarge | Author: Diahann Carroll
Publisher: Amistad
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.89
You Save: $11.06 (44%)
New (40) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $12.88
Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 7526
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0060763264
Dewey Decimal Number: 792.028092
EAN: 9780060763268
ASIN: 0060763264
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - I SHIP FAST - Please choose Expedited Shipping for Faster Delivery -
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 The ego is the last thing to go:: December 1, 2008
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
Spilling the Beans November 30, 2008
At age 73, Ms Carroll has garnered a vast amount of experience and is spilling all the beans. She speaks of her parents who persevered despite many obstacles and hardships and were able to send their daughter to the new high school of music and art where she did very well. Both parents lived to their nineties. her father who at one time was almost set on fire by racists, lived to see a black man running for president of the US.
Diahann speaks of her husbands - yes there were four of them; and relationships which include Sydney Poitier and David Frosst. Of course she had to deal with racism herself, the cruelty of show business and the limited opportunities for black performers. But she persevered. Now looking back she can see her own pitfalls. But she is finally in a good place - a place of contentment.
An inspiring book!
 The Empress' New Clothes November 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very juicy read but as others have mentioned, Ms. Carroll seems obsessed with how she looks and what she's wearing - designer clothing, Cristal champagne, Louis Vuitton, etc. A little off-putting. Somewhere in her book she calls herself a snob. She's right. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It can mean you are just more discriminating. But she seems like a royal pain in the you know what to me. Although I do admire her always standing up for her race and not taking any guff from anyone. A gutsy lady, certainly. But not someone I admire.
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show November 19, 2008
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
In her memoir, The Legs Are The Last To Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying & Other Things I Learned The Hard Way, Diahann Carroll stresses this is not a biography (she has already written that in 1982), but rather a discourse on life lived on one's own terms. Carroll, star of stage, television, and the silver screen, waxes philosophically on love, motherhood, racism and show business with a confidence that she has been accustomed to her entire life. Raised by working class parents from South Carolina, who through the proverbial pulling up of their bootstraps, ascended into the black middle-class in New York in the 1940s and 50s.
While Carroll was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, she exhibited a great talent in the arts with her singing and musical training. Plucked out of her performing arts high school into modeling, and eventually acting and singing, she crossed barriers and bucked traditions. For instance, she played the lead in "The Owl and the Pussy Cat" on Broadway, a role written for a white woman. Additionally, she was the first African American woman to have a television series, "Julia", in the 1960s.
While she was very successful in her professional life, Carroll struggled with her personal life, counting four failed marriages, numerous affairs, and her ever-conflicting role as mother to daughter, Suzanne. Carroll regrets the missed opportunities with her daughter because she was so busy building a career. When they did have time together appearances were always important, and being dressed to a "T" in public took precedence over being mommy. It was always about Diahann and what she wanted.
And what Carroll wanted was Sidney Poitier, THE Sidney Poitier, the academy award actor, who as a senior citizen still makes women swoon. Despite his being married, Carroll was willing to give up her marriage to her daughter's father, Monte Kay, only to be rejected by Poitier. A marriage to singer Vic Damone and a long-time affair with TV personality, David Frost, floundered, both relationships wracked by insecurities and bad judgment.
It appears that Carroll simply made poor choices, continually, over and over, when it came to men. It is only in her "golden" years, now that she is in her 70s, that she has found satisfaction in being alone. A brush with breast cancer and being a grandmother has sobered and mellowed her into a peace she has long sought. After all, when everything on you starts to sag, the legs are the last to go and Carroll is still standing tall in her high heels.
Dera R. Williams
APOOO BookClub
Wonderful book... I'd buy it TWICE! November 14, 2008
As a younger woman who has followed Diahann Carroll's life and overall career in entertainment that has spanned over the last 40 years, I truly admire this "literary opportunity" to read, take and adhere to the words of wisdom from a woman who has been there and done that... several times over. I believe Diahann to be LIVING proof, to the admirer and unadmirer, of what a life lived gracefully trimmed with beauty can accomplish. I can only hope and pray now at age 28 that I can still work a pair of heels at age 73. True beauty, both inner and outer, is one that is maintained for a lifetime. You go, Ms. Carroll!
|
|
|
