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Rating: 
Summary: engrossing, upsetting, but not surprisings
Review: Ellen Holly did a superior job playing Carla on the ABC soap, "One Life To Live." I was often mesmerized by her performances, and I was baffled as to why she never won an Emmy for her work. Ms Holly was understandably bitter about being dismissed after 17 years on the show. But I don't concur with her allegation that her dismissal was race-related. Veteran soap opera performers--many of them white--are frequently jettisoned from the canvasses of their shows, or under-used to make room for "new blood," and sadly, the new blood is always someone young and untalented. But while on "One Life," I was appalled to learn that Ms. Holly was not properly compensated for her services. I can't believe that her annual increases were 37.50. How insulting. No actress who had contributed to the popularity of a show should be treated so shabbily. I have no doubt that racism is prevalent in the entertainment industry, and that is unfair, and unfortunate. And brave people like Ellen Holly should be commended for having the courage to stand up and expose the ugliness of racism behind the scenes of show business. Such gestures will only make life easier for the next Ellen Holly. Or will it?
Rating: 
Summary: I was hooked from word one.
Review: I initially bought Ellen's book because I was an avid OLTL fan. I wanted to read about the years that she spent as "Carly Gray" on my favorite soap opera. Ellen Holly is such an eloquent writer that she had me enthralled with her life from page one. I forgot why I first bought the book and I didn't want it to end. If Ms. Holly wrote another book, I would buy it the minute it hit the stands; that is how great I think her writing is.
Rating:
Summary: Every Black actress/writer in Hollywood MUST read this.
Review: If you are an actress or screenwriter in Hollywood or New York, read this and think about it. This is not just another "who I slept with" tell all. Ellen Holly's life is really a cautionary tale about the perils intelligent, ambitious, talented black women face in the entertainment industry (and in life and love of course). Dorothy Dandridge wasn't the only black actress trying to make it in the 1950's and Diahann Carroll is not the only survivor. Ellen Holly, who has written for the New York Times and still writes screenplays, is truly one of the faceless pioneers that opened the door for the Halle Berrys, the Vanessa L.Williams, the Angela Bassetts and the Tina Andrews in Hollywood today.
Rating:
Summary: Every Black actress/writer in Hollywood MUST read this.
Review: If you are an actress or screenwriter in Hollywood or New York, read this and think about it. This is not just another "who I slept with" tell all. Ellen Holly's life is really a cautionary tale about the perils intelligent, ambitious, talented black women face in the entertainment industry (and in life and love of course). Dorothy Dandridge wasn't the only black actress trying to make it in the 1950's and Diahann Carroll is not the only survivor. Ellen Holly, who has written for the New York Times and still writes screenplays, is truly one of the faceless pioneers that opened the door for the Halle Berrys, the Vanessa L.Williams, the Angela Bassetts and the Tina Andrews in Hollywood today.
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